Math 1105: Calculus II
MWF 11am / 12pm, Campion 235
Fall 2015 Syllabus
Instructor: Jonah Gaster, 541 Maloney, gaster@bc.edu
Office hours: MW 9:30-10:30, and by appointment. E-mail is also good for quick questions and hints.
Course Description: Math 1105 is a second course in the calculus of one variable intended for
Chemistry, Computer Science/B.S., Environmental Geosciences, Geological Sciences, Mathematics and
Physics majors. It is designed for students who have completed either Math 1101 or a year of calculus
in high school at either the AB or BC curriculum level, but who are not yet prepared to advance to
Math 2202 (Multivariable Calculus). The course first reviews the primary techniques and interesting
applications of integration. The remainder of the course provides an introduction to the topics of infinite
sequences and series.
Text: Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 2nd Ed. with MyMathLab Access Card; by
Briggs, Cochran, and Gillett, ISBN:0-321-95423-8
Course Website: The course website is located at www2.bc.edu/jonah-gaster/math-1105/math1105.html
You will find links to a syllabus, course schedule, homework, and exam prep materials as the exams
approach.
Course Content: We will cover Chapters 5 through 9, with omissions if necessary as time requires. The
course will consist of a thorough introduction to integral calculus and a briefer discussion of sequences,
series, and power series. Topic will include: The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus; the substitution
rule; length, area, and volume; integration by parts; trigonometric integrals; the method of partial fractions; improper integrals; convergence and divergence of sequences and series; the Integral, Ratio, Root,
and Comparison tests; alternating series; power series and Taylor approximations.
Course Objectives: You will be expected to take concepts (demonstrated through examples) from
the textbook and from class, and apply them to harder problems on the homework and exams. Don’t
be discouraged if calculus is not as easy as you are familiar with from high school! The key to success
in this course will lie in your ability to challenge yourself and learn in the process.
Homework: Homework will have two components: One will be completed online (the MyMathLab
component) and the other will be written and turned in. Expect the homework online to be skillsbased, intended to test your facility with the techniques from class, and the written homework to be
more in-depth and challenging.
The online homework will be posted on MyMathLab, with homework assignments corresponding to each
section of the textbook. You will have unlimited attempts on each problem, so do them at your leisure,
but note that each section’s problems will be due two class meetings after we complete the section. For
example, we are scheduled to cover section 5.2 on Friday, September 4. There are no classes on Monday,
September 7, due to Labor Day, so the problems on MyMathLab for section 5.2 will be due on Friday,
September 11. The purpose of these problems is to give you unlimited practice on problems where you
will receive immediate feedback about whether your answer is correct. To access and use MyMathLab go
to www.mymathlab.com. Click the button on the right side of the page labelled “Student”, underneath
where it says “Register now.” To register you will need an access code (which you either purchased with
the book, or on its own) and the course id, which is: gaster30691.
The written problem sets from each section covered in the textbook will be assigned approximately
once per week, listed on the homework section of the website. These assignments will consist of harder
problems that may require you to expand on concepts presented in class. You will be required to show
your work, and occasionally provide written explanations in complete sentences. Use solutions presented
in lecture and from the textbook as a guide. Homework not handed in on the day it is due will not be
accepted, except in cases of documented illness or emergency.
Collaboration is encouraged! However, any solutions you turn in must be your own, written on your
own and in your own words. It may seem efficient to share your papers with your colleague and submit
essentially similar solutions. Resist this impulse! After working through problems with your study
partners, you should write the entire assignment that you plan on handing in on your own. This is an
essential step to test your comprehension, and it is exactly what you will be expected to do on an exam.
If there is any suspicion that you did not write your work individually, you may be asked to solve a
problem on your own without the help of your written work.
Exams: There will be two one-hour exams (in class) on Wednesday, September 30 and Wednesday, November 11, and the final exam will be held on Tuesday, December 15 at 12:30pm (if
your class meets at 11am) or 9:00am (if your class meets at 12pm). Calculators, cell phones and other
electronic devices are absolutely prohibited during exams. Their use will be considered cheating.
Cheating on any exam will result in a failing grade in the course!
Makeup policy: Unexcused absence from an exam results in a zero score. If you have a legitimate
reason for missing an exam, you must contact a dean and arrange to take the exam before the scheduled
time of the exam. If you are sick the day of an exam and unable to sit for the exam, or have a family
emergency, etc. go to Health Services or your dean’s office; they will provide me with documentation of
your illness or emergency. This documented evidence is absolutely necessary. You must take the final
exam in the section for which you are enrolled - no exceptions. It is your responsibility to make sure
that your personal travel plans do not conflict with exam dates.
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course,
please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family Learning Center
regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470, paulette.durrett@bc.edu,
in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities, including temporary disabilities.
Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for accommodations.
Grade: Your grade will be based on the weighted average of your various exam and homework scores.
The weighting scheme below that results in a higher overall score will used to determine your course
grade:
I
II
Online Homework
10%
10%
Written Homework
10%
10%
Midterm Exam (low)
15%
25%
Midterm Exam (high)
25%
25%
Final Exam
40%
30%
Your final letter grade will be based solely on your final score. While it is clear that the best score will
get an A, and that scores that are close to each other will get close letter grades, more precise decisions
2
are deferred to later in the semester when there will be more information. These decisions are at my
discretion, but I will make every effort to be fair and clear.
Prerequisites: This is a second semester calculus course; some calculus experience is necessary, including the basic tools of differential calculus: the power law; derivatives of trig functions; product,
quotient and chain rules, etc. We will also assume that you have done high school math: algebra,
trig, logs, etc. Though these topics will be reviewed as necessary, you may find yourself needing to
independently refresh them. This is highly encouraged! A good indication of the material assumed is
found in Chapters 1 through 4 of the book. Do some of these problems to make sure you are up to speed.
Placement: Please see me if you have questions about whether Math 1105 is the right course for you,
or consult the Math Dept. website (www.bc.edu/mathadvise).
Advice:
(1) Attend all classes.
(2) Before class, read over the material in the text that is going to be presented in class.
(3) After class, review your notes and make sure you understand everything.
(4) When you have questions, ask them!
(5) Do some math every day; learning this way is much easier than cramming the night before.
Start with these guidelines, but when all is said and done, it is up to you to find what works best for
you to master these ideas. So be responsible for your own learning!