Please read this syllabus carefully. You will be responsible for all the information given here, and for any modifications to it that may be announced.
Text: The textbook for this course is Calculus (6th edition), by James Stewart. (Please be aware that if the choice were mine, less expensive textbooks would be used. I have complained about textbook prices for years, with a spectacular lack of effect.)
Instructor: Darryl McCullough, Professor of Mathematics
| Office: | 804 Physical Sciences Center |
| Phone: | 325-2743 |
| Email: | dmccullough at math.ou.edu |
| Office hours: | Mondays 4:00-5:00, Wednesdays 1:30-3:20, and by appointment. |
Homework: It is absolutely essential to work a large number of problems on a regular basis. Problem assignments will be posted on the course web page, usually some time in the afternoon following each lecture. The homework assignments are the bare minimum for most students to gain basic familiarity with the material. As manager of your own education, it is up to you to work whatever additional problems may be necessary for you to master the subject.
You may consult with other students about the homework problems, indeed I encourage you to do so if you find it helpful, but avoid becoming dependent on this. Seeing a few examples will help you get started, and explaining a problem step-by-step to someone else is a great learning device. But you can tell when you are really solving problems on our own and when you are just kidding yourself.
Homework problems are to be written up clearly and carefully, and are due at the start of class on the posted due date. A few of the problems will be graded to form part of your grade as described below.
Getting Help: I will work some homework problems in class, taking as many requests for them as time allows. For additional help with homework, the lecture material, or any other aspect of how you are doing in the course, come to my office hours, or to make an appointment with me to meet at another time. If my regular office hours do not fit your schedule, I urge you to arrange another time to meet with me. Success for my students is a very high priority with me, and helping my students learn mathematics is a pleasure, not an inconvenience. Email is an efficient way to contact me.
Another learning resource is the Mathematics Help Center, located very near the Mathematics Department Office, Room 423 of the Physical Sciences Center (the Help Center is next to the main stairwell). It is open weekdays, with somewhat variable hours that always include at least 9:30-5:30. Just walk in and find a mathematics graduate student--- they are interesting, approachable people as well as very smart in math.
Class Participation: You are expected to attend and participate in all lectures, and are responsible for all information given out during them. You will need to arrive on time for all of the lectures, properly prepared and in good physical condition--- in particular, adequately rested and up to date on the course material so that you can maintain full concentration on the lecture. If you cannot accomplish this, please reenroll in a different class.
If once in a while you do have to miss a lecture, due to illness, car breakdown, funerals or other uncontrollable conflicts, University-sponsored activity, whatever, there is no reason to bring me any documentation. I assume that you are an intelligent person, and that if you are not in class there must be a very good reason for it. If you miss a lot of classes, I will know that you are not serious about the course, and I will certainly not be able to justify assigning you a passing grade.
Testing: There will be three in-class exams, on dates to be announced. Details about what they will cover will be posted on the course website. If you cannot be present for an exam, notify me in advance, and we will develop an alternative arrangement.
The final examination will be held in the usual lecture room on Friday, December 16, 8:00 to 10:00 a. m. University regulations require that you take it at that time. Do not arrange travel that prevents you from being there.
Grading System: Your grade will be based on your point total as follows. There are 275 possible points: 75 for the final examination, 50 for each of the three in-class examinations, and 50 for homework (raw homework point scores will be rescaled to a maximum possible 50 total). The grades will be assigned by calculating the point total for each student in the class, listing the totals in rank order, and assigning grades according to a reasonable total needed for each letter. After each in-class examination, I will post interim grades, so by the middle of the course you will have a very good idea of where you stand, and what is required for a given grade.
Withdrawal Policy: Until September 2, there is no record of a grade for dropped courses. From September 6 through October 28, the University gives you an automatic W if you withdraw from the course. From October 31 through December 9, the policy is that you must petition the College Dean to withdraw, and will receive either a W or F grade, at the instructor's discretion. Normally these petitions are granted only in “very unusual circumstances”. Avoidance of a low grade is not sufficient reason to obtain permission to withdraw after October 28, so any tactical withdrawals must take place by then. By the end of October, you will have taken two exams and several quizzes, and will have a very good idea of where you stand in the course,
Grade of Incomplete: The grade of “I” is a special-purpose grade given when a specific task needs to be completed to finish the coursework. This is typically a term paper or other special assignment, so rarely makes sense in a mathematics course. An “I” cannot be given to avoid receiving a low grade.
Calculators: This is a course of mathematical ideas and techniques, not a course of mechanical computation. You may use a calculator when working on the homework assignments. In class and when taking exams, a calculator is not really needed, but you may, if you wish, use a simple calculator that does not have graphics capability while taking exams, just to check your arithmetic. The reason for the exclusion of graphics capability to make sure that you have the graphs of the fundamental functions such as the trigonometric, lograrithm, and exponential functions in your head. Anyone who is not fully comfortable with these functions is not working at the necessary level for this subject. If you don't know them cold, it's time to really learn them.
Non-electronic classroom: The lecture hour is a time for mathematics and nothing else. Apart from the basic calculators already discussed, we will have a completely non-electronic classroom. Not only is the use of electronic devices during class grossly impolite both to me and to your fellow students, but every study shows that students who multitask during class simply don't learn the course material. Before the lecture hour starts, turn off and put away all electronic devices, including laptop computers, cell phones, hand-held computers, electronic earwear, whatever. We will work together for one microcentury (50 minutes) to learn some mathematics, and after that it will be appropriate to reconnect to the electronic universe.
Academic Misconduct: If cases of academic misconduct arise, they will be dealt with according to University policies. In math classes it's rather obvious what is acceptable conduct and what is not, but just to make sure you understand the policies, you should be familiar with the OU Student's Guide to Academic Integrity. There's really no way that any misconduct could be worth the risk, so just don't go there. As you will find throughout life, totally ethical behavior is always the smart choice in the long run.
Students with Disabilities: The following is the University's Reasonable Accomodation Policy: The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accomodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accomodations in this course are requested to speak with the professor as early in the semester as possible. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services prior to receiving accomodations in this course. The Office of Disability Services is located in Goddard Health Center, Suite 166, phone 405/325-3852 or TDD only 405/325-4173.
Final Grades: Grades will be posted on our course website as soon as they are available. You may pick up your graded final exam from me any time within one year of the end of the course, after one year they will be discarded.
Advice: You are a very intelligent and mathematically talented person, or you wouldn't be here. Math is not easy, for me or for anyone else, but everyone in this class is fully capable of learning this subject. Still, not everyone knows how to maximize the return they get from the time and energy that they put into a math course. Over the years, I have found the following to be the most useful advice.
Do math daily or almost daily. Here are three good reasons: 1) The brain can only assimilate a certain amount of math in one day--- you will learn much more in two hours a day for seven days than in seven hours a day for two days. 2) When you don't work on something regularly, you have to invest effort just to get caught up to where you were. 3) If you are not completely caught up, you will not get nearly as much out of the lectures.
Working problems is your most important learning technique. Work problems from the book a few at a time, starting with easy ones of different kinds and going back to harder ones in later sessions, and do not wait until you have completely finished one section before starting on the problems from later sections. Work sessions with fellow students can be very productive, as long as one avoids the pitfall of becoming dependent on others. Writing up the problems carefully and completely, in your own words, will give you a much deeper understanding and better retention than just convincing yourself that you get the idea. Work extra problems whenever you need to--- the problem assignments will be minimal and not sufficient for every student to learn every particular topic.
Learn the definitions immediately. It's hard enough to absorb math ideas when you know what the words mean. If you don't even know their meanings, there is no possibility of learning taking place. Please do not ask me whether you need to know definitions for the tests and quizzes--- you need to learn them before the next lecture, not for the next test. And I do ask them on quizzes and tests, and expect you to know them.
Pay attention to correct notation and use it at all times. Sloppy, imprecise notation reflects sloppy thinking and lack of understanding. If you don't use correct notation when doing your homework, you won't suddenly start using it when you are taking an exam. For the record, I take points off for writing things that don't make sense, whether you “had the right idea” or not.
Always be aware of the type of mathematical object you are thinking about (is it a number, a set, a variable, an equation, an identity, a function, a vector, a vector space, a power series, a Kleinian group, a Banach space, a de Rham cohomology class, etc.?). If you are not clear about the type of object you are working with, then you are lost and need to backtrack until you are reoriented.
Learn the language. Beyond just knowing the types of objects, learn the terminology and call things what they are--- integral, derivative, vector-valued function, set, or whatever. Use real math words like implies, evaluate, equality, identity, definition, and so on, and use them accurately. Write them down when you are doing homework and speak them aloud. The key is to get the math happening in your head, and the language is a major enabler of that process.
The bottom line: Stay caught up. Learn the language, use good mathematical notation, and always know the type of object you are thinking about. Live with calculus.
Off-topic unsolicited advice: You will maximize your energy and efficiency, and feel your best, to the extent that you follow a healthy lifestyle: 1) eat mainly vegetables, fruits, legumes, seeds and nuts, and healthy starches, while avoiding processed foods, foods with added sugar or salt (after you adjust to this, your food will actually taste better than before), oils and fried foods. 2) get regular exercise of varying kinds, including strength, core, and cardiovascular, 3) get adequate sleep, 4) get a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test and supplement vitamin D, if needed, to keep your blood levels in the 35-55 range, and 5) avoid caffeine and alcohol--- anything that makes you feel different is toxic, and will have a net negative return on how you feel and how you perform. If you make the effort to do all of these things, you will feel great and will perform your best. You will also get sick a lot less, control your weight easily, and will earn a greatly increased chance of having a long, healthy life. It's really important.