Math 1131 - Fall 2013
Calculus I
Section 070

Brief course description: This course focuses on techniques and applications of differential calculus and an introduction to integral calculus. Concepts will be treated from a geometric, algebraic, and numerical perspective.

Topics Covered: Sections to be covered from the text are in Chapters 1 through 5. A syllabus is in a weekly chart here. Since lectures are twice a week, usually half the weekly material will be covered in each lecture. You are strongly urged to read the book before the corresponding lecture in the class and to use office hours of the instructor and TAs, as well as the Q Center to get help. The pace of this course is not slow. If you blow off class for a week, you may find yourself completely lost and it can be hard to catch up. Make sure to get any misunderstandings about the material cleared up right away!

Prerequisites: Precalculus. The hardest issue students usually have in calculus is not the new topics in calculus, but rather the constant use of precalculus. If you find your familiarity with precalculus to be inadequate, make sure to seriously review the material. Use the Q Center as well as resources (videos, flashcards, clicker questions) for Math 1131 and Math 1060 here (requires NetID and password to access).

Lecture notes:   These will be available at the page for the large lecture (section 070) in HuskyCT.

Homework:  Your homework problems will be done using WebAssign, which you will access using your discussion section page for Math 1131 on HuskyCT. Some homework questions may appear on quizzes or exams in a slightly altered form (e.g., different numbers are used).

Clickers: During most lectures there will be some questions that you answer using clickers. Information about registering your clicker is on the common course page.

Course grade:  On the common course page is a breakdown of how much different parts of the course contribute to the course grade (including clickers, quizzes, and exams).

Makeup policy:  Late work will not be accepted.

Course conduct: To respect everyone's right to a productive learning environment, you do not want to distract yourself or your classmates. Please refrain from disruptive activities during lecture and discussion section. This includes browsing the internet. Please turn off all personal electronic gadgets, including smartphones, before entering a classroom (except calculators and, for lectures, clickers). You may not use a laptop during class unless you show me that you can take notes electronically on advanced math in real time. On a positive note, do feel free to ask questions!

Learning Tips:

• Come to every lecture and discussion section on time and stay for the entire time. The course is cumulative: what we learn will probably be used later. (In the event that the main lecture is cancelled, the material may be taught in the following discussion section.)
• To help you concentrate during lecture, don't sit with your friends. Consider also sitting closer to the front.
• Focus on trying to understand the material being discussed. If you are confused, raise your hand and say clearly "Question!"
• Write thorough notes and review them after class. Be sure that after class, when you review your notes, you can carry out all calculations done in class.
• Read the text (explanations and worked examples) before doing the homework.
• It is a mistake to skip homework, because no skills can be learned by passive involvement, but only by regular practice. Think about how often the UConn basketball teams drill basic moves and shots, even if they play a game just once a week. Do you think they practice only once a week? And do they wait to cram all their practice until the night before a game? Skills are learned best over time; you can't learn several weeks of material from this course only right before a test.
• The only way to learn calculus well is to solve lots of problems, and more is better than less if a fluent command of the material is your goal.

Calculators: On quizzes and exams you may use calculators below a TI-89, but not TI-89 or something higher. Do not let the calculator become a mental crutch as you try to understand the ideas of this course, most of which actually have nothing to do with calculators. You should regard the use of a calculator somewhat like that of a dictionary or grammar table for another language. Someone who needs a dictionary to translate even the simplest part of a basic French text or to hold a conversation in French does not know French that well. Of course properly using and understanding the French language means a lot more than just knowing French words and how they are inflected, but such knowledge without outside aids is an important prerequisite to becoming comfortable with French. In the same way, your comfort in this course will increase if you can handle certain basic computations quickly in your head. These include:

• knowing the values of some basic trigonometric functions at special numbers; at least know the sine and cosine of 0, π/2, and π. If you don't know why these are easy to know, please ask!
• multiplying small numbers (like 2 times 6, 3 times 9, or 4 times 7)
• simplifying small fractions (3/6 is 1/2 and 8/12 is 2/3)
• knowing the relation between dividing and multiplying, for instance multiplying by ½ is the same as dividing by 2
• knowing approximate values of certain numbers: π is around 3.14, √2 is around 1.414 and √3 is around 1.732 (note: George Washington was born in 1732; a student from Math 1132 in Spring 2004 used this mnemonic device)

Academic integrity: Students are expected to avoid academic misconduct. Your integrity is not worth losing (and the course not worth failing) by falsely presenting yourself in any aspect of this course. For further information on academic integrity, see Appendix A of the Student Code.