St. Louis Community College at Meramec

MAJOR MAGIC - MerAmec Juggling ORganization MAGIC - on Thursday from 11:15 a.m.to 12:15 p.m.
    Check with the math secretary if I am not in my office
    when you are free. You may also use email thayer@jug.net
    or my Web URL http://www.jug.net/wt
    to contact me for help or information.
    And for college information try StLCC @ Meramec Web
    Pages URL http://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/mcdocs/

TEXTBOOK: Calculus by James Stewart, 4th Edition which you need the first day of class. Then, after we talk in class, a reference such as CalcLabs with Mathematica by Selwyn Hollis will be used for Mathematica labs and projects.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS: Several sizes of graph paper and a calculator with trig and log/exp keys. This type of calculator is needed during tests.

ADDITIONAL STUDY AIDS: The student answer key in the library has more than just the answers. You may wish to use the Interactive Calculus CD-ROM material for Stewart. We will have labs in which Mathematica is used to study calculus ideas. Other labs make use of different software. You are encouraged to use graphics calculators and other equipment including symbolic processors but some restrictions are made for tests for these types. I would suggest using both Mathematica and WinPlot, a software graphing program from Rick Parris at Phillips Exeter Academy called Peanut Software with graphing utility WinPlot, or other graphing software each day for this course.

TIME ON COURSE: The five class hours and project time you spend on this course will require about eighteen homework hours per week for high grades to around twelve hours per week for passing grades. It is best to construct a time schedule for each week of the course and mark out the study time you plan. A plan gives you the needed twenty to twelve hours indicated above. This commitment is a pledge you make to yourself to "BE ALL YOU CAN BE" each day for the personal obligation you have undertaken to learn this mathematics. Your instructor expects you to be prepared with homework done each day as a tradmark of your attendance.

TYPICAL CLASS PERIOD: The first part of class time is open for answering student questions about the previous assignment including exercises, reading material, or classroom notes. Add your questions to the class day's START UP LIST. You are encouraged to help answer other student's questions or show your solutions by presenting chalk board work. While presenting information is expected, this communication is not graded. Use this time to experiment with your ability to understand an exercise and convey your understanding to others. Subtract your contribution of board work from the START UP LIST as you put work on the board with your first name next to the section and problem numbers. Your frequent involvement will help you practice the course material and generally aid your understanding of the problems of the course. Don't worry about mistakes you may make, that's included in this part.

In fact, the first student that finds a given textbook, answer key or classroom mistake and reports it on the day's attendance sheet may have extra credit for that discovery.

Another part of class is used to introduce new material with examples and discussion. I assume that prior to the date listed on the Course Schedule, you took notes as you read from the new sections. You may wish to include the textbook examples in your class questions of new material as your instructor will cover some of these and do other examples.

Some class time is spent with all students working at the chalk board and some class time is spent in the computer room SW 110.

LAB TEAM ACTIVITIES: Some class time is devoted to team work aimed at a deeper understanding of some course topics or their applications. Your instructor will assign you to a team of two or three students. When working on a team, students are to think for themselves treating the instructor as a guide, consultant, and evaluator to the team. Always try to approach your team time with a knowledgeable position based on your personal studies.

During team activity, you should display a willingness to generate discussion that leads to answers or more refined questions that converge to solutions to your team assignment. You may be in the dark on some points but being open to change and willing to communicate your points even if mistaken at first helps the team toward the final goals while helping you toward greater clarity. At times we need team work to derive all the answers or computations in some assignments. And other times teams provide a natural background for discussion of the material and presentation of solutions. You are expected to help your team reach reasonable objectives on time and demonstrate to me that you are participating on your team in a meaningful way. Several grade units are given for these assignments and grades are based on the group's activities and reports. Also, teams may wish to work as a study group covering daily assignments. This can be implemented via your telephone or computer networking.

Individual communication is not permitted in class. Please note that individual communication is not very productive while another person is speaking in a group or class room situation.

EXPECTATIONS: This syllabus including its Course Schedule, the Mathematics Department's Syllabus including Assignment Sheets, Objectives, and Policies combined with the St. Louis Community College Fall 2002 Fact Finder student handbook gives you the relevant course, student academic rights and responsibilities, and study guide information. These items will give you a sense of the quality that your instructor works to achieve in this course. Please see me as soon as possible for any personal accommodations you require and please keep in mind that: The quickest way to resolve any difficulty, no matter how small, is to let your instructor know about it as soon as possible.

SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS: You are expected to read the textbook and take notes from the textbook before the class in which the material is covered. Add to these notes or take separate notes covering the new material and activities in each class. Then, finish each assigned exercise for the following class except perhaps a few of the more difficult exercises that you should ask about in the next class (and then finish). Hint: "Do All The Odd Problems" in each section covered - then more. Put your list of studied but unsolved problems on the class day's START UP LIST. Definitely ask for individual help when needed particularly if you can not work large portions of the exercises. Review processes you used to solve home work exercises each day. Remember that you want to stay on top of your work and be able to adequately prepare for the unit test coming in a few days. This generally means you need to develop a dogged attitude with more than several hours per day spent on solving exercises, keeping good notes from the text and class, and doing plenty of daily reviewing likely including some daily memorization. Give yourself a short test of five problems each day! Use the enclosed course schedule sheet to keep track of finished work and extra credit points. If you need help, I am located in the mathematics department during office hours or you may call my home telephone number before 9:30 P.M. This course takes lots of gumption, much more than calculus I.

Please read SOME GENERAL GOALS from the course Web pages. Learning in this course may be enhanced by your frequent willingness to use and thereby improve your performance along these suggested avenues.

Try to apply these skills and abilities in specific ways during this course. Experimenting with new ones may help you increase learning or make learning faster or easier. Reorganize your methods for deeper understanding and interest. Use the criterion of - when time seems to flow with a sense of accomplishment, your level of complexity can change - as your gauge. Don't get or stay stuck!

ASSIGNMENTS and NOTES: Your problem assignments, text notes and class notes are checked during regular test times. Turn in your notebook as you enter the test time and take it with you when you leave the test. All material should be in sequential textbook order. Seven extra credit points = 3 for completely worked homework exercises + 2 points for textbook notes + 2 points for class notes are given via a quick review of the thoroughness and spot checked for accuracy of your work.

TESTS: A regular test is given as shown on the Course Schedule and no make up tests may be taken. A missed test is a zero test score. Regular tests are composed from the odd numbered exercises in your textbook for 85 to 95% of the test and the rest from material highlighted during class. These tests are graded and returned as soon as possible but certainly less than a week. Ask for help if you need to develop better test taking skills. The final exam counts as two regular tests.

REPORTS: A few team assignments are required and count as a regular test or a part of a regular test. Additionally, some extra credit exercises and reports are suggested during the course and carry the amount of points assigned with the given work.

GRADES AND THE GRADE SCALE: The final grade is based on the average of these regular tests and team assignments. Any extra credit points are added to the regular test points at the end of the course. The following scale is used on each unit:
A for 90 points or above,
B for 80 to 89 points,
C for 70 to 79 points,
D for 50 to 69 points, and
F for under 50 points.

Test grades correspond to percentages of highest raw scores. I recommend an average of 75 or better from the tests scores (without the extra credit points) before you take any courses for which this course is a prerequisite. You may ask about PR or I grades for your individual combination of circumstances.

ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED and over FIVE absences during the semester will result in a course grade of F. You must sign the attendance sheet each day. Two times tardy counts as an absence. If you are tardy ask for the attendance sheet after class and put a T for that day. Call me before hand if you have an attendance problem! Students missing no classes may have a small share in the determination of their grade.

CHANGES: Some additions, substitutions and/or corrections to this syllabus will be made during the course.

ANALYTIC GEOMETRY AND CALCULUS II COURSE SCHEDULE