Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Welcome to
TOPICS IN CALCULUS (MAT 131)
Spring 2012

MAT 131-01, LEC 2474
MWF 10:20AM–11:10AM
Adel Mathematics Room 146
INSTRUCTOR:Dr. Carol JVF Burns
 INSTRUCTOR'S SCHEDULE
OFFICE:Adel Mathematics: Room 112
OFFICE PHONE:928-523-6872
EMAIL:carol.fisher@nau.edu (my former name is Fisher—I was married last term!)
WEBPAGE:http://www.onemathematicalcat.org (or google ‘math cat burns’)
BBLEARN:bblearn.nau.edu (online learning environment)
OFFICE HOURS:9:00–10:00 MW, 9:00–11:00 Th
CURRENT GRADE SHEET:shows all course assessments to date

PREREQUISITES

MAT 108, MAT 110, or MAT 119 with grade greater than or equal to C, or satisfactory placement.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course covers introductory topics in differential and integral calculus, with an emphasis on applications.

COURSE STRUCTURE/APPROACH

This course will use a mix of lecture and web-based work.
You'll be introduced to multi-platform, web-based, free technologies, including GeoGebra and Wolfram|Alpha Computational Knowledge Engine.
Want to know what we're doing on a given day?
Many course materials, including daily activities and homework, are on the web:

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK

Applied Calculus for Business, Economics, and the Social and Life Sciences, tenth edition, by Laurence D. Hoffmann and Gerald L. Bradley

REQUIRED MATERIALS

3-RING BINDER and DIVIDER SHEETS
A 3-ring binder is required to organize all class materials.
Please make tabs for FIRST DAY HANDOUT (this document), GRADE SHEET, and INDEX CARDS.
INDEX CARDS
Index cards (4" × 6", both sides un-ruled) are used to summarize important material. You will need about 100 index cards.
It is strongly recommended that you purchase a 3-hole punched plastic zippered pouch in which to keep your index cards.

OPTIONAL MATERIALS

A calculator is strongly recommended (but it doesn't need to be a graphing calculator).

COURSE OUTLINE and IMPORTANT DATES (including EXAMS)

There are 44 class meetings throughout the term.
We will cover most of chapters 1–6 in the text.
The exam dates listed below will not change:
EXAM #1: Friday, February 17
EXAM #2: Friday, March 23
EXAM #3: Friday, April 27

ASSESSMENTS and GRADE SHEET

Each student is given a Grade Sheet that is maintained throughout the term—you'll know your current grade at every point in time.
Every time an assessment is passed back, you'll update your grade sheet (see example below).
Here are a few sample rows filled out:
SPRING TERM 2012 YOUR POINTS POSSIBLE POINTS
# BRIEF DESCRIPTION DATE PTS EARNED CUM EARNED
(C)		 MAX
PTS		 CUM
MAX
(M)		 YOUR % GRADE
100*(C/M)
(round to tenths place)
1. Homework 1/20 $16$ $16$ $20$ $20$ $100\cdot\frac{16}{20} = 80$
2. Quiz 1/25 $45$ $16+45=61$ $60$ $60+20=80$ $100\cdot\frac{61}{80} \approx 76$
3. QQ points 1/27 $5$ $61+5=66$ --- $80$ $100\cdot\frac{66}{80} \approx 83$
Assessments will consist of quizzes over homework, three in-term exams, index cards, attendance, and a cumulative final exam.
Homework is assigned daily, as indicated on the daily syllabus.
A Friday quiz covers material from the prior Wednesday, Friday, and Monday. This way, you will always have a class period to get homework questions answered before you are quizzed on the material.

FINAL EXAM DATE:
Monday, May 7 10:00 AM–12:00 PM
The cumulative final exam will count as 20% of your final course grade.
You must take the final at the designated date and time—keep this in mind as you make your travel plans.
(You definitely don't want a zero as 20% of your course grade.)
An extreme exception: if you have three or more finals in the same 24-hour period, then you are allowed to reschedule one of the exams.

QUICK QUIZZES

At the beginning of each class there is a Quick Quiz (QQ), which consists of a basic question from the previous day's work.
Pick up a piece of scrap paper as you enter: the long side goes up/down; name in upper-left; your number (see below) in upper-right.
One purpose of the QQ is to get you to class on time—it is given at the scheduled start time, and there are absolutely no QQ make-ups.
The QQ also gives me a complete attendance record (if you arrive late, there is a sheet you must sign).
The Quick Quizzes are graded with a  ‘1’  (one point) or an  ‘N’  (Not completely correct).
I keep track of your QQ points, and they are periodically added into your point total as BONUS POINTS.
Quick Quizzes are discarded immediately after grading.
Quick Quizzes can't hurt your grade, but they can certainly help! They can make a difference of a letter grade (especially if you're borderline).

GRADING SYSTEM

Grades will be based on a percentage not deviating significantly from the following scale:
A: 90-100% B: 80-89% C: 70-79% D: 60-69% F: 0-59%

COURSE POLICIES

MATH DEPARTMENT POLICIES

The Mathematics Department will not accept homework.
The Mathematics Department does not have calculators for students to borrow.

HELP!!! HOW CAN I GET IT?

THE ‘INDEX CARD’ LECTURE METHOD

All the important ideas in the course are summarized on index cards, which become a primary study source for exams and quizzes.
You can mix up the order, so your learning isn't order-dependent. You can pull out cards that you already know.
Here's how the ‘index card method’ works:

CHANGES IN THE FIRST DAY HANDOUT

Events during the term may make it advisable to change information in this handout. Any such changes will be communicated during class.

YOUR NUMBER IS ...

On the first day of class, a form will be passed around where you will get your number for the term.
This number is written in the upper-right corner on all passed-in material.
Please record your number below:
MY NUMBER IS:

STUDENT WORKLOAD

On average, you will need to spend two hours outside of class for each class day to be successful in this course.
If you're not putting in this time, then it's likely that you won't get the grade you desire.

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

UNIVERSITY AND DEPARTMENT POLICIES—FALL 2011

Course Prerequisites and Placement: Prior to enrollment in a course in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics a student must have completed the course prerequisites or have proper placement for the course. It is the students' responsibility to check that they are properly enrolled in a course and to drop the course if they are not. Failure to do so could result in not receiving credit for the course. The department may cancel students' registration in a course in which they are not properly enrolled. However, it is the student's responsibility to monitor their own enrollment.

Administrative Drops: An instructor may administratively drop from a course any student who does not attend the first two class meetings. Students who have not met all prerequisites for a course may be administratively dropped. However, it is the student's responsibility to monitor their own enrollment.

Class Attendance: Students are expected to assume full responsibility for class attendance and are accountable for work missed because of absences. Instructors are under no obligation to make special arrangements for students who have been absent unless such absence has been excused by a formal institutional excuse. Institutional excuses permit a student to be absent from classes to represent the University in athletics and extracurricular or academic activities. Institutional excuses must be hand-delivered to the instructor and arrangements made for the work missed prior to the planned absence from class.

Dropping/Auditing a Course: The last day you may drop a course (and receive a W) is October 28, 2011. Academic policy requires that a student who never attended class or stopped attending class receive an F should the student fail to officially drop the course. The deadline to change from credit to audit or vice versa is September 9, 2011. Once a student has registered and completed a class as an auditor, the audit grade cannot be changed to a credit-earning grade. The grade of AU is awarded to auditors for satisfactory attendance. See the most recent Academic Catalog for more information.

The Grade of Incomplete: A grade of I is given by an instructor only if a student is unable to finish a course due to extraordinary, unforeseeable circumstances, and the deadline to drop has passed. An incomplete is only given to a student who was passing the course with a grade of C or higher at the time the student was forced to stop attending. Before a grade of I can be given the student and instructor must complete the official department form indicating the work to be completed, as well as the date(s) by which the work must be completed. A grade of I not removed within a one-year period automatically reverts to a grade of F.

Final Examinations: Final examinations are required in all classes and must be given at the scheduled times and dates indicated in the university final exam schedule. An exception to the official final examination schedule can be made if a student is scheduled to take more than two examinations in one day.

Other University Policies
Students are responsible for the following policies: Safe Environment, Students with Disabilities, Institutional Review Board, Academic Integrity, and Academic Contact Hour.