Math 9A, Spring 2020, Section 1
First Year Calculus
Lecture: TR 3:30pm - 4:50pm. Instructor: Qixuan Wang. Email: qixuanw@ucr.edu. Website: https://sites.google.com/ucr.edu/qixuanwang/. Office hours: By appointment.
Discussion Sections:
Section 2: M 10:00 – 10:50am. TA: Russell Phelan. Email: rphel001@ucr.edu. Office hours: TBA
Section 3: M 1:00 – 1:50pm. TA: Jacob Garcia. Email: jgarc351@ucr.edu. Office hours: Tuesday - Thursday, 11am - 11:50 am.
Section 4: M 5:00 – 5:50pm. TA: Jacob Garcia. Email: jgarc351@ucr.edu. Office hours: Tuesday - Thursday, 11am - 11:50 am.
Section 5: M 8:00 – 8:50am. TA: Christian Williams. Email: cwill041@ucr.edu. Office hours: Monday 3-4, Thursday 4-6.
Special Announcement due to COVID-19
All lectures and discussions will be held online through the quarter, unless further noticed by UCR. We will use Zoom to deliver the classes, information of Zoom meetings will be informed from iLearn before each lecture and discussion.
Course Description
This is a course on the theory and applications of Differential Calculus. We will cover concepts of limit and continuity, derivatives of elementary functions, rules of differentiation, properties of functions (e.g., extreme values and monotonicity), and applications of the derivative.
Course Materials
Textbook: APEX Calculus Version 4.0. Weekly written homework problems will be from the textbook.
Free online ebook: http://www.apexcalculus.com/
Lecture Slides and Notes: Lecture slides cover a part of the lecture notes, and will be posted before each class. THESE SLIDES ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ATTENDING CLASS. We highly encourage you to take your own lecture notes, as they may contain more materials (mostly in-class example and exercise solutions) than lecture slides. We also encourage you to look at the notes before class, and please post questions or comments to the discussion board on iLearn. It will help me to explain the material better in class to you and your classmates. We do not check your attendance in lectures or discussions.
Tentative Schedule
Mar. 31: 1.1 An Introduction to Limits
Apr. 2: 1.2 Epsilon-Delta Definition of a Limit 1.3 Finding Limits Analytically
Apr. 7: 1.3 Finding Limits Analytically
Apr. 9: 1.4 One Sided Limits
Apr. 14: 1.5 Continuity
Apr. 16: 1.6 Limits Involving Infinity
Apr. 21: 2.1 Instantaneous Rates of Change: The Derivative 2.2 Interpretations of the Derivative
Apr. 23: 2.3 Basic Differentiation Rules
Apr. 28: 2.4 The Product and Quotient Rules
Apr. 30: 2.5 The Chain Rule
May. 5: 2.6 Implicit Differentiation
May. 7: 2.7 Derivatives of Inverse Functions
May. 12: 6.7 L’Hôpital’s Rule
May. 14 :3.1 Extreme Values
May. 19 :3.2 The Mean Value Theorem
May. 21 :3.3 Increasing and Decreasing Functions
May. 26: 3.4 Concavity and the Second Derivative
May. 28: 3.5 Curve Sketching
Jun. 2: 4.1 Newton’s method 4.2 Related Rates
Jun. 4: 4.3 Optimization 4.4 Differentials
Grading
Grading is on an assignment-base, not a test-base, due to the current situation of COVID-19. Course grades are determined by the combined total (out of 300 points) of the online Webwork homework (100 points), weekly written homework (150 points), iLearn microtutorial videos (50 points. We will drop the lowest written homework, the lowest two iLearn quizzes and the lowest two online homework.
Online Webwork Homework (100 points):
Class to class online homework and the due date will be posted on Webwork. Usually it will be open once we finish a section and due before the next lecture. Answers will be posted after the due time. By doing the online homework, you get immediate feedback and it makes sure that we are all ready for the coming class. Online homework will be graded based on both completeness and correctness. The lowest TWO Webwork scores will be dropped.
The homepage for our class on Webwork is at
http://webwork.ucr.edu/webwork2/MATH_009A_001_20S/
The Webwork’s guide is available at
http://mathdept.ucr.edu/pdf/studenttools/WeBWorK%20Students%20Guide%20Mar2012.pdf
Written Homework (150 points):
Weekly homework sets will be posted on iLearn each Thursday and will be due on Sunday by midnight through Gradescope. Feel free to discuss your work with your peers, as well as seeking help from online resources, but solutions must be submitted by each student. Each homework set counts for 15 points, and there are 10 homework sets through the quarter. For each homework, 5 points will be gained on how much you complete the whole assignment; in addition, we will assign 2-4 problems each time which will be graded on correctness, which count for the other 10 points. To get full credit you must show your work (not simply your answers), and your work should be clear enough to be understood by the Teaching Assistant. We will NOT drop any written homework score by the end of the quarter.
iLearn Microtutorial Quizzes (20 points - 5%):
There will be 12 Microtutorial videos posted on iLearn. There are two quiz questions embedded in each video. You have only one chance to answer each question so make sure you watch the video attentively and understand the presentation before answering. If you want to review the materials you can rewind but you cannot fast forward. The points from the quizzes will be posted to your gradebook at the end of the video. If you exit the video before the end, points will not be posted. iLearn microtutoial quiz(es) will be open each Thursday and due by the end of the quarter. iLearn quizzes will be graded based on both completeness and correctness. The lowest TWO Microtutorial video scores will be dropped.
Grade Distribution:
The grades will be given according to the following tentative scale, but may be subjected to a degree of alterations depending on the class performance:
280-300, A+; 200-279, A; 160-199, B+; 100-159, B; <100 F
Course Policies
Policies on Late Homework
We understand that as the quarter goes on, there might be different situations that prohibit students from submitting their homework online. We accept late homework for unforeseen circumstances with validated verification, in particular due to any health issue of you or your loved ones. However, without a validated verification, late submissions will be accepted in the following week with 10 points in total (5 for completeness, 5 for correctness of the designated problem), and no late submissions without a validated verification will be accepted after one week.
Help with the Material
You are encouraged to ask for help when needed. A few questions answered at the right moment can make the difference for you to succeed in this course. Feel free to contact your TA or me. We would be very happy to help you. In particular, we highly encourage you to:
1. Attend online classes according to the schedule and feel free to ask questions in lectures. In lectures / discussions, whenever you have questions or confusions about the materials, don’t be shy, ask questions right away instead of waiting for later.
2. Schedule office hours with your TA or me. Feel free to ask any course-related questions; if you would look for help and advice for your college study and future career development, feel free to talk to me. However, since assignments will be graded based on both completeness and correctness, for the consideration of fairness of all students, we will not answer assignment problems in detail before they’re due. After an assignment is due, you’re free to ask questions from it.
3. Email us. When you have a quick question, emailing us may be very convenient. Please allow us 24 hours to reply. When you email us, we will sincerely appreciate it if you could please add “[Math9A]” in the title of your email.
4. Discuss with your peers, in particular, take advantage of the Discussion Board on iLearn. Feel free to create forums on iLearn (on the left column, Course Tools -> Discussion Board). You are free to discuss any course-related questions on Discussion Board. You are free to discuss online homework and iLearn quiz problems (as well as written homework problems) before and after they are due.