Math 124 (Sections F & J)
Autumn 2013

Professor: Rekha Thomas
Office: Padelford C-438
Office Phone: (206) 616-9374
Office hours: Tuesday:2:30-3:30

Lectures : Condon Hall (CDH) 109
Section F -- MWF 11:30-12:20
Section J -- MWF 12:30-1:20

Daily Schedule

Math 124 Materials Website : Contains worksheets, old tests & supplementary materials.

Alerts

No Overloads or Waiting List for This Class If you are trying to register for this class, you must us the online registration system and wait for an opening.
Don't Buy a used book unless it comes with a Web Assign access code. The access code is more important, and more expensive than the book.
The required textbook for the course is the 7th edition of "Calculus" by Stewart --- the Green one. You need a WebAssign Access Code, which comes with access to the online textbook (ebook). Its up to you to decide if you want a paper copy of the book.
You can buy a softcover paper copy at the bookstore, with "lifetime" webassign access, for $120. This includes access to the ebook. You absolutely do not need the optional study guide or solutions manual. The lifetime access means that you can use the book and the access code for Math 125, so you won't need to buy another book or access code next quarter.
You can buy the lifetime access code and the ebook directly from the WebAssign web site here for $70. See the Instructions for Using and Purchasing Access to WebAssign). This is substantially cheaper than any other methods of buying access on the same web site.
Some WebAssign Tips -- The help phone number for students and instructors is 800-955-8275.
Webassign grace period ends on Tuesday, October 8th. Make sure you have entered your access code by then.

Resources

Math Study Center: A very good place to get help with just about anything to do with calculus.

CLUE: A late-night academic center designed to support all UW undergraduates

General Information
Grades
Homework
Tuesday Worksheets
Calculators
Notes
General Comments

Grades

Your grade is determined by how you do relative to the class as a whole. All math 124 classes will take the same final exam. The median grade is usually about 2.9. If the whole class does particularly well (or badly) the median will move up (or down).

Homework: 10%
2 Midterms: 25% each
Final: 40%

Homework

All homework is accessible on the WebAssign website. Look here for detailed instructions. You have a two week grace period when you can access the homework without an access code. You can buy access at the login site, but its a lot cheaper here.

The deadline for each homework is very strict. You should plan to finish several hours before the deadline to deal with any unforseen computer difficulties. Late homeworks will not be accepted.

It is essential to fully understand how to solve the homework problems and to acquire enough practice to be able to do problems relatively quickly. Do additional problems if you feel that you need more practice. Since homeworks are meant to stretch your thinking beyond the lectures, and to help you master the subject, they can be harder than the examples covered in lecture. Questions on exams draw from all the activities of the course such as the lectures, worksheets and homeworks. Hence, do not assume that only homework problems will be asked on tests. It would be wise to try homework problems from a given lecture before the next lecture. Ideally, homework for the week should be finished, or at least fully understood, during that week. Since homework counts for only 10% of your overall grade, it would be wise to spend the bulk of your homework efforts on understanding how to solve the problems than on writing up solutions without real understanding. Good grades naturally follow real understanding.

Tuesday Worksheets

Each Tuesday, you will spend the entire period working in groups on the weekly worksheet, which will be turned in at the end of the class.
You are responsible for bringing the worksheets to class on Tuesdays. You should download them from the Math 124 Materials Website, print them, and bring them to class. The worksheets will be collected at the end of class and count as part of your homework. There are 3 possible grades:
- 0 -- you didn't do it
- 1 -- you did a poor job
- 2 -- you showed that you did some real work

This is a very important time for learning. The TAs will have a chance to talk with each of you and give you individual suggestions. If you know how to do the problems, you should explain your reasoning to the others in your group.

You should have plenty of time to finish the worksheet. If you are done early, start working on homework problems.

Scientific Calculator Required
No Graphing/Symbolic Calculators Allowed.

For the final exam, you should have a scientific calculator capable of computing trig functions, exponentials, and logarithms. Anything that graphs or does symbolic computations is not allowed. This is a department wide decision and is not negotiable.

Notes: What's allowed

Midterms : 1 side of 1 (8.5 x 11) page of notes, but no worked problems
Finals : 2 sides of 1 (8.5 x 11) page

General Comments

Expectations : This course will be taught through the lectures , homework assignments and worksheets . The lectures introduce the concepts and hence tend to be straightforward. You will be expected to read the appropriate chapters in the text book after each lecture to solidify the concepts and fill in details. It is very important to understand concepts clearly along with being able to apply them to numerical problems. Both theory and computations covered in the lectures can be tested on exams. All in all, the job of the student is to master the concepts covered in the assigned sections of the textbook. Everything else is working to achieve this goal and the exams aim at testing overall command of the material and not the ability to reproduce certain specific problems.
Guidelines on how to write up solutions to problems in exams: You must show all your work to get full credit. Explain your steps or methods clearly. Use words to give explanations if needed. Always put yourself in the shoes of the grader when you write solutions to problems. It is important that your logic be apparent to the grader. Make it easy to grade your work. This also requires you to be organized and clear in your writing. Writing that is hard to understand or disorganized will be assumed to be wrong.
Late homeworks and make-up exams : No late homeworks will be accepted, and no make up exams will be given except under medical emergencies. Please make sure that you do not schedule other activities on the dates of exams. If you must miss a test for medical or other very serious reasons, I will need written documentation explaining the situation. Please let me know as soon as possible if you cannot take a test.
Tips on getting a good grade :
- Read the book. It is very important to really understand the concepts (as opposed to memorizing facts). It is not enough to know recipes to solve numerical problems. You will be asked questions that test your understanding of the material. A good way to find out whether you really understand something is to try to explain it to someone. You might be surprised to see how hard it is to accurately explain/reproduce a concept that you think you understand.
- Write clearly and correctly. Be logical in your arguments. Learn definitions and statements of theorems accurately. Remember that the TAs and I can only evaluate your written work and so it is important to convey your knowledge precisely in your writing.
- Do your homework problems. Even if you understand the material, it is hard to reproduce this on a test without practice. It's important to learn to work relatively quickly. This can only come with practice.
- Come to office hours and talk to me or your TA if you are having trouble. Let me know early in the quarter if you are having problems with the course for whatever reason.