Welcome to the web page for the three Math 124 classes that taught by Paul Smith. Most of the information about this course can be found at the Math 124 Materials Website. You will find there the syllabus, the weekly homework (including solutions), the Worksheets you will work on every Tuesday, and more. The material there can also be purchased for $7.50 at the Copy Center in the basement of Communications. Down there you will also find the Math Study Center. This is a place where you can work on homework and get help. I can't say enough about how useful this resource can be. It has extensive hours of operation (click on the link and read all about it). We meet in Smith 304 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (124C at 9:30, 124E at 10:30, 124F at 11:30).
The prerequisite for Math 125 is a 2.0 in Math 124. Thus, my basic grading policy is to award grades above 2.0 to those who understand the Math 124 material well enough to proceed to Math 125. My expectation is that if you get a total score above 60%, then I will give you a grade above 2.0. And if your total score is below 40% I will give you a grade below 2.0. Notice that there is a gap here. This is because I cannot know how faithfully your scores represent your mastery of the Math 124 material until I have looked at your midterm and final exams.
Once I decide what score should be worth a 2.0, I will use two straight lines to determine your grade. For example, if I decide that 55% should be worth a 2.0, draw a line through (20,0) and (55,2), and another line through (55,2) and (85,4). The x-axis is your score (out of 100) and the y-axis is your grade.
More about Grading. There are many 124 classes taught by several different professors. Each professor will give different midterms, but all 124 students will take the same final exam. Thus, scores on midterms will not be directly comparable from one professor to the next. Only the final exam scores are directly comparable. In particular, the average scores on the midterm exams will vary from professor to professor. For example, my students will usually get lower raw scores on the midterms than those in another professor's class---the average score on my first midterm was about 50%, whereas another professor's average was 80%, and another had an average of about 65%. This DOES NOT mean that students in my 124 class will get a lower grade than students in another 124 class. I believe that students in my 124 classes are every bit as capable as those in professor X's class, and the final grades will reflect that fact. I will set my final grades so that the average grade in my class is very close to the average grade in another 124 professor's class. It might be a little lower if my students have done worse on the final exam, and it might be a little higher if my students have done better on the final exam. The main reason my students get lower midterm grades is that I do not give much partial credit. My experience is that the only way in which I can ensure that students will take the care that is needed to do mathematics is to give little partial credit. As you now know, I care very much about you using = signs to connect the different parts of a calculation, taking care to explain what you are doing, being careful to avoid changing the name of variables, taking the care with elementary arithmetic, learning the precise definition of some of the important things like the sum and product of functions, the inverse of a function, the sine and cosine functions, the derivative, and so on. It is also my experience that when, on the final exam, partial credit plays a large role, my students tend to do rather well because they will take more care than a student who has not spent the earlier part of the quarter paying attention to detail and precision. Final Exam. The final is 1:30-4:20 p.m. on SATURDAY DECEMBER 13. You must attend the exam. You may bring a single piece of paper (8 1/2 x 11 inches) with handwritten notes to the final exam. A scientific caluclator can be used but graphing calculators will not be allowed
Midterms. There are two midterms, on October 21 and November 18. The date of the first of these is different from the date on the syllabus. No make-up midterms are given. If you miss a midterm for medical or other reasons, I will require documentation from a doctor, and your final graded will then be computed by making the final exam count for 50% of the grade. You must use a blue book for the midterms. You can buy one at the University Bookstore or at the newstand on the first floor of the HUB. Here are some old midterms: 1, 2, 3, 4.
First Midterm. This will cover the material up to and including section 2.8 of the book. I will ask you to define the derivative of a function---you should write exactly what is on page 158. I will ask you to define some other terms: among the possibilities are the definitions of range, domain, continuity, limits, the number e, and so on. I might ask you to state the Squeeze Theorem (see page 110 for the precise statement). You should also know the meaning of interval notation like [a,b), standard set notation, and the symbols for the intersection and union of two sets (see Appendix A). You should also know how to define the sine and cosine functions using the unit circle---it is NOT enough to say that sine=opposite/hypotenuse. I might also ask you to state the Intermediate Value Theorem. Here is a practice midterm. The real midterm will be similar to this, but shorter (about 25 such questions).
First Midterm Solutions. Posted here.
Second Midterm. The TAs are holding a review session on Sunday 7-9pm in Room 134 of Seig Hall. Here is a practice midterm; as usual it is longer than the real one will be. I would give partial credit on questions 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14. The solutions to the second midterm are here.
Quizzes. Here are the answers to Quiz 1 , Quiz 2 , and Quiz 3 .
Worksheets. Each Tuesday during the 80 minute class with your TA you will collaborate with two or three other students on that week's worksheet. There will be one worksheet per group. Each group member will take his or her turn writing down the answer to one of the questions on the worksheet. This is to be a collaborative process. All of you should discuss whate the scribe is writing. Hand in your worksheet at the end of the class after writing the names of each group member on it. You will all receive the same grade based on your work on it.
Please hold onto all of your graded materials during the term. This can be important when correcting any errors involving the recording of scores.
Expectations. I expect that you have a good grasp of high school mathematics, especially basic precalculus skills. I also expect that you will approach this course in a professional way. That means coming to class each day, taking notes, participating in the classroom discussions, and so on. Most students find this a difficult course. You should expect to find it considerably more challenging than your previous math courses. Even if you have done calculus before. The greatest difficulty students have in calculus is that their precalculus skills are weak. Many students need to spend considerable time brushing up their precalculus skills. Each week you should spend about 15 hours, in addition to the 5 classroom hours, reviewing material and doing homework. The 15 hours is based on the university's guidelines, but as you know, some courses are more difficult than others, and you might well need to spend more than fifteen hours a week on this course.
One of my primary expectations is that the work you turn in to be graded is neat and clearly presented. It should be easily legible, and the order in which the steps of your argument or computation are presented should be clear. Use equals signs to connect the various pieces of each equation--these are the verbs of elementary mathematics, and without them your mathematical sentences are incomplete.
PreCalculus. For most students the hardest thing about Calculus is PreCalculus. As the names suggest, a thorough knowledge of PreCalculus is needed before one can master Calculus. I will assume that you have a thorough knowledge of PreCalculus, even though for some of you this assumption is unwarranted. If you haven't mastered PreCalculus, then this is not the course for you. Math 120 is the University of Washington PreCalculus course that provides the prerequisites you need for Math 124. If your grade for Math 120 is below 3.0 you will find Math 124 an extremely difficult course. If you have not done Math 120 at the University of Washington I strongly urge you to get a copy of the notes for that course. These are written by one of my colleagues, Professor David Collingwwod, and are available from Professional Copy 'n' Print at 4200 University Way NE. I am certain that you will find those notes invaluable in this course. You should be the master of everything in those notes. If you are not, then you are probably not yet ready for Math 124. Here is a list of precalculus problems that you should be able to do.
Teachings Assistants (TAs) I teach the 124 class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday you meet in a smaller class (27 students) with a Teaching Assistant. Your TA is (usually) a graduate student in the Math Department. They are as follows: Chris Curtis (124CA and CC), Kirsten Fagnan (124CB and FA), Troy Winfree (124EA and EC), Dave Rosoff (124EB), and Juliet Anderson (124FB and FC). Make use of your TA. She (or he) knows a lot of helpful stuff and will enjoy sharing that with you. It is better to seek help early rather than late. Math is often best learned by talking about it with someone else.
Getting Help The TAs and I are here to help you, and should should not hesitate to contact us if you would like help, advice, or if you just need to sort out some ideas that are a little fuzzy. You should also talk with your classmates -- often they can be very helpful, and at the least you will find that you are not alone in finding the material a challenge.
The Math Study Center is a great place to get help. Many students use it as a place to do their homework because immediate help is on hand. I encourage you to check it out. It has extensive hours of operation (click on the link and read all about it).
You can also get help at the Center for Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment (CLUE).
Office Hours My office hours will be held in the Math Study Center on Mondays, 3:30-5:00 pm. You can also contact me about an appointment if that time does not suit you. My phone is 543-2929 and my email is
smith@math.washington.eduPopular Errors I am creating a document that contains a list of some popular mistakes (dvi) that arise in calculus. I have only begun, so there is not much there yet. But, please email me your latest error, and I will post it (without attribution, or course!) so that others may learn from it.
Other sites There is a lot of calculus stuff out there: sites maintained by publishers, high schools, universities, individuals. I have posted links to several other sites which might be of interest.
Here's how to print off some of this stuff.
You can send me comments/feedback/et cetera by clicking my email address
smith@math.washington.eduReturn to Paul Smith's homepage.