Section 4: MWF 10-10:52am, Tu 2:30-3:52pm
Section 5: MWF 11-11:52am, Tu 2:30-3:52pm
Placement: You could have been placed in this course for any of the following reasons:
- You have completed Math 201 or Math 205
- You scored a 4 or 5 on the advanced placement AB exam
- You scored a 3 on the BC exam
- You have transfer credit for Calculus I
Further information is contained in the Students' guide to Calculus offerings at Bucknell. If you are concerned about your placement please see me at the end of class or some time later today.
Instructor: Peter McNamara, Olin Science 361, ext. 7-1901, pm040@bucknell.edu
Office Hours: Monday 2:30-3:30pm, Tuesday 1:25-2:25pm, Thursday 5:30-6:30pm. Individual appointments can also be made if these hours don't work for you, or in other special cases. You should come to office hours when you have questions or other issues that you wish to discuss. You can also avail of...
Drop-in Calculus Help Sessions: These are held Sunday-Thursday evenings, usually 7pm-9pm, and are staffed by graduate students and upper-class undergraduates.
Text: Calculus, Single Variable, Hughes-Hallett, Gleason, McCallum, et al., 4th edition, Wiley, 2005. We will be doing most of Chapters 7-11, and Appendix B. All references to homework problems will be from the 4th edition.
Calculator: We will be using the TI-89, and instruction on its use will be given in class. Other calculators are not supported, but you can use a different one if you know how to use the more advanced features, and if it has the same capabilities. We will be using calculators for symbolic and numerical integration, partial fraction expansions, visualizing infinite series, calculating Taylor series and constructing slope fields, among other things.
Extended Course Description: (From the Math department webpage) This course is a continuation of MATH 201. Its subject matter includes integral calculus, infinite sequences and series, and an introduction to differential equations. The course also covers applications of these topics to the mathematical sciences.
The first part of the course is concerned with methods of integration including substitution, integration by parts, approximate integration, and improper integration. Applications of integration are also explored, including the calculation of areas, volumes, and work. The introduction to differential equations includes a discussion of basic solution methods, including separation of variables and Euler's method. Applications of differential equations to various fields are explored. Students are also introduced to infinite sequences and series, including Taylor series. The concept of convergence is explained, and the use of the various series convergence tests is stressed. Other topics covered in MATH 202 include parametric equations, polar coordinates, and complex numbers. As with MATH 201, instruction on the use of the TI-89 calculator is a part of the course.
Attendance: You are expected to attend every class. While we will have no direct penalty in this section of Math 202 for missing a class, your punishment is that your understanding of the material will suffer. If you know ahead of time that you will be leaving the room early, it would be appreciated if you would tell me this before class starts. You must show up for every exam, or have a very very good excuse, as make-up exams will not typically be given. If you know you must miss an exam, you are required to tell me in advance. Giving me advance notice is also a good idea if you are expecting to miss a class. It is helpful to me, and allows me to be more helpful to you.
Class Participation: As you will see, the "lectures" are intended to be interactive, and you should come to class willing and eager to participate. You are encouraged to ask questions at any time -- if you are confused, at least one other person is too! To help keep confusion levels low, you are especially encouraged to point out mistakes in what is said or what is written on the blackboard. Rewards may be offered. Better still, if you think there might be an alternative way to solve a problem, please share your idea with the class.
Homeworks: Problems from the text will be assigned after every class and will be posted on the course webpage. It is highly recommended that you do these problems on the day that they are assigned. They will be collected once a week, at the start of class on Fridays. A representative selection (not indicated in advance) will be graded, and usually returned to you the following Monday. No late homeworks will be accepted. However, your worst homework score will be disregarded when calculating your overall score for homeworks. So, if you have to miss or be late with a homework for whatever reason, this can be the homework score that will be dropped.
You are encouraged to work with your classmates on the homework. This may mean forming homework or study groups, or having more informal discussions. However, you must write up your own set of solutions. What you turn in must represent your own understanding of the material. At the top of the first page, you should write the names of your coworkers. Your own name would also be helpful :)
Exams: There will be four midterm exams and one final exam. The midterm exams will all take place during the common 82 minutes on Tuesday. The time and questions will be divided between problems needing or allowing a calculator, and problems where a calculator is not allowed. The dates are September 12, October 3, October 31 and November 21.
The final exam is cumulative. It will take place during exam week, with the exact date being announced by the registrar's office.
Honor code: You are, of course, expected to adhere to the Bucknell Honor Code during this course.
Grading complaints: If you feel that one of your homework or exam problems has been graded unfairly, you have one week (from the day the work is returned) to submit your concern in writing, along with the full original homework or exam submission. Having your request in writing gives me time to give it the attention it deserves.
Tips: For both homeworks and exams, you must show your work to receive credit. Partial credit will be awarded but only if your answer is legible and you give evidence to show that you are heading in the right direction. Words (as opposed to just mathematical symbols) are always helpful in this regard as they can help convince the grader that you know what you are doing. Many of the problems that appear on exams will be similar to those that appeared on homeworks. Therefore, doing problems like the homework problems is a great way to prepare for exams. However, there will be surprises. Our goals for the course include that you acquire a conceptual understanding of the topics, and that you know how to apply the techniques that you have learned in a variety of situations. Therefore, many other problems will be designed to make you think, not just mechanically apply some formula that you have learned. Because of this, pulling an all-nighter is not a good way to prepare for a Calculus exam.
Your Grade: Your grade will be based on the following components:
| Homework | 100 points |
| Midterms | 4 x 75 points |
| Final | 200 points |
| Total | 600 points |
Quick questions: At the start of every class, you will be given a small number (less than π ) of questions to answer in your seats. These will be based on the material from the previous class and will also check that you have read the required section from the textbook. Your answers will not be collected but serve a number of purposes:
- They will help put you in a mathematical frame of mind.
- They remind you of some ideas that we will be using during that day's class.
- They will tell me what concepts need more explanation.
- Most importantly, since the questions are not intended to be tricky, they will help alert you if you are not keeping up. If you are having trouble with these questions you should seek help, i.e. visit the drop-in help sessions and/or come to office hours.
Come to class prepared. This means that:
- You have gone over your notes from the previous lecture, and worked out the parts that you did not understand at the time. Ask a classmate, visit the drop-in help sessions, or come to office hours if you have questions.
- You have read the relevant section of the text before each class so as to familiarize yourself with the main ideas. The course webpage will contain an updated list of the sections that will be covered each day.
- You have read the text after each class to reinforce the material and to see further examples.
- You have done the assigned homework from the previous class.
Some advice from the Math Department: Here is a recipe for succeeding in calculus that works for nearly all students who follow it conscientiously: attend every class; come to class prepared; ask questions; seek help as soon as you start having difficulty; and remember that this advice applies even if you think you are repeating material you learned before.