Calculus with Analytical Geometry I
San Diego Mesa College
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Course Information:
Course Information:
Class Times and Locations:
Monday and Wednesday 12:45 - 3:10
Class is in-person in room MS 320
Student Visiting Hours:
Monday 11:30 -12:30 in my office MS 215K
Thursday 12:30 - 1:30 in my office MS 215K
Intro to Classes S 25.mp4Welcome!
Welcome!
Hello! My name is David Rubinstein and I will be your instructor for this course! This will be my very first semester at Mesa College, however before coming here I taught at UCSC for 6 years while completing my PhD.
While I am technically a Dr (I joke I got my PhD just so I can be Dr. DR) I would prefer to be called either Professor David, Professor Rubinstein, or simply just David, whichever you are more comfortable with!
About Me
About Me
While I was born in Houston, Texas, I moved to San Diego when I was 6 so I grew up here and am super excited to be back (although this does mean I am both an Astros fan and a Padres fan, sorry about it!!)
Besides nerding out about math I am very much into cooking and baking, in particular challah, bagels and pizza. I also like spending time with my wife Yaneli and our toothless cocker spaniel Lala! Lastly, I am a big fan of reading, with Yiddish literature being my favorite. Yiddish is a Jewish language (often incorrectly assumed to be a dead language) that was the primary language of the Jews in Europe until WWII. It is an amalgamation of Aramaic, German, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and more. Moreover, it is a very colorful language with very amusing expressions and curses/blessings, and I will be sharing a "Yiddish of the Day" to start each class :)
Why Study Calculus?
Why Study Calculus?
Welcome to Math 150, where we'll explore the mathematical principles that drive real-world innovation and discovery! Through our exploration of mathematical models, derivatives, integrals and differential equations, we'll uncover how calculus is used in everything from developing self driving cars, to creating stunning animations, and predicting population dynamics in ecology. Get ready to see how the ideas we’ll study aren’t just abstract—they’re the tools that power the world around us!
tl;dr:
Deep, fundamental insights into how the universe works!
Cool applications to your future careers!
Beautiful mathematics and pictures!
How This Course Works
How This Course Works
The Essentials
The Essentials
This course is ~16 weeks long. We meet in person on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:45 - 3:10.
First day of class is Feb 3. Last day of class is June 2.
There are no textbook requirements for the class. Rather notes will be posted on Canvas beforehand as well as some pre-class readings. I will include some PDFs on Canvas of some books as additional resources but they are not required.
This is an in-person synchronous course. I believe we learn math by doing math so we will spend a lot of time in class working together in groups on (hopefully) interesting application problems.
You can contact me on canvas or email at any time! If you email me, please put the course number in the subject line! I will do my best to respond to your messages within ~12 hours. The one day I will not be responding to emails however is on Saturday.
There will be more an emphasis on so-called "formative" assessments, as opposed to so-called "summative" assessments. You can see more about the grading structure by clicking on the Grading Overview Tab.
My goal is for you to learn and to enjoy the process of learning! I strongly believe in a growth mindset and so, with this in mind, you can expect lots of feedback on your work and you will be given the chance to resubmit much of your work to demonstrate mastery of the material.
How To Be Successful In This Course
How To Be Successful In This Course
The Essentials
The Essentials
You might find my course is slightly different than your typical math course. Typically math courses prioritize computation and memorization, whereas I will much more prioritize conceptual understanding and critical thinking. With that in mind, we will spend much of our in-class time together working as groups. Here are some things you can do to succeed in such a structure:
Keep an open mind to the material.
We will be studying many different applications, some might interest you more than others and that is totally fine! I hope you will still find the process of working through how the math can be applied to be fruitful.
Practice patience and perseverance
Be Curious and ask Lots of Questions
Be Respectful and Attentive to Your Peers
"Typical" Class Schedule
"Typical" Class Schedule
Here is a Sample Schedule of how our Class will be:
Here is a Sample Schedule of how our Class will be:
Yiddish of the Day/Check-In --- 12:45 - 12:55 PM (10 min)
Recap of Last Class --- 12:55 - 1:10 (15 min)
Questions about Pre-Class Reading / Mini Lecture --- 1:10 - 1:50 (40 min)
Group Work --- 1:50 - 2:50 (1 hour)
Wrap Up/Questions/Exit Ticket --- 2:50 - 3:10 (20 min)
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