First-day Handout
Fall 2009
M408K-CNS
– Differential Calculus for Scientists
MWF
11-12, CPE 2.214 (57225,
57230, 57235)
Instructor: Elizabeth Stepp, RLM 13.142, steppel@math.utexas.edu
Office hours: Mondays 12 – 1 pm; Wednesdays 3 – 4 pm; Fridays 8 – 9 am
Web page: www.ma.utexas.edu/users/steppel
This course
consists of three
lectures and two discussion sessions per week.
The lectures are given by the instructor and are attended by all
students enrolled in sections with any of the three unique numbers
above. The discussion sessions are led by
a graduate
Teaching Assistant. New material will be
covered in each lecture, and during your discussion sessions you will
have the
opportunity to further your understanding of that material. You are expected to attend all five hours per
week. Your unique number determines which
of the three discussion sections is yours, as is indicated in the table
below.
|
Discussion Section |
Teaching Assistant for all
Discussion Sections |
|||
|
Unique # |
Day |
Hours |
Bldg. Room |
Neil Hoffman 475-8595 |
|
57225 |
TTh |
8:30-9:30 |
ENS 109 |
|
|
57230 |
TTh |
4:00- 5:00 |
CBA 4.328 |
|
|
57235 |
TTh |
5:00-6:00 |
RLM 6.116 |
Office Hours: MW 1-2, Th 10-11 |
TEXT: Calculus, by Stewart,
Sixth Edition.
OBJECTIVES
OF COURSE:
Successful students will leave
this course understanding the basic concepts and having mastered the
computational
skills of differential calculus. The
concepts covered will include limits, continuity, derivatives, maxima
and
minima, and trigonometric, logarithmic and exponential functions.
RESTRICTIONS
AND PREREQUISITES: This course is
restricted to students in the College of Natural Sciences.
The prerequisite for the class is an ALEKS
score of 70% or higher.
OPTIONAL
MATERIALS:
A calculator is not required
for this course. While working on
homework it may be helpful to check the accuracy of your work with a
calculator. However, you should work the
problems by hand, since you may not use a
calculator during quizzes
and exams.
GRADES: On quizzes and
exams, your grade will be
computed as a percentage: the number of points you earned divided by
the number
of points possible. It is unlikely that
any quiz or exam grade will be curved.
The percentages of each type of work that will be applied to
your final
grade are given below. The
plus/minus option for grading will
not be used in this class.
DEADLINES
FOR DROPPING A COURSE: If you drop a
class on or before September 11, the class will not show up on your
transcripts. If you drop a class after
that date, the course will show up on the transcript with a “Q” grade. After September 23, your Dean must approve
drops. After October 21, it is quite
difficult to get approval to drop a course, and there may be an
academic
penalty.
8/20/09
HOMEWORK: (10% of final
grade)
Paper homework: You will have
assignments due each Tuesday that will be graded for completion. These assignments will usually come from the
textbook; assignments from all sections covered during each week’s
lectures
will be due the following Tuesday at the beginning of your discussion
session. In order
to receive credit for an
assignment, it must be turned in
during the discussion session, you must show all of your work, the
homework
paper must be stapled with no ragged edges (such as those on paper torn
from a
spiral notebook), and your exercises must be written neatly, in order
and well
labeled. This homework comprises 5% of
your final grade.
Online
homework: Online
homework will be assigned regularly via
the Web using the UT Homework Service, QUEST; all answers and grades
will be
returned via the Web also using Quest. There will be approximately 15
assignments, and your highest 12 scores will be counted toward your
grade. This homework also comprises 5% of
your final
grade.
No late homework
of either variety will be accepted
for any reason.
QUIZZES: (10% of final
grade)
There will be
weekly quizzes
given during your Thursday discussion sessions.
These quizzes will consist of questions from material similar to
that
covered in lecture and/or assigned as homework.
Only the highest 8 quiz scores (out of at approximately 10) will
be
counted toward your grade. This will
allow for the rare legitimate absence; do not squander this allowance.
You must be in the discussion session to
take the quiz, and no makeup quizzes will be given for any reason.
EXAMS: (80% of
final grade)
You must bring a
valid photo
ID to all exams.
Regular
semester exams: There will be three exams during the regular
semester,
each covering about 1/3 of the course material.
Some of the questions on each exam will be multiple choice,
like problems on the QUEST homework system, and some will require that
you show
your work, like problems on the homework or quizzes.
These 75 minute exams are given in the
evening in a room different from the lecture hall.
Each exam will comprise 20% of your final
grade.
Final exam: You will have
a comprehensive final exam during finals week. This 75 minute exam is
given in
the evening in a room different from the lecture hall, on a day that we
will not
know until the end of the semester. Each
exam will comprise 20% of your final grade.
You should carefully examine the exam
dates below, since being available for these exams
is
a requirement for this course. You
should not make plans on any days of finals week until your final exam
date/time is established.
|
Exam I |
Exam II |
Exam III |
Final Exam |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 22 |
Tuesday, Oct. 27 |
Tuesday, Dec. 1 |
Thursday, Dec 10 |
|
7-8:15 pm |
7-8:15 pm |
7-8:15 pm |
9am-12 noon |
|
ECJ 1.202 |
ECJ 1.202 |
ECJ 1.202 |
RLM 4.102 |
Makeup exams are given only at the
discretion of your instructor, and only for serious reasons such as
In order to have
any hope of
being allowed to take a makeup exam, you must contact the instructor
via email before the exam (if physically
possible), and have documentation indicating your inability to take the
exam at
the scheduled time. As examples, family
members buying you airline tickets for travel on the day of an exam is
not an
appropriate reason to miss an exam, and lack of planning on your part
does not
constitute an emergency.
An approved makeup exam may be taken
only on the following days.
|
Exam I makeup |
Exam II makeup |
Exam III makeup |
Final Exam makeup |
|
Friday, Sept. 25 |
Friday, Oct. 30 |
Friday, Dec. 4 |
Friday, Dec 11 |
|
3:30 – 4:45 pm |
3:30 – 4:45 pm |
3:30 – 4:45 pm |
7-10 pm |
|
BUR 108 |
BUR 108 |
BUR 108 |
RLM 4.102 |
STUDENTS
WITH DISABILITIES: Upon request,
the University of Texas at Austin provides appropriate academic
accommodations
for qualified students with disabilities.
For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students
at
471-6259 or 471-6441 TTY. Students who
are approved for the University’s
Learning Disability Policy, and who submit the appropriate
paperwork to the
instructor before the exam, will be allowed to take the exam as is
indicated in
the table below. The time allowed for an
exam depends upon the student’s paperwork.
|
Exam I, SSD |
Exam II, SSD |
Exam II, SSD |
Final Exam, SSD |
|
Tuesday, Sept. 22 |
Tuesday, Oct. 27 |
Tuesday, Dec. 1 |
Wednesday, Dec 10 |
|
6-8:30 pm |
6-8:30 pm |
6-8:30 pm |
8am-1pm |
|
RLM 7.116 |
RLM 7.116 |
RLM 7.116 |
Room TBA |
ATTENDANCE: This course is
structured with the
expectation that you will attend every lecture and discussion session,
and your
grade will benefit from your attendance.
Of course, sometimes an absence is necessary.
In such a situation, you should contact a
classmate to get notes and information for the class you missed. Please
introduce yourself to and get the names and phone numbers of at least
five classmates.
ADVICE: You should
think about this fact: your
instructor will write the lectures and lead the discussion in class,
and will
write the exam material (which is 80% of your grade).
Therefore, it will be to your advantage to
have complete lecture notes to study for exams.
Studying the book is good, and understanding the homework and
quizzes is
necessary. However, to use a sporting
analogy, doing the homework is exercising during workouts, but taking
the exam
is playing the game. On exams, you will
be asked questions that will ascertain whether you have a thorough
understanding of the material, and the easiest way to attain such
understanding
is to work during class and discussion sessions, writing notes and
listening
and thinking and asking questions. The
homework exercises solidify this understanding, and taking quizzes
seriously
enables you find out what you do not know before
you take the exam.
Drop-in tutoring
(free) and
private tutoring (not free) for M408K are available in the UT Learning
Center
in Jester A332 (http://utlc.utexas.edu), as well as some free workshops
and
classes.
Your instructor and
your TA
have office hours, and are happy to meet with you and help you. You should take advantage of this
access.