TA Comments for Math 142 Lab
Lab I (Taylor Polynomials)
Preparation for lab
- work the quiz question, including the bonus, on your own
- be prepared to answer any student questions about the quiz questions
- prepare an attendance sheet
- grade Hour Quiz 2 (and any remaining projects, …); record scores in grade book; return papers
- check that I supplied enough copies of the quiz.
Before lab
- plan to arrive at the classroom at least 5 minutes before the start of class
During the lab period
- distribute Lab I (goldenrod paper)
- remind students of basic ideas behind Taylor polynomials
- point out patterns and ideas that will be relevant as the course moves towards power series, e.g.,
interval of convergence, obtaining new series from known series (multiplication, substitution)
- work through examples for Activities 1 and 2 fairly quickly; give students some time to work one
or two problems on their own
- leave significant amount of time for Activity 3; identify p(x) as a Maclaurin polynomial, then
obtain estimate using Remainder Estimation Theorem; plot true remainder, it’s bound, and 0.0005
on the same set of axes; visually identify where the bound intersects 0.0005 and where the real
remainder intersects 0.0005 (be sure the bound really is at least as large as the true remainder)
- distribute Mastery Quiz 7 (the function is a little messy, but that is just to prevent students from
even attempting this problem by hand)
- announce deadline for submitting Mastery Quiz 7
After class
- logout from instructor console
- turn off overhead projector
- check that all students have logged out
- collect attendance sheet; record attendance in grade book