MULTI-VARIABLE CALCULUS (AKA MVC)
SPRING 2015
Taught By: Dr. Steve Condie
Office: A157 (Math Area)
Phone: 907-5967
email: scondie@imsa.edu
Office Hours:
My free periods are:
2,4,5 and 6
If you want to be certain that I am at my desk ready to help you, make an appointment.
Please feel free to stop by anytime without an appointment, but do not be surprised if I am
busy with another student or out of the office.
Website:
I keep a web page for MVC at http://staff.imsa.edu/~scondie. I post all assignments,
homework, tests, etc. on the web page. It is a good idea to check this site often. In particular,
if you miss class you should check here for assignments. There are also archived MVC
pages that you can look to for old exams with solutions for practice and/or reference.
Notebooks:
You should keep a notebook as in MI. Keeping worksheets, problem sets, homework,
quizzes, exams, and other handouts in your notebook is a good idea.
Classroom work:
Each student is responsible to contribute his or her fair share to the classroom learning
experience. If a student comes to class unprepared they jeopardize the integrity of the
learning environment. That is, they do not merely cheat themselves; they cheat the entire
class. I expect each student to have done all the reading assigned before class, and to have
made an honest attempt at each of the assigned problems. Students will be asked to engage
in the dialogue of problem solving and help their classmates understand the content of the
course.
Quizzes/Exams:
Short ten to fifteen minute quizzes may be announced or unannounced. I will try to have
frequent in-class assessments. These quizzes should act as an incentive for students to keep
up with the course material. I will have longer quizzes, call them exams if you like. These
will cover more material, be announced further in advance, and be worth more points. Each
longer assessment will have one problem that is very difficult. I will expect few (maybe no
one) to get these questions entirely correct. I will be looking for a reasonable
approach/progress on these problems.
Homework/Problem Sets:
Homework assignments will be given frequently. These assignments will usually be due two
class days after being handed out. In order to understand the concepts it is imperative that
these assignments are completed. You are encouraged to work together on these
assignments and/or get other outside help. Assignments will normally consist of assorted
problems written out in worksheet format together with problems from the textbook.
Each problem set will be graded out of 10 points on the following criteria:
2 points for completion of all problems
2 points for correct and carefully done work
6 points for one or two problems chosen at random from the worksheet (and
problems in bold from text) and checked for correctness and exposition.
I will drop the lowest score from your homework each quarter and will therefore not accept
any late assignments.
Assessment/Evaluation:
Semester Grades:
Homework/Problem Sets
Exams & Quizzes
Semester Exam
- 20%
- 60%
- 20%
Note: Multi-Variable calculus is at a much higher level of abstraction than the BC Calculus
sequence. The ideas and concepts covered are difficult to visualize and intuition is often
wrong. It is imperative that students read the text carefully and attempt all problems
assigned. Most importantly, THINK.