MATH 160 Brief Calculus Spring 2001

Room and hours: LS 205, MTWF (Section 2:- 10:00- 10:50, Section 4:- 2:00- 2:50)

Instructor: Muhammad Zafrullah                                                                                Office: 709 Garrison

Phone: 282-2892 (Department), and 208-478-2759, (home) e-mail: zufrmuha@isu.edu

Office hours: M- F 11:00- 11:50 AM or by appointment.

Textbook: Applied Calculus, by Hughes-Hallett and others, John Wiley and Sons 1999.

Course prerequisites: Satisfactory completion of Math 143 or its equivalent.

Syllabus: We will cover more or less Chapters 1 through 6 of the textbook.

Course Description: This course provides a quick overview of the Calculus, its meanings and its applications, from a user’s point of view. The emphasis of this course is on applications of the Calculus to Life Sciences and Business. In this course, we will cover Chapters 1-4 and parts of Chapters 5 and 6 of the above- mentioned textbook. Of these, Chapter 1 is essentially a review and will be covered somewhat quickly.

Course objectives: On successful completion of this course you should

1. Understand the meanings of the term function and be able to recognize and interpret linear functions, power functions, polynomial functions and exponential and logarithmic functions.
2. Understand the meanings of the terms: limit of a function, derivative, differentiable, indefinite integral and definite integral.
3. Be able to find, and estimate the derivatives, using standard methods, of common differentiable functions. Be able to find the value of the derivative of a function for a given value of the variable and be able to interpret it for certain practical applications. 
4. Know the various ways the derivative function can be put to use.
5. Know the indefinite integration as the reverse process of differentiation and the definite integral as a sum/accumulated change.
6. Know the standard tools that help in finding an indefinite integral and the various applications of integration.
7. Be able to recognize the situations in the real world where your knowledge of differentiation and integration applies and be able to apply it independently

Homework: Homework will be assigned at the end of each section but will not be collected.

Calculators: You are permitted (in fact encouraged) to use programmable graphing calculators, but laptops or other devices with QWERTY keyboards, such as TI 89, TI 92 will not be allowed, neither in the class room nor in the exams.

Math Help: Math Lab (Museum Building (Top Floor)) is a free drop-in tutorial service staffed by Teaching Assistants and Instructors from the Department of Mathematics. The hours are:                To be announced                             . The Math Lab provides one of the best ways of getting personalized help. (About Math help: Remember that Mathematics is not a spectator sport. You will not get it if you do not do it. So get your hands dirty, try to do the problems yourself and seek help only if you have some real difficulty with a problem or a concept.)

Tests, quizzes and grading: There will be:

·         Three in-class  tests (dates to be announced in class),

·         A comprehensive final (Monday 5-14-2001, 10:00 AM- 12:00 PM). In addition 

·        There will be some 6 to 8 quizzes. The quizzes will not be announced. There will be a minimum of 6 quizzes to be taken. If you do take more, the highest scoring six will be taken into account.

·         To make sure that you read and understand some topics on your own I will give you some reading assignments on some topics. The reading assignments will be due at the next meeting.

Grades: The allocation of grades will be as follows: 100 points each for the three in-class  tests, 50 points for the reading assignments, and 200 for the final. The quizzes will be worth 100 points. In all you will be working for 650 points. (There will be no make-ups. If you do have legitimate and documented excuse for missing a test/quiz, your grade will be recalculated without that test.)

Grading scale will be approximately as in the following table:

(Note: I do reserve the right to give bonus points to those whose performance in the class turns out to be outstanding. Being nice to me will not help. You will have to show performance, by participating in class-discussions, by asking questions and by getting good grades.)

Changes in policies: Course policies are subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class. You are responsible for keeping track of any such announcements.

Notes: (1) Past experience indicates that you will need at least 10 hours of study per week, in addition to the 4 contact hours, if you want to get good grades in this class. Try not to miss classes. It is not always possible to see the useful points on your own.

(2) Reading the textbook, as the course progresses, enhances the understanding of the subject. Doing homework regularly also helps and allocating some study time to prepare for tests also improves the grades.

(3) About learning well, let me tell you, it feels good to know that you can do much better than your peers, as a student or as a worker. So, learn in such a way that you never forget. This usually happens when you do a lot of practice problems.

Disabilities: If you have or you believe you have a disability that may require accommodation on the part of ISU, call 282-3599 to make an appointment Dian Jenkins, Director, ADA and Disabilities Resource Center.

Academic Honesty: You may work with other students on most assignments, but you are expected to write your own solutions and reading assignments. There will be no tolerance for cheating or plagiarism. University policies will be enforced in such cases.