Math 126C Minitest Information.

ADDED ON 1/23: Professor Arms will be in the MSC today (Wednesday) 5 to 6 (or a little after).
Answers to the review and sample test problems are at links at the bottom of this page.

The test will be given in quiz section on Thursday, January 24, and will be 45 minutes long. You do not need to bring a bluebook or even paper to write on. There will be room on the test paper to do your work, and you may ask for extra blank paper if needed.

Calculators: The questions will be designed so that you do not have to have a calculator to take the test. In particular, you may leave the answers in "exact form," that is in terms of pi, square roots, etc., not decimal approximations, and you do not need to simplify complicated algebraic expressions. If you wish, you may use a non-graphing calculator; see the Math 126 calculator Policy. If you do any simplifying or decimal approximations of answers, be especially careful to show your steps and reasoning clearly so we can follow your work.

Notes: You may bring one index card or half a notebook sized sheet of handwritten notes. (Maximum dimensions 5.5 by 8.5 inches.) The main reason for allowing notes is to encourage "top down" studying (organizing your thinking about the material, identifying common themes, etc.) and, conversely, discourage "bottom up" studying (merely memorizing formulas). Handwritten notes are required so that you have to think about the material to produce the notes, which is also a good study technique. It's OK to write on both sides of the paper, but it is in your interest to summarize thoughtfully, so you are not spending precious exam time reading through detailed notes.

Topics covered by the Minitest: Everything in the Taylor Notes, with emphasis on section 5.
Study suggestions:

1. First be sure you know how to do all the homework problems and worksheet problems. Some homework problems would not be good test problems because their computations are too complicated, but you should know how to do them.
2. When studying, whenever you find a Taylor Series, it is a good idea to write out at least the first 3 or 4 nonzero terms as well as giving the sigma notation with the formula for the general term. (Test problems may ask you to do this, and also it may help your understanding.)
3. On the Old first (126) midterms, almost all problems on Taylor series and Taylor polynomials are good review problems. (Exception: We did not cover the idea needed to do 1c on the oldest test, Goebel, Au05.) I recommend you look at the following problems first.
   Loveless, Win07, problems 3, 4, & 5
   Gunnarsson, Sp07, problem 4 (save problem 1 for the "sample test," see below.)
   Goebel, Sp06, problems 1 & 2
   Arms, Aut06, problems 2, 3, & 4
   Some solutions may be posted here later in the week.
4. The following problems from old 126 midterms together are roughly like a "sample test" for our test. Keep in mind always that no single test can include all the topics you are supposed to know. To make the best use of this as a sample test, first study the old midterm problems listed above, then try this set of problems using your prepared notes and with a 45 minute time limit.
   Gunnarsson, Sp07, problem 1, and
   Pevtsova, Win07, problems 1, 2, and 3.
5. If you want more practice after studying the problems listed above, look for other problems on the old midterms that are similar to the problems which are causing you the most difficulty, e.g., those involving integrals, or those with the base point b not 0, or whatever you want practice on.
6. Answers and solutions. You make the best use of the review and practice test problems if you work them completely through before you look at the answers.
   Loveless, Win07
   Gunnarson, Sp07, and Arms, Aut06
   Goebel, follow links to "Old course pages" then "Math 126" then "Midterm 1 stuff" and then at the bottom of that page, "Midterm 1 solutions"
   Pevtsova, Win07

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