Math 323-01: Calculus III, Spring 2009 Syllabus

Math 323-01: Calculus III - Syllabus - Spring 2009

General Information

Meeting Times: MWF 8:30 - 9:30 in FA 209, and T 8:30-9:55 in LN 1120
Instructor: Chris Dwyer
Office: LN2235 (second floor of Library North)
Office hours:

MTW	10:00-11:00
R	9:00-10:00

If you can't meet me during my scheduled hours just check with me after class, or send me an email, to arrange a meeting time.
Mailbox: in LN 2200 (Math Dept. Office)
Email: dwyer@math.binghamton.edu
Text: Stewart Multivariable Calculus 6E

Additional Online Resources

The class webpage (specific to Section 01) at http://www.math.binghamton.edu/dwyer/math323/ contains a link to this document and any other documents made available, as well as a lecture and homework schedules.
I do not plan on making use of Blackboard. I will post a link to the course webpage on Blackboard, but you should check the course webpage for information and announcements.
The official website for the textbook is www.stewartcalculus.com, which has a number of useful tools.

Prerequisites

For this class you must have passed Calculus II. You are expected to have a solid understanding integration and differentiation, along with the major themes of Calculus I and II. Furthermore, by this point, you should be comfortable with trigonometry, and the basic trig identities. You should be quite comfortable with rules of algebra and understand that little compassion will be shown to your grade if you break those rules.

The Text

The text is required reading.

You should be reading carefully the sections in the book on or before the day they are discussed. The reading is just as important as attending lectures in developing an understanding of the material and completing the homeworks. Moreover, there are likely to be occasions when I do not have time to cover all of the information in the book; this doesn't mean you don't have to know it.

Grading Policy

Final Exam: 30%
Midterm Exams: 3 exams, 20% each
Homework, Quizzes, and Participation: 10%

Exams, Quizzes, and Homeworks

Exams

The plan is to have 3 midterm exams and a final exam; all of which will be coordinated with the rest of the class.

Midterm 1: Tuesday. February 24, in class

Midterm 2: Tuesday. March 31, in class

Midterm 3: Tuesday, April 28, in class

Final Exam: 2009-05-11, at 19:00 in LH 14.

Homeworks

Homeworks and due dates will be posted on the class webpage, and I will attempt to announce them in class. However, you should check the webpage with some regularity.

Solutions to homework problems

Homeworks will contain some odd-numbered problems, whose solutions are in the back of the book, and some even-numbers ones, whose answers are not. This is a good thing. You should learn to check your solutons yourself. One of the most important aspects of homework is developing the skill of knowing when you're right. This helps you develop confidence with the material, which is the only way you can hope to master it.

Homework policies

For homeworks, you may use whatever tools you desire or require. Calculators (particularly graphing calculators) can help in numerous ways, including helping you visualize what is happening with a function, and of course expediting computations. Computer applications such as Maple, Mathematica, and MATLAB (all of which are available in the PODS???) also make wonderful resources for helping you further develop understanding and familiarity with whatever math you happen to be studying. You must keep in mind, though, that you will not have access to a calculator, your notes, the text, or any resource other than your brain when taking tests and quizzes.

You are encouraged to work and study together, as much as you like, even for the homeworks that are to be turned in. What is most important is that, in the end, you understand the concepts involved. One caveat: any materials turned in must be your own. When I see two or more almost identical papers turned in, with the exact same silly mistakes (i.e., careless arithmetic), it is clear that people are not thinking independently. Don't let this happen. You need to write your homework up yourself.

Quizzes

Quizzes will be announced in advance, and will probably happen around once a week. They will consist of problems similar to the homework as well as definitions. If a definition occurs in assigned reading, it may appear on the quiz, even if I have not discussed it in class. The purpose of this is to reflect (1) the importance of definitions in the world of mathematics (They are very important!) and (2) the importance of reading in your education (It is very important!)

Grading quizzes

When grading, I try to be fair in giving partial credit, but I also try to be stingy in giving full credit. Even very minor mistakes will discount from an otherwise perfect score. Unless otherwise stated, always show all work. It is better to be safe and demonstrate to me that you really understand a problem and know all the steps, than to skip steps and lose points. Remember, your goal in taking a quiz or test is to demonstrate to me that you understand the material. Also, note that a minor mistake early in a large problem can end up costing you almost the entire problem, so be careful and always double check your work!

Policies on Taking quizzes

There are no calculators during quizzes; the use of a calculator or any device with calculator functionality is cheating. If you're fiddling with your cell phone during a quiz, I will assume you're using a calculator (even if your phone doesn't have one), and give you a zero. There will be no "crib sheets" or open books.

For quizzes, there are no make-ups. If you are participating a school sponsored event of some sort, provide me with some form of official notification ahead of time, and I will replace the score for that quiz with the average of your other quizzes.

Attendance

I will not take attendance. However, keep in mind that it is very difficult to do well in any class if you don't attend the lectures. If you don't attend, you won't know what I emphasize, so it will be harder to do well on homework and quizzes. Also, you should be aware of the following policy, appearing in the faculty-staff handbook:

"Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and laboratories. An instructor may deny a student the privilege of taking the final examination or of receiving credit for the course, or may prescribe other academic penalties, if the student misses more than 25 percent of the total class sessions. Excessive tardiness may count as absence. In cases of excessive absence, the instructor may request the appropriate dean's office or the Academic Advising Office to investigate." (Binghamton University Bulletin )

Participation

Participation involves a few things. You should try to take an active role in the class. Ask questions if you are confused about a topic. Come to my office hours to go over the homework if you need help. Point out any mistakes (there will be a few) I make on the board. I'm going to try to make the class interactive by asking questions in lecture, and you should feel free to try to answer them.

Getting Help

Very important observation: If you care about how you do in this class, you will not hesitate to get help when you need it. Don't wait.

Your Instructor (me) / Your Peers:
I and your classmates should be your "first line of defense."

Discussing concepts with your classmates is one of the best ways to ensure that you are truly learning the material, because moreso than any other resource, you have the opportunity to be active in the learning process. The less active you are, the less you learn. Helping other students in class solidifies and clarifies your own understanding of the material in a way that is (probably) unparalleled by any other form of studying.
I encourage you to ask questions to resolve issues with course material during class. If you have a question, it is likely that others have the same question; so it is best to have it discussed with the entire class.
Email: My email address is kjones@math.binghamton.edu. I find that email works very well when you find yourself struggling with a specific roadblock in a particular problem. If you can state clearly what your problem is in a few sentences, then this is a very efficient way for me to help you get through tougher homework problems.
Office Hours: See the "General Information" section for details.
Outside of office hours: My office is LN2235. I'm often here six or seven days a week, so if you want to discuss a particular problem in person, you can always feel free to drop by and see if I'm not too busy, or send me an email to see if I'll be around.

Calculus Help Room:
Note:This room is generally for Calc I, Calc II, Business Calc, and Statistics. However, there's no harm in stopping by to see if the TA's inside are available and have thought about the material recently enough to give you a hand. This room apparently has no number, but it is located on the second floor of the Library Tower, directly across the lobby from the Mathematical Sciences Department office. There is a schedule posted on the door of open hours.

Discovery Center:
The Discovery Center offers free by-appointment tutoring as a service to all students. To seek help here, go to the front desk of the Library in the College in the Woods.

Final Notes

You should keep in mind the following facts:

Most learning takes place at home, and not in the classroom.
It is you, the student, who is responsible to ensure that learning is taking place.
You should expect to spend about 12 hours per week (or more), outside of class, working on the course.
Students that don't fall behind do on average about twice as well as students who do, while only putting forth half the work.
Remember to take care in your calculations. Messy calculations are much more likely to contain errors, and silly mistakes can add up to a significantly diminished grade.