Department of Mathematics
Professor: Rick Penn
Office: 30 Science West (SW)
(240) 567 - 5195
Rick.Penn@MontgomeryCollege.edu
www.montgomerycollege.edu/~rpenn
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 10-11am; Thursday, 2-3pm,
or by appointment.
Textbook: Required: Calculus, Concepts and Contexts, 4th edition by James Stewart.
This is available as a hardbound book or loose-leaf (binder-ready) from the bookstore, or can be purchased as an e-book at www.cengagebrain.com/shop/index.html
Optional: The Student Solutions Manual contains solutions to all odd numbered exercises.
Calculator: You are required to bring a graphing calculator to class every day. The recommended model is the TI-84/84+, but if you own another model and know how to use it, that may also be acceptable– see me.
Supplemental Materials: The Math/Science Center, located in the basement of the Macklin Tower, has reference books, solutions manuals, loaner calculators, and, best of all, free tutors! Its hours are: Monday-Thursday, 8:00-8:00; Friday 8:00-4:00; and Saturdays 10:00-3:00.
Math 181 Course
Policies:
Communications for this class, when necessary, will be made via college e-mail. Be sure to check regularly!
You are expected to attend class every day, and to come to class having read the assigned materials.
If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact me as soon as possible so that you can be prepared for the next class session – do not wait until the next class meeting to ask for missed work! I will often be able to e-mail you copies of the missed activities so that you don’t fall even further behind.
On any graded assignment – whether homework, a quiz, or a test – any answer that is not supported by work and explanations will earn little or no credit. Assume that I am looking at your answer without the question in front of me – can I understand exactly what you did and why?
Grading:
Homework/Quizzes: 15%
Tests: 3 x 15% = 45%
Gateways: 15%
Final exam 25%
If it helps, I will drop the lowest of your 3 test grades (or your homework/quiz grade) and replace it with your final exam grade (making the final worth 40%). Then, if your class average is 90% or higher you will earn an ‘A’, 80-89.9 will earn a ‘B’, 70-79.9 will earn a ‘C’, 60-69.9 will earn a ‘D’ and less than 60% will earn an ‘F’.
Homework: Homework will be assigned weekly, and collected occasionally. I will let you know in advance which assignments will be graded. Most assignments will not be collected, but it is very important to remember that math is not a spectator sport. If you just read the book, and do not actively work the problems yourself, you probably will not pass the course. Remember the rule of thumb: A college math class will generally require at least 2 hours of work at home for every hour in class – for a 5 hour/week class such as this one, you should plan on an average of 1-2 hours of uninterrupted time to work on math homework every night.
Gateways: These are mini-tests which are graded on an all-or-nothing basis. Most of the gateways will be given online, via my website. To pass these you will be required to answer 6 questions correctly while getting at most 1 wrong. If you miss more than one question you fail the gateway and earn no credit – BUT- you can always start over and try again! The computer will not even keep track of how many attempts you take.
The last gateway, which will cover techniques of differentiation, will be a paper-and-pencil test given in class. For the differentiation gateway, all attempts after the 1st will be given during my office hours (up to one per day until the deadline), but there is a catch: after each failed attempt, you will need to earn an admission ticket for your next attempt by passing an online version of the gateway.
Each gateway will have a deadline to pass announced in class, and no credit will be given after the deadline for any reason, so you are strongly encouraged to pass well before the deadline, and if you do wait until the last few days, just hope that you don’t get sick, that there is no blizzard, etc.
Quizzes: Quizzes will be frequent – about one per week – and will be based on recent lecture and homework content. I will drop your lowest quiz grade, and average the others. No makeups will be given.
Tests: There will be 3 tests – the approximate dates for these are shown on the syllabus. I will let you know in class exactly when each test will be given, and what material it will cover. Note that while each test will emphasize material covered since the previous test, due to the nature of the course the tests will be somewhat cumulative. In general makeups for missed tests will not be given. The only exceptions will be if before the test: 1) you notify me that you will be absent for a college excused reason, and 2) we agree on a time to makeup the test before the next class meeting. Under all other circumstances, the missed grade will be recorded as a 0 (and this will be the component that you replace with the final exam).
Academic Dishonesty will not be tolerated. Anyone who cheats on any assignment or test will be reported to the Dean of Students, and will be subject to disciplinary actions. Please make sure that you obtain and read a copy of the Student Handbook which contains the Student Code of Conduct.
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I expect that when you come to class, you are doing so with the intention of learning. I will do my part to make the atmosphere as conducive to learning as possible, and I ask you to do the same. Feel free to ask questions, or to try to answer questions for other students. But please help keep the distractions down - make sure all cell phones, ipods, etc., are turned off before you come into class. Also, keep conversations unrelated to math to a minimum. If anyone wants to discuss the state of the world, or more importantly the college basketball season, I'd love to talk with you about it, just not during class time.
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Any student who may need an accommodation due
to a disability should make an appointment to see me during my office hour. A
letter from Disability Support Services (R-CB122; G-SA175; or TP-ST120)
authorizing your accommodations will be needed.
Any student who may need assistance in the
event of an emergency evacuation must identify him/herself to the Disability
Support Services Office; guidelines for emergency evacuations for individuals
with disabilities are found at: www.montgomerycollege.edu/dss/evacprocedures.htm.
If you are a veteran
or on active or reserve status and you are interested in information regarding
opportunities, programs and/or services, please visit the Combat2College
website at www.montgomerycollege.edu/combat2college
and/or contact Joanna Starling at 240-567-7103 or Joanna.starling@montgomerycollege.edu.
Gateway Instructions and Deadlines
All online gateway assignments are accessible via my website at www.montgomerycollege.edu/~rpenn
(there is also a link directly to this on the computers in the Math/Science Center)
From that page, click on the link that says “Skills Practice / Gateway Main Menu”
Enter your name and the last 6 digits of your student ID # at the prompts (everything after the M20).
You will then see a table with 20 different modules.
Click on the box with the name of the gateway module you want to complete. Each module generates problems as you go along – so it will present different, but similar, problems each time it is run. Each module has slightly different features from the others, so play around with them, and make sure you read all of the instructions. Also - make sure you scroll down on your browser window (if necessary) to see all instructions and options that might not fit on the screen. In any case, once you complete the gateway, make a printout of the results before you exit the module – no information is stored once you leave the module!
|
Module |
Due Date |
Points |
Notes |
|
Equation of a line given point and
slope |
Feb 1 |
5 |
Print the recap sheet after you answer 6 out of 7 consecutive questions correctly. |
|
Equation of a line given 2 points |
Feb 1 |
5 |
Print the recap sheet after you answer 6 out of 7 consecutive questions correctly. |
|
Systems of linear
equations in 2 vars |
Feb 1 |
5 |
Print the recap sheet after you answer 6 out of 7
consecutive questions correctly. Turn in your work along with the printout |
|
Graph a line |
Feb 1 |
5 |
Print the recap sheet after you answer 6 out of 7 consecutive questions correctly. |
|
Factor a quadratic
polynomial |
Feb 1 |
5 |
Print the recap sheet after you answer 6 out of 7 consecutive questions correctly. Note -you will be given a choice of whether to restrict the leading coefficient to 1 or allow any quadratic. Make your life easier - restrict the leading coefficient to 1. |
|
Solve a quadratic
equation |
Feb 1 |
5 |
Print the recap sheet after you answer 6 out of 7
consecutive questions correctly. Turn in your work along with the printout Warning: the instructions and some of the buttons will probably not be visible unless you scroll down – be careful not to miss them! |
|
Limits |
** |
15 |
There is no recap sheet for this module – but it does tell you how many you have answered right/wrong directly under the problem. Once you’ve answered 6 right and at most 1 wrong, print out the screen showing the problem and # right/wrong |
|
Derivatives
(graphical) |
* * |
15 |
There is no recap sheet for this module – but it does tell you how many you have answered right/wrong directly under the problem. Once you’ve answered 6 right and at most 1 wrong, print out the screen showing the problem and # right/wrong |
|
Derivatives
(analytical) |
* * |
40 |
This gateway will be given in class. Feel free to use this module as practice to help you prepare. In addition, if you do not pass the in-class version, you may earn a “retake” in my office by correctly answering 7 out of 8 consecutive questions on this module. |
Note: The 1st 6 gateways need to be completed and submitted by the beginning of class Wednesday Feb 1.
** The due dates of the last 3 gateways will depend on exactly when we complete the relevant material. I will announce the exact dates in class and on my website about 2 weeks in advance.
Remember, no points can be earned for any
gateway after the deadline!
Montgomery College
Department of Mathematics
Rockville Campus
Math 181
Below is a syllabus describing approximately which sections we will be covering each week.
Note that this is only an estimate, and changes will likely be made. I will announce at the end of each class which section(s) we will cover the following day. You are expected to come prepared for class each day. Being prepared requires that you, have completed any assigned homework from the previous lessons, bring you book and calculator to class, and have familiarized yourself with the material to be discussed that day.
Week of Sections covered
Jan 23 Intro, 1.1 - 1.4
Jan 30 1.5 - 1.7, 2.1 - 2.2
Feb 6 2.3
- 2.5
Feb 13 2.6
- 2.8
Feb 20 Test 1, 3.1
Feb 27 3.2 - 3.4
Mar 5 3.5 – 3.7
Mar 12 Spring
Break - no classes!
Mar 19 3.8 – 3.9, review
Mar 26 Test 2, 4.1 – 4.2
April 2 4.3 - 4.4, 4.6
April 9 4.7 - 4.8
April 16 Test 3, 5.1
April 23 5.2 – 5.3
April 30 5.4, review for final.
Final Exam: Monday, May 7, 12:30-2:30 pm
The 3 tests will probably given during the weeks indicated – I will give more precise information in class about exactly when they will be given. They will, however, come following the completion of chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 4, as shown.