MAT 270 Syllabus

MAT 270 – Fall 2003

Calculus with Analytic Geometry I

Line #35720

Instructor:	Dr. Michael Oehrtman oehrtman@math.asu.edu 480-965-6647	Office Hours:	MW: 12:00-1:30pm or by appointment (PSA 645)
Class Time:	MTWF, 9:40-10:30 am
Location:	PSA 303
Class Website:	http://math.asu.edu/~oehrtman/mat270

Required Text: Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 5th ed., by James Stewart
or
Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 5th ed., by James Stewart

Optional Texts: Study guides and student solution manuals are available at the bookstore.

Prerequisite: MAT 170 (pre-calculus) or the equivalent, or a passing score (11 out of 25) on the readiness exam. The readiness exam must be taken in the Department of Mathematics Testing Center, PSA 21, by August 27. If you took the test prior to Feb. 10, 2003 it must be retaken. Students that have neither a passing score in MAT 170 nor a score of 11/25 on the test will be automatically dropped from the course.

Course Description: MAT 270 is the first semester of our standard first-year calculus sequence. It is designed for students with interests in the mathematical, natural, and social sciences, as well as for prospective engineers and develops (1) a conceptual understanding of the major ideas of the differential and integral calculus, (2) technical facility with its techniques and theorems, and (3) the ability to use these techniques and theorems to solve a variety of standard and nonstandard problems. While the focus of the course is not on theory, students will be expected to learn the proofs of a few important theorems and to be able to construct proofs of basic propositions. We will cover roughly Chapters 1 through 5 of the text.

Grades are determined as follows:
Points	Assignment	Approximate Date*
100	Reading Quizzes	Periodic
250	Homework	Regularly
100	Preliminaries Quiz	Friday, September 12
150	Midterm 1	Wednesday, October 8
100	Mastery Exam	Thursday, October 23
150	Midterm 2	Wednesday, November 12
150	Midterm 3	Monday, December 8
200	Final	Saturday, December 13 (7:40-9:30 am, LL 248)
1200	Total Possible Points	*Dates listed are subject to change depending on the rate at which we cover the course material.

Grading Scale:

A	1080-1200
B	960-1079
C	840-959
D	720-839
E	below 720

Reading Quizzes: An important part of learning mathematics is learning the language of the community. Toward this end, we will spend significant time making sense out of our text, and periodic pop quizzes will be given to assess your efforts. I will give about 13 of these quizzes throughout the semester and drop the lowest three grades, thus missed quizzes cannot be made up for any reason.

Homework:

Half of the homework will be completed online using WeBWork, focusing on computational techniques. This has the advantage of being instantly graded as well as allowing multiple attempts at the same homework problem, so it is always possible for you to earn 100%. You should persist in working each assigned problem until you have found the correct answer. The WeBWork site is http://webwork.asu.edu/
Half of the homework will be assigned from problems in the text that focus on conceptual understanding and problem solving. Several of these problems will ask you to explain your reasoning, draw diagrams, or interpret results. These will be scored by the class grader with significant attention on the big ideas rather than procedures. A correct numerical answer will receive no credit if it is not supported by appropriate reasoning. Conversely, an incorrect answer can still receive partial (or even full) credit if the reasoning is strong and the error was a computational oversight. All homework assignments will be posted on the class website at http://math.asu.edu/~oehrtman/mat270/assignments.html.

Preliminaries Quiz: The content in the first chapter of the text is review material which all students in MAT 270 are expected to have previously mastered. We will spend the first three weeks of class covering the major ideas in this chapter and you will take a preliminaries quiz on September 12. If you do not earn a C or higher on this quiz, you should seriously consider dropping the course before the unrestricted withdrawal deadline on September 19.

Mastery Test: Starting about the time that Chapter 3 is completed, students take a “mastery” test on derivatives. A score of 85% will be regarded as the mastery level indicator. Students who don't achieve this level will retake the test after one week. If mastery is not obtained on the second try then a third mastery test will be taken one week after the second take. Students will receive a mastery “grade” based on a scheme that puts a premium on passing the test early:

Pass on first try	full score
Pass on second try	85% of the score
Pass on third try	75% of the score
No pass	zero score

This exam will be administered in the Testing Center, PSA 21.
The exact dates will be announced in class.

Midterms and Final: The three midterms and the cumulative final will account for over half of your final grade in the course and will mostly assess your conceptual understanding of the material. While the problems on these exams will be difficult and require significant problem solving, they will also be similar or identical to problems you have already seen throughout the course.

Exam Policy:

Makeup tests for missed midterms will be given only in the case of verified medical or other emergency. I must be notified before the regular exam is given. Call my office or the Mathematics Department Office (965-3951) and leave a message.
The final exam schedule listed in the schedule of classes will be strictly followed. It is the policy of the Department of Mathematics that makeup exams for finals will only be given for the following reasons:

Religious conflict (e.g., the student celebrates the Sabbath on Saturday);

The student has more than three exams scheduled on the day that includes the math final;

There is a time conflict between a student's math final and another final exam;

There is a last-minute personal or medical emergency.

The department reserves the right to request written documentation to substantiate any claim of hardship. In case (4), the student generally is given a mark of Incomplete provided that he or she has a passing grade going into the final exam and is able to take the final examination during the following semester. Makeup exams will NOT be given for reasons of non-refundable airline tickets, vacation plans, work schedules, weddings, family reunions, and other such activities. Students should consult the final exam schedule before making plans for the end of the semester.

Tutoring:

There is tutoring for MAT 270 available at the Engineering Tutor Center in ECF 102 (hours TBA). Take advantage of this FREE tutoring available for you!
The Learning Resource Center at Arizona State University provides tutoring, peer coaching, academic skills workshops, and software training to help students improve their academic performance and persist to graduation. They provide one free hour of tutoring a week, or, for only $25 a semester you can receive 2-3 hours of tutoring each week.
The Freshmen Year Experience tutoring program has sites at Palo Verde East residential hall lobby, Manzanita residential hall lobby, and Sonora 5th floor residential hall lobby. These tutoring services are free for all ASU students. The sites have math, English, science, and other subject tutors. The math courses tutored are the 100, 200, and some 300 level math courses. Students can stop in without any appointment. Check their website for fall hours.

Special Study Sessions: From time to time, I will schedule an evening or weekend session to review material, work difficult problems, and have a little fun in the process.

Optional Volunteer Projects: Throughout the semester, I will organize at least two opportunities for the entire class to participate in special volunteer projects, such as tutoring at a local high school or helping to build a house for Habitat for Humanity. Participation is entirely optional and will not affect your grade or standing in the class in any way.

Graphing Calculator: A graphing calculator is highly recommended for this course. The suggested calculators include the Texas Instruments 83, 83+ , 92, 92+ , 89 and the Casio CFX-9850GB+ , FX2, or 9970G. You are responsible for knowing how your calculator works! There are also calculator handouts on the web at http://fym.la.asu.edu/~fym/GraphCal/Graphing.html

Unrestricted Withdrawal (Deadline September 19th): A student may withdraw from a course with a grade of W during the unrestricted withdrawal period. The instructor's signature is not required.

Restricted Withdrawal (Deadline October 31st): In order to withdraw during this period, the student must obtain the instructor's signature. A grade of W will be assigned only if the student is doing acceptable work at the time of the request. Otherwise the student will receive an E.

Research Project: I am currently conducting research on critical issues in the teaching and learning of calculus concepts. As a part of this work I will be collecting data in this class and your cooperation is entirely voluntary but greatly appreciated.

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