MATH 30 (Section 5) - First Day Handout

Calculus I - Fall 2021


General information


Time and place:    T Th 2:55 - 4:10 pm, Davidson Auditorium (in Adams Hall)
Instructor:             Lenny Fukshansky
Office:                    Adams 218
Phone:                   (909) 607 - 0014
Email:                    lenny@cmc.edu
Office hours:         on Zoom TTh 4:30 - 6:00 pm, or by appointment (Zoom ID is in the Class Information announcement on Sakai)
Class webpage:     https://www1.cmc.edu/pages/faculty/lenny/classes/fall_2021/m30/fall_2021_m30.html

The class webpage is a good source for all class related information; in particular, homework assignments will be posted on the class webpage weekly. Please check it regularly.


Textbook: (Required) Calculus: Early Transcendentals (7th Edition), by Stewart (published by Cengage Learning).


Catalog course description:

Single variable calculus. Differentiation and integration of algebraic and transcendental functions with applications to the social and physical sciences.

Prerequisite:
Placement.


Material to be covered:

This course will cover most of Chapters 1 - 5 of the book, as time allows. We will tentatively aim to cover the following sections:

Chapter 1:
Sections 1.1 - 1.3, 1.5, 1.6
Chapter 2: Sections 2.2 - 2.8 (read 2.1 on your own)
Chapter 3: Sections 3.1 - 3.6, 3.10
Chapter 4: Sections 4.1 - 4.5, 4.7 - 4.9
Chapter 5: Sections 5.1 - 5.5 as time allows

The particular week-by-week schedule of the course will correspond to the weekly homework assignments, which are displayed on the class webpage.


Teaching philosophy:

The main goal of this liberal arts GE course is to present the mathematical way of thinking, centering on rigorous logic and analytical reasoning. We will do this on the example of the classical material of Differential Calculus, going back to the fundamental 17th century work of Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and its 19th century presentation by Augustin-Louis Cauchy and Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass, along with other important mathematicians. The approach we take will be largely theoretical, aiming to not only demonstrate computational methods, but also to understand what makes them work. While we will not be able to prove all the results presented, we will see some proofs and discuss the underlying logic behind the main concepts. In this way, this course will also serve as an introductory exposition of the art of mathematical proof, which may be different from a more computational approach to Calculus taken in many high school courses.


Expected effort and learning outcomes:

A serious effort is usually required in order to succeed in this class, including (but possibly not limited to) the following:

While the actual time needed to perform these tasks may depend on an individual student, you should plan for a serious time investment in this course with 2-3 hours at home for each hour in class, on average.

The main expected learning outcome for this class is developing an understanding of the mathematical reasoning and logic as demonstrated on the analytic theory of functions discussed during course of this class. More specifically, we will aim to develop basic familiarity with the following major topics:


Grading policy

Class attendance and homework completion are required parts of the course. Homework assignments will be regularly posted on the course webpage and collected on Thursdays via Sakai dropbox for our class. You should scan-in your completed homework assignment into a single PDF file and upload it into the dropbox no later than 11:59 pm on a corresponding Thursday. Late homework will not be accepted.

There will be two in class midterm exams and the comprehensive final exam. Here is the exam schedule.

Midterm 1:        Thursday, October 7, in class
Midterm 2:        Thursday, November 11, in class
Final Exam:       Monday, December 13, 2:00 - 5:00 pm in Davidson Auditorium

Make-up exams will only be given with documented Dean of Students-approved excuses.

The grade break-down will be as follows:
The grading scale used for this class will be:
I reserve the right to introduce a curve (up or down) at the end of the semester depending on the class's overall performance.


Additional resources

Tutoring help is available at the Murty Sunak Quantitative and Computing Lab (QCL): our designated QCL mentor is Max Forst. QCL is the centralized hub for support with all sorts of quantitative issues at CMC, including course mentoring, training workshops and senior thesis and research project assistance. QCL services are available by appointment and on a walk-in basis. Please consult the QCL website for more detailed information about the services provided:
 
https://www.cmc.edu/qcl


Class policies

The following are basic rules that all students should follow in order not to disturb the class.
The use of calculators, or any other electronic devices, as well as any books or notes, is prohibited during all tests.


Important dates



COVID-related information and policies

While we are meeting in-person this semester, we have to be mindful of the COVID pandemic situation we are currently in. With this in mind, the students are required to wear a mask properly covering your nose and mouth at all times while in-doors. You should not be eating or drinking during the lecture. Anyone refusing to follow this policy will be asked to leave the class and reported to the Dean of Students office.

If you are feeling ill, you should self-quarantine and stay at your residence, report your symptoms to the Hamilton Health Box and get tested. You should also inform me as soon as possible of this situation so that we can agree on the necessary accommodations.

The students are expected to attend the class in-person when healthy. At the same time, I will also stream the lectures via Zoom and make Zoom-video recordings of the lectures, which will then be placed in the CMC Box folder for our class, and hence made available for you to review. This will allow students who become ill to still follow the class at their convenience. The Zoom ID for the lecture and link to the CMC Box folder are in the Class Information announcement on Sakai.



The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the class policies.