MATH 131 - Calculus 1 with Refresher Precalculus A (Section 001) –
Fall 2008
Instructor: Gene Abrams
Graduate Teaching Assistant supporting this course: Jennifer Holmes
Contact Info: (Gene Abrams) Office EAS 288 262-3182
abrams@math.uccs.edu
(Jennifer Holmes) Office EAS 281 262-3522 jholmes3@uccs.edu
Gene Abrams’ office hours: Monday through Thursday 3:45 – 4:20, plus additional
Tuesday and Thursday hours (times to be announced),
and by appointment.
Jennifer Holmes’ office hours: TBA . AND Supplemental Instruction sessions,
TBA
Text: Essential Calculus (Early Transcendentals) by Stewart.
Supplementary Materials: Available at
http://www.uccs.edu/~math/Courses/Refresher/index.php
Course Web Site: Homework assignments and important dates (e.g. exam dates) will be
posted on the course web site, which you can access from Abrams’ homepage
www.uccs.edu/~gabrams .
Course Goals for Math 131 / 132: To learn the concepts and techniques of differential
and integral calculus; to learn to participate effectively in mathematical discourse as a means of
deepening understanding of algebra, trigonometry and calculus concepts, to improve problem
solving and critical thinking, to create a learning community, and to demonstrate applications of
Calculus I.
Exams: There will be three 75-minute exams. They will be given on
APPROXIMATELY the following dates. (The actual dates will be announced at least three
class sessions in advance.)
Exam 1: Precalculus ideas, plus Chapter 1: Thursday, October 9
Exam 2: Sections 2.1 through 2.5
Thursday, November 6
Exam 3: Sections 2.6 through 3.4
Thursday, December 4
Final Exam: The cumulative Final Exam will be Tuesday, December 16, 1:40 – 4:10pm
Gateway Quiz on Derivatives: Because your ability to compute with derivatives is so
important, we will have a Gateway Quiz on Derivatives. You will need to score 100% on this
six question quiz in order to pass the course. You will be allowed to retake the quiz up to five
times. The quiz will take ten minutes, and will be administered three times in class, starting
around Tuesday, November 18. (If anyone still needs to take the quiz after these three times,
additional administration of the quiz will be done during office hours.)
Pre-quizzes on precalculus stuff. During the first few weeks of class you will be asked
to complete some five-minute quizzes which are meant to assess your current knowledge of
various precalculus topics (e.g. functions, lines, exponentials, trigonometry). You are not
expected to study for these quizzes, and the score you earn will NOT at all count towards your
class grade. These quizzes are given solely so that we might determine how much precalculus
you subsequently remember / learn over the course of the semester. There might be some of
you for whom this course is not the correct one to be in, because your precalculus skills are
too weak. These pre-quizzes will help in part to make that determination.
Oral Assessments: Students will be given the opportunity to discuss the concepts
covered in each unit test in a 30 minute small group setting. These orals will be facilitated by the
instructors. They are optional but will help students prepare for the unit tests. More details will
be given prior to Exam 1.
Homework: Homework is worth 10% of your course grade. There will be a
homework assignment given almost every day of the class. Normally, homework is due two
class sessions from the date it is assigned. So for example, typically a Tuesday assignment will
be due the following Tuesday. The homework you submit should be complete, on time, and with
all work shown. There will be approximately ten problems assigned each day to be submitted.
The homework grader will decide which of the problems to actually grade. These will be graded
on a 5 point scale. I encourage you to use any types of resources in order to complete the
homework, e.g. me, Jen, classmates, Math Learning Center, etc. The only real stipulation is that
you actually write down the answers to your own homework assignment (i.e. no xeroxing of
others' assignments). Homework will not be accepted more than two class sessions after the
date it was due.
Course prerequisites: Officially the course prerequisites require you to have completed
the equivalent of UCCS course Math 105 (Elementary Functions for Calculus) or obtain at least
a minimum score on the Calculus Readiness Exam (which can be taken at the UCCS Testing
Center). This prerequisite should be fulfilled if you have taken four years of high school
mathematics, Algebra 1 and higher. (The prerequisite is also fulfilled by obtaining a high enough
score on the ACT exam.) Although prerequisites are not officially enforced, I CANNOT
STRESS ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT YOU SATISFY THE
PREREQUISITES. IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE
PREREQUISITES, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT BE TAKING THIS
COURSE. (For instance, if you have seen four years of high school mathematics but did
not have a significant course in trigonometry or in exponential functions, then you should
not be taking this course, you should instead be in the Math 105 course.) Please see me
immediately if you have any questions about this.
Mathematics Learning Center: The MLC is located in EAS 129. Drop-in tutoring
services are available FREE OF CHARGE. MLC hours for this semester are: 9:00am – 9:00pm
Monday through Thursday, 9:00am – 5:00pm Friday.
Supplemental Instruction: This course is supported by the Supplemental Instruction
Program. Jen Holmes will run Supplemental Instruction sessions at various times throughout the
week. We’ll talk more about this in class.
Calculators: You are required to have a calculator to use for exams. This must be a
NON-graphing scientific calculator with a minimal number of storage registers, and no
QWERTY keyboard. These are widely available for around $10. (You will also need a
calculator to do the homework. You can either use a minimalist one like the one you need for
the exams, or you can use a more powerful one if you like.)
Grading system: Each 75 minute exam is worth 20%. The Final Exam is worth 30%.
Homework is worth 10%. In addition, you must pass the Derivatives Gateway Quiz with a score
of 100% in order to pass the course. I utilize what I call “Guaranteed minimum grading”. (All
of this assumes that you pass the Derivatives Gateway Quiz with a score of 100%.) If you get at
least 90% of the total points in this course, you are guaranteed of earning AT LEAST an A-.
Similarly, at least 80% guarantees you of AT LEAST a B-, at least 70% guarantees you of at
least a C-, and at least 60% guarantees you of not getting an F. This system is meant to remove
any worry that any of your group work, or appropriate out-of-class cooperation on work, could in
any way jeopardize your own grade.
Important administrative dates: Last date to drop the course without any mention of it
on your permanent transcript is Thursday, September 11. The last date to drop this course is
Friday, October 31 (my signature and the LAS dean’s signature is required). There will be no
classes on Tuesday September 1 (Labor Day), nor on Thursday November 27 (Thanksgiving).
Some general thoughts on homework, course participation, and Academic
Dishonesty: To do well in this course, you must come to the lectures and do (and understand!)
the homework. (Do I take attendance in class? NO. But after more than 25 years of teaching at
the university level, it has become crystal clear to me that students who do attend class, and do
the homework, and who take their studies seriously, are the ones who most often succeed.
Conversely, students who do not attend class or do not take their studies seriously quite often
wind up failing the course.)
I STRONGLY suggest that you take advantage of as many of the support systems as
possible this semester. Establish a firm calculus foundation now and it will pay off for the rest of
your college career. Strong calculus skills will help you in other math, science and engineering
courses.
You are allowed and encouraged to discuss the homework problems with other students
in the class, and to work on the problems together, but only until you get to the point that you
understand how to solve the problem. Then each student is required to write up and to submit
his/her own homework set. (If, on the other hand, you think that you work better and more
efficiently by working alone, then that’s fine too!)
On all graded aspects of this course (homework and exams), violation of the UCCS
Student Academic Misconduct Policy
http://web.uccs.edu/studentconduct/academicdishonesty.html
will result in a course grade of F. Remember, giving unauthorized help is also considered a
violation and incurs the same penalties as receiving help. If you are uncertain about whether or
not some specific activity constitutes cheating, feel free to consult me.