Syllabus for "Analytic Geometry and Calculus III"

Ma242-011 Spring 2007

When ? Where ?
T-TH 3:35 – 5:25pm HA 314

 

Prerequisites : You must have completed MA 241 (or its equivalent somewhere) with grade of C or better to take this class. The reason for this is simple - you'll need it! If you need a review of MA 241, please consider working through some materials at my old calculus II course webpage.

Overview : This is the third in a 3-semester course on calculus. The methods and concepts presented in this course are fundamental to most if not all technical disciplines. It is important that you master the techniques of MA 242. I look forward to helping you toward that goal, but ultimately the responsibility is yours. The ability to think in mathematics comes from practice (for most of us anyway), so make sure you set aside plenty of time thoughout the week to work out the subject for yourself. It is my sincere desire that each one of you come to a deep and lasting understanding of the calculus.

Course Essentials :
  • Lecture Notes posted online. Cost to you - zero dollars modulo printing.
  • Required Text is: Calculus Concepts and Contexts, 3rd NC State University edition, by James Stewart, Brooks/Cole, 2005.
    • Note: If you don't have the 3rd edition then the homework problems have different numbering for you. It is your responsiblity to get the correct homework problems from someone with the 3rd ed. For example, you may borrow mine during office hours.
  • Supplemental Text: Vector Calculus, Susan Jane Colley. You can get whichever edition (1,2 or 3). I have the first edition. This book is very nice.
  • No calculator is required for this course. Maple can do much more than even the best graphing calculator.
    Note: I will allow scientific calculators ( TI-34 for example) during tests, but no graphing calculators. You should not need them anyway! (for my tests)


    • Information about your instructor :
    Instructor: Mr. James Cook
    Office: Hillsborough Building 201 (don't go there - I'm not there usually)
    "Office" Hours: M-W-F 9:10-10am in Ha 209
    I am also available in the tutorial center (HA 244) on Monday from 10am-12pm.
    Email: testbetter@yahoo.com

    Grading :
    45% Tests (there will be 3 tests, none dropped)
    20% Homework/Quizzes (collected at beginning of class most weeks)
    10% Maple (lowest grade dropped)
    2% Class Participation
    23% Final Exam

    Letter Grades will follow:
    98+ --->A+
    93-97--->A
    90-92--->A-
    87-89--->B+
    83-86--->B
    80-82--->B-
    77-79--->C+
    73-76--->C
    70-72--->C-
    67-69--->D+
    63-66--->D
    60-62--->D-
    <59 --->F
    Credit Only will be graded "U" if your grade is lower than 70, and "S" otherwise.

  • I do not curve grades. What grade you earn on the test is the genuine grade that counts towards your overall score.
  • Usually I give a bonus project sometime during the semester, and there are various opportunities for bonus points - just keep an eye out for them as you study. I will also award bonus points for insightful questions, if I learn something then you profit. Bonus points are added onto the test total, so if you made a 100 on test I and got 5 bonus points then you would effectively get 105.
  • Check out your grades at click the "Grade Book" link .


    • Homework and Quizzes:
  • I may hold a pop quiz on occasion, the grade will be included with the homework grade.
  • Required homework is to be done by the due date ( click here for the homework list and schedule also keep an eye on your email for extensions and/or corrections/hints etc...). I will collect all of the required homework at the beginning of class on the due date. Please prepare the required homework (don't include the recommended homework) neatly. We will select an excellent solution to post for the class ( this earns you a bonus point ), if you wish for your solution to not be posted simply indicate so on each homework. Usually the grader will pick one or two problems to grade. Certainly you should do more than just the required homework, notice I have listed recommended (ungraded) homeworks and its good to rework examples from lecture on your own. Additionally, as an aid to your studying I have posted over a hundered pages of solutions to select homeworks, sometimes even the required problems, you should keep those in mind as you work out the problems. I encourage you to discuss the homework with your peers, notice I have set-up message boards through Wolfware for you to post questions/comments about the homework. You may also email me questions, earlier is better because if you wait upto the deadline I may be overloaded with questions. I do welcome reasonable questions by email and I typically respond within a day.


    • Maple: is divided into several assignments. They can be found at www.math.ncsu.edu/calculus. Maple no longer has a lab. It is self-taught and automatically graded by the "egrader". Most students do not need help with Maple because the assignments are self-explanatory for the most part. However, just in case there are several help sessions offered every week in G-108 under Harrelson Hall starting the second week of the semester (check the maple page for details). I highly recommend that you use Maple to help visualize three dimensional geometry. I will drop the lowest Maple assignment. Maple grades will probably not appear in the Wolfware Grade Book until the semester's end.

    Some Advice : It is true that I have posted the notes online, and it is true that I will follow those notes very closely. However, I will sometimes skip certain examples and emphasize others. The easiest way to know what is going on is to come to class. Additionally because we meet many hours a week, there will be ample time for homework questions. My responses to those questions will not appear online generally. Needless to say, missing class will not help your performance in this course. These silly comments aside, please make a habit of taking notes in my course if you usually do. If you are like me, then you can probably learn something just from writing the material down. The point of the notes being online is to supplement traditional notes, not to replace them. If you'd rather just read along, that's also fine.

    Class Participation : Your participation grade comes from "good" and "bad" participation.What is bad participation? Basically anything which distracts your fellow students from learning. Just to be clear from the start, let me make a list of common problems:
    1. Talking out of turn
    2. Talking and or audibly whispering to your neighbor
    3. Leaving early
    4. Coming late
    5. Using a Laptop to surf the web, play games exc... (reading course notes is ok)
    6. Complaining (remember that this class is governed by a benevolent dictator - don't poke the bear.)
    If you make a habit of any of the above you will lose points from class participation. Sorry for all the rules but they're for your protection. What is good participation? Basically anything which encourages and/or helps your classmates to learn, for example:
    1. Pointing out typos on the board
    2. Asking questions (often you're not the only one who doesn't understand)
    3. Noticing errors on the course web page
    I don't require you to ask a question, but if you have one, please raise your hand. I'd rather not make these comments but experience has taught me otherwise. For as long as I can remember I have not needed to deduct any student's participation points. I trust you will help me to continue that trend.

    Absences & Excused Tests : Sorry, but I need to be quite inflexible this semester. We do not accept late homework. This is for the sanity of the grader and because we post solutions. All of the required homework is posted so if you need to take a trip or something you should plan to turn in the work early ( I'm happy to help you work ahead during office hours ). If you have an unplanned emergency it is likely I will simply increase the weight of your final exam.
    IF YOU HAVE A UNIVERSITY APPROVED ABSENCE, then you may make up a test(s) on the final exam.
    This means, for example, if you missed 1 test, then the final exam could be weighted 38%, instead of 23%.
    Attendance for tests is required, please note the test dates and plan accordingly:

  • Test I : Febuary 1
  • Test II : Febuary 27
  • Test III : March 29
  • Final Exam : Tuesday May 8 from 1-4pm in Ha 314.


    • Disabilities : If you have any special needs, please contact me as early as possible to make arrangements.
    Please do not wait until the test. It's your responsibility to tell me now so I can help you. Thanks.
    "Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accomodations, students must register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. For more information on NC State's policy on working with students with disabilities, please see the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation (REG02.20.1)"

    Disclaimer : While I have attempted to completely specify the content of this course, I reserve the right to change this syllabus if necessary.

    back to homepage