MATH 1951 Course Page

MATH 1951 (Section 11)
Calculus I
Autumn 2014

This is the homepage for MATH 1951 (Calculus I), Section 11. This page will be updated throughout the term with important information for our course, including homework assignments, review materials, solutions to assignments, and more. CHECK IT FREQUENTLY!

Announcements

Solutions for our practice exam have been posted.
A practice final exam has been posted.
If you would like to review some high school algebra, there are a variety of resources online. (For instance, Googling "high school algebra review" gives a ton of useful sites.) Here are some examples I've found. I take no responsibility for the content at these sites, though I found no errors or problems in a brief read-through.
- There is an algebra review assignment on our WebAssign, labeled "Assignment 0.5," which you can do for extra credit.
- The website PurpleMath has some descriptive algebra reviews: see http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm.
- Prof. D.P. Story at the University of Akron has a series of 10 algebra review documents at http://www.math.uakron.edu/~dpstory/mpt_home.html.
- The free education website Khan Academy has some useful videos about solving algebra problems: http://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra.
Please complete the 1-question test assignment using WebAssign by 11:59 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th.
In addition to scheduled office hours, remember that the Math Center is staffed with many tutors who can help you. The Math Center is staffed from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Friday, and 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday of each week.

Course Information

Instructor: Ronnie Pavlov
Office: Aspen Hall 715C
e-mail: rpavlov@du.edu
Phone: (303)-871-4001
Office hours: Wednesday 9-11, Thursday 3-4, or by appointment (please try to give 24 hours advance notice for appointment requests)

Graduate TA: Konrad Aguilar
Office: Aspen Hall 719A
e-mail: konrad.aguilar@du.edu
Office hours: Sunday 3-5 in the Math Center

Our class meets every day from 1:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m. in Boettcher Auditorium, room 102.
Konrad will lead the class on Fridays for both sections.

Text

Text: Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals 7th Edition by Stewart.

This book is available at the DU Bookstore, and will also be used for MATH 1952 and 1953.

The sections which we will be covering in the text are all of chapters 2, 3, and 4, EXCEPT for sections 3.11, 4.6, 4.8, and 4.9.

Course summary

Our course covers differential calculus, meaning that the main topic is the derivative and its applications. The course is broken into three main portions, roughly corresponding with chapters of your textbook: We begin with limits, both their computation and applications (Chapter 2), moving to derivatives, both their significance and techniques for their computation (Chapter 3), and finishing with various applications of derivatives (Chapter 4). Chapter 1 contains useful review information which you should already be familiar with for this course, and so we will not be covering it in class.

The most important advice I can give you for this course is to honestly evaluate your own progress. Mathematics, perhaps more than any other subject, allows for constant easy self-evaluation; either you know how to complete exercises from the section on your own, without outside help, or you do not. If you are having trouble, come see me or Stephanie! Either of us will be happy to discuss any aspect of the class which is causing trouble, either informally after class or during office hours. A difference of even a couple of days in seeking help can be absolutely devastating in such a fast-paced course, so PLEASE do not hesitate.

Grading scheme

Your term grade will consist of homework assignments (roughly 1 per week), weekly quizzes, two one-hour midterm exams, and a final exam, broken down in the following way:

30% Final exam
20% Midterm 1
20% Midterm 2
20% Quizzes
10% Homework

Homework

Your homework assignments will be posted and collected using WebAssign, an online tool for problem dissemination. To get started, go to http://webassign.net and create an account. To do this, go to the right-hand side of the page, and look for a link that says "I have a Class Key." (This is right under the words "Log in.") Your class key for our section is

du 3205 4405

With this, you should be able to create an account with your own username and password and start learning about the system. I have also posted a short 1-question homework assignment as a test to make sure that everyone can log into the system; please complete this by 11:59 p.m., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th.

Quizzes

You will have quizzes during each week of class that we do not have an exam. They will be roughly 20 minutes long, and will be given at the end of class on Fridays. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. For this reason, I will not give makeup quizzes except in the case of a documented absence (e.g. prolonged illness)

Exams

You will have two midterm exams, dates to be announced, during class time in our classroom. Your final exam will be on November 18th, from 12:00 a.m. - 1:50 p.m.

Important Documents

Course Schedule (subject to minor changes!)

Course Policies

You may use a simple scientific calculator for all exams and quizzes. Graphing or programmable calculators are not allowed as well as calculators that can perform any kind of calculus or symbolic operations. Use of a non-approved calculator will be considered a violation of DU’s honor code. If you have any questions about your calculator please see me.

Makeup quizzes or exams will only be offered in the event of extreme circumstances. If you think you have a problem which will force you to miss an exam, come talk to me as soon as possible!!!