Calculus I (MA 1021-A23)
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Instructor: Prof. B.S. Tilley
Contact Information
Instructor: Prof. B.S. Tilley
Office: SL 405D
E-mail: tilley@wpi.edu
read between 9am-5pm.
Weekdays: reply within 24 hours
Weekends: reply within 48 hours
Web: https://users.wpi.edu/~tilley
Office Hours:
MTR: 1:00-1:50pm or by appt.
PLAs:
Sakshi Gauro: sgauro@wpi.edu
Justin Shen: jzshen@wpi.edu
Course Description: This course provides an introduction to differentiation and its applications. Topics covered include: functions and their graphs, limits, continuity, differentiation, linear approximation, chain rule, min/max problems, and applications of derivatives. Recommended background: Algebra, trigonometry and analytic geometry.
Although the course will make use of computers, no programming experience is assumed.
Students may not receive credit for both MA 1021 and MA 1020
Locations:
Lecture: UH 520
Discussion: AD04: Portable Classroom
AD08: Sports & Rec Center 421
Times:
Lecture: MTRF 2:00-2:50pm
Discussion: AD04: T 9:00-9:50pm (Gauro)
AD08: M 12:00-12:50pm (Shen)
Text:
Thomas' Calculus: Early Transcendentals 15th Edition, J.R. Hass, C.E. Heil, M.D. Weir, P. Bogacki, Pearson ISBN: 9780137559879, 0137559879
Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
State the domain and range of a function and be able to sketch a qualitative graph of the function.
Determine if a particular limit of a function exists, and if it does, be able to find that limit.
State the definition of continuity, and be able to find the domain where a function is continuous.
State the definition of the derivative, and be able to find the derivative of a function, if it exists, based on this definition.
State the derivatives of polynomials, trigonometric functions, exponential functions, and logarithmic functions.
Be fluent in the application of the product rule, the quotient rule, the chain rule.
Be able to use implicit differentiation in finding the derivatives of inverses of functions.
Use the derivative to find the extrema of functions, such as maximum and minimum values.
Be able to convert word problems into a mathematical formulation appropriate for this course, solve this mathematical formulation, and then interpret the solution in terms of the original question.
Pass a Basic Skills test administered by the Mathematics Department
Special Arrangements
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you have medical information to share with me, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. My office location and office hours are listed above. If you have not already done so, students who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) as soon as possible to ensure that these accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. The OAS is in Unity Hall, (508) 831-4908. Students who need accommodations for exams are required to make the arrangements to take these exams at the Exam Proctoring Center (EPC) on the day of the exam.
Electronics Policy
All lectures (audio and video) are captured through course capture and can be found on the course Canvas page. NO recording of audio or video by students is allowed during lecture or during discussion. Laptops, phones, and tables should be turned off during the lecture and conference sessions. If you take notes (typing/stylus only) using these devices during lecture, then you should sit somewhere in the room where your screen activity is not distracting to your neighbors.
Course Organization
The class typically meets 5 times per week: 4 lectures on MTRF, 1 discussion section (M or T), and 1 laboratory section. Students are responsible for all material presented in lecture and discussion for exams. My expectations for these activities are
Lectures: This is the first opportunity for a student to see the material, and my expectation of students after a lecture is to have an introduction of the material, not to demonstrate mastery (i.e. Lehr). The goal is to give a high-level description of the main points of the topics, and to provide some examples illustrating the topic. These lectures are recorded via Echo 360, and these videos can be accessed through the course Canvas page.
Practice Problems: For each section, there is a list of suggested problems from the text for students to learn the concepts through doing (i.e. Kunst). Solutions to these problems are neither collected nor graded, but they form the main topics of discussion during the Discussion section. The problem selection is a combination of examples of the types of problems to be found on the exams and quizzes, along with problems that are more detailed and which enhance learning the topics at a deeper level.
Discussions: Students have an opportunity to sit down and work through the practice problems on a topic with an instructor and have their individual questions addressed. It is through the Discussion that the student can get major questions asked so that after Discussion, the student can continue to work through the practice problems to develop mastery. Attendance is required to take the weekly "quiz" in Discussion, described below.
Canvas: Course materials can be found on the Canvas page. The material is organized by the section number of the topic in the text. In the event that lectures need to be delivered remotely, they will take place through Zoom.
Students are expected to spend an additional 8-12 hours per week studying outside of class: reading the text, organizing notes, and solving problems. In previous years, the average time, self-reported, spent outside of class on this course is 10 hours
Grade Breakdown
In-Lecture Exams 40%
Exam 1: September 8, 2023
Exam 2: September 29, 2023
Final Exam: October 12, 2023 30%
In-Discussion Quizzes 10%
WebWorK 10%
Labs: 10%
Final Grades
In general, final grades will follow the distribution:
90%-100% A
80%-89% B
70-79% C
0% - 70% NR
Graded Materials Description
Exams: There are two different types of exams that will take place over the term:
In-Lecture exams will take place during the normal lecture time on September 8, 2023 and September 21, 2023. They cover materials sectioned out on the Canvas page along with a summary found on the Lecture Schedule below.
The Final Exam will take place on October 12, 2023, and consists of two parts: (i) the Basic Skills Test which students must pass in order to pass the course (ii) a comprehensive exam.
Quizzes: In the last 6 discussion sections, there will be an in-class "quiz" covering topics from the previous week's lectures. Quizzes consist of 1-2 questions that are comparable to questions that may appear on an exam. However, students are required to grade their own quiz after discussion based on a rubric posted on Canvas, scan the graded quiz and upload by 11:59pm on the same day. Students receive full credit for the scanned quiz, provided that (a) the TA/PLA valdates that effort was made on the quiz during the discussion section, and (b) the student grades the quiz based on the rubric, with comments describing differences between the student's answer and the rubric. Note: The actual point value that the rubric would assign for a particular quiz is not part of the grade, but it does provide the student feedback on how well they know the material. A student needs 5 approved quizzes in order to receive full credit for this portion of the final grade, and no late quizzes are accepted.
WebWorK: There will be assignments using this online tool to understand your basic knowledge of the topics for that day's lecture. You receive full credit for correct answers, independent of the number of attempts made. The assignments are given in three stages based on the exam dates. Each problem is equally weighted (1 point per problem is a perfect score). These assignments need to be completed by their due date.
Labs: During this term, you will attend 3 in-person lab sessions. In each session, a short lecture will be presented, and then you will have time to start working on the lab assignment in groups of two or three. The lab assignments extend the ideas presented in lecture as well as explore applications of the material using a variety of software.
All logistical information related to the labs may be found on the Calculus 1 Lab Canvas site for your section.
The dates of the in-person sessions are,
Wednesday August 30th and Thursday August 31st
Wednesday Sept 13th and Thursday Sept 14th
Wednesday Sept 27th and Thursday Sept 28th
All questions/ concerns related to the labs should be directed to the lab instructors :
Jane Bouchard bouchard@wpi.edu
Caroline Labenski clabenski@wpi.edu