MA 1024 - Calculus IV
Deliverables Page
A-Term, Fall 2021
Prof. B. S. Tilley
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
A-Term, Fall 2021
Prof. B. S. Tilley
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Exams
Three 45 minute exams given in lecture. Each exam covers approximately the same amount of content and has approximately the same level of difficulty. All exams are closed book, closed notes, and no electronic devices are allowed.
Exam Dates
September 10, 2021
September 24, 2021
October 12, 2021
Project - Case Study: How Calculus is Relevant Today
This term, we will be using to Strogatz's book Infinite Powers, which describes the history of calculus and its impact in science and society. The goal of this project is to find a current topic of interest and describe how calculus is used in this topic. The audience for this project is the same audience Strogatz is trying to reach in his book: college-educated non-STEM majors. The project consists of a paper, one page minimum, two page maximum. The paper provides a narrative for the topic, why it is of interest, and how calculus is critical to its understanding. A bibliography, which does not count toward the page requirements, must have at least 5 references.
Check-ins: You will be assigned into a group of 4 students to check in with Prof. Tilley once between Exams 1 & 2 and a second time between Exams 2 & 3. Each check-in will have a set of questions about the current state of the project that you need to discuss with the group. These check-ins will take place over MS Teams.
Final Paper: Due October 8, 2021
Writing Center: The Writing Center offers one-on-one consultations, both in-person and over Zoom, to help you improve as a writer. Writing Center tutors will read your written work, give you feedback about your document’s strengths and weaknesses, and help you chart a path forward as you revise. Consultations are free and open to all WPI students for all classes and projects, and tutors will happily work with you at any stage of the writing process (early brainstorming, revising a draft, polishing sentences in a final draft). To see our appointment options for both in-person and synchronous online meetings, go to the Writing Center homepage: wpi.edu/+writing
Quizzes
The last 20 minutes of each discussion section (on non-exam days) will be a quiz. The quiz will consist of two problems that are comparable to problems which will be on the following exam, and are based on homework problems assigned in lecture (homework is not collected). Students take the quiz under exam conditions, and when completed, they turn in their quiz to receive the quiz answers, and rubric on which it would be graded if it were an exam problem. These quizzes are graded, but with the following rubric:
Turned in during discussion: 60%
Score on the quiz: 40%
Labs
Provides instruction on use of software MATLAB and GeoGebra for Calculus applications. Topics include level curves of quadratic surfaces, critical point analysis and graphical examination of multivariable functions, and Riemann sums for volume estimation.
Students registered to labs (T, W, or R) receive synchronous instruction in the first week introducing the topic and software commands required to execute the scheduled labs. Asynchronous videos assist the student through a systematic process leading to understanding of graphing, algebraic, and Calculus commands. In the next week, lab instructors offer office hours for questions and a team assignment is due that Wednesday by noon.
Labs begin on weeks of August 30, September 13, and September 27. Lab due dates are on September 8, September 22, and October 6