Math 5: Calculus with Algebra

Instructor	Tanya Leise
Email	tleise at amherst dot edu
Phone	542-5411
Office	SMudd 503
Office hours	Feel free to drop in whenever my door is open, or make an appointment
Texts	Stewart, Single Variable Calculus 6E (Chapters 1-7) Mueller and Brent, Just-In-Time Algebra and Trigonometry

Helpful suggestions for succeeding in a college math course: please read this!

Course goals:

• Become proficient in basic algebra skills
• Understand the concept of function and become comfortable working with functions
• Understand the concepts of limit and derivative
• Be able to find derivatives using the limit definition and using some basic rules (power rule, product rule, chain rule)
• Increase quantitative skills and become comfortable working with mathematical expressions and equations
• Learn to use Mathematica for graphing and computation
• Dare we say, have some fun doing mathematics?

Course Topics: Chapters 1-4

• Functions, particularly polynomials, rational functions, and power functions
• Limits
• Tangent line to a curve and slope of a curve
• Derivative of a function and its applications, like solving max/min problems or finding the shape of a curve

Attendance: You are to be in class and to be there on time. Cooperative learning is more effective and more fun than struggling through material on your own. If you do miss a lecture, it is your responsibility to obtain the material that you missed and to get your assignments handed in to me.

Questions: If you have a question during lecture, please raise your hand and ask it right away. Chances are that other students are wondering the same thing. If a question arises later, feel free to visit my office and we'll work through sample problems until you are comfortable with the mathematics. Always feel free to ask me to slow down as well.

Grading: Your course grade will be based on three in-class exams (50% total), homework/quizzes/labs/in-class work (25%), and the final exam (25%, can be replaced with the service learning option).  I will try to keep your grades entered in the Blackboard Gradebook in a timely manner; please check them occasionally and let me know if you find any discrepencies. Quizzes will be on Mondays; your lowest quiz grade will be dropped.

Service learning option: You may replace the final exam with 6 hours of volunteer work (math tutoring and other math related activities, including games) with the Capacidad program at Fort River Elementary School, plus a one-page reflection paper on your experience. Please come see me if you are interested in this option.

Intellectual Responsibility

• Exams. Your work must be entirely your own, so please follow the guidelines of the honor code. Unless I explicitly allow other aids, you are only allowed whatever implements you need to read and write (no notes or calculators).  Please turn off your cell phone in kindness to your fellow test-takers.
• Homework. You may study with other students following these guidelines:

1. If you worked with or received help from any source other than me, you should put a note on the front of your homework saying, "I worked with <names>." Make sure your name stands out as the author of your homework.
2. Working together does not mean that one of you does the first half of the homework set and the other does the second. Everyone should work on every problem.
3. Each student must hand in his or her own problem set. You may not hand in a single packet as the work of multiple people.
4. Do not copy someone else's solution—you will not learn anything and it is plagiarism. You may discuss problems with others, but then you must be able to work out the solution on your own again and write it down yourself.
5. If you are unsure what agrees or does not agree with the precepts of intellectual responsibility in this course, feel free to talk to me about it.

Homework Guidelines

• All problem sets are due at THE START OF CLASS. Late homework will receive half credit for homework handed in after start of class but within 2 class days (e.g., homework due Monday will get half-credit if handed in after the start of class on Monday through Wednesday start of class, and will not accepted after that).
• If you are unable to attend class due to illness or an emergency, let me know as soon as you can and we will work out an appropriate schedule for assignments.
• Your name should be written on all sheets handed in.
• Problem solutions must be written out in the order they were assigned.
• Multiple pages must be stapled. No paper clips or folded corners! They don't hold together well in a big stack of homework.
• Homework should be neat. No dog ears. No messy edges from notebook paper. Did I mention STAPLED?
• Where appropriate, please box or highlight final answers. In general, try to make your answers readable and easy to find. Always keep the grader happy! If the grader can't find your answer or understand how you obtained it, (s)he will take points off.
• As mentioned elsewhere, no copying! Mathematics is best learned through working problems, not through copying solutions.

Course Resources:

Don't struggle alone! You have many options for getting help with this course.

• Me. Feel free to come to my office hours, make an appointment by email or phone, or simply try stopping by my office—you are welcome whenever my door is open. If you have some anxiety about taking math exams, please come see me and we can work together on building your math confidence.

• Homework. Although the practice problems are not graded, please work through them. Mathematics is learned ACTIVELY, not passively. You can't absorb math through listening or reading, even if you think you understand it all. Do feel free to work in groups and to discuss how to solve problems, but the write-up of the solutions should be your own and you should make sure you fully understand it.
• Textbook. I won't go over everything that is contained in the text, and I will try to avoid doing the same examples. Hence your textbook in an important independent source of information and you should read it!
• Lecture notes. Reviewing the notes you take in lecture will give you a chance to see the material again after you have had some time to assimilate it.
• Your classmates. Discussing math with others can help you think through the concepts. Explaining an idea you already understand will deepen your comprehension, and for the concepts that you don't understand well, the explanation of a peer may be more helpful than mine or the textbook's.
• The QCenter. The Quantitative Skills Center is in Merrill Science 202. It provides drop-in help afternoons and evening, as well as some one-on-one tutoring. For more information, see http://www.amherst.edu/~qcenter.
• Library resources. Various calculus books are on reserve at the Keefe Science Library
• Mathematica can be helpful for graphing of surfaces and double-checking calculations like integrals, and we will be using it regularly in the weekly labs. It is available for all college-owned computers, and is already installed in all of the public labs, e.g. in on the first floor of Seeley Mudd. Mathematica isn't available for student-owned computers for free; you can purchase a copy through the UMass Bookstore or directly from Wolfram for the same price. Other options are Wolfram's "timed" licenses, 6- and 12-month licenses ($50 and $70, respectively). See http://www.wolfram.com/products/student/mathforstudents/index.html.

To the Math 5 Homework Schedule