Math 102 - Fall 2011 - Section 003

Instructor

Dr. Evan Bullock
Office: Herman Brown 408
Email:

Course Information

Class meets: MWF from 11:00-11:50am in SEW 301
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays 1:30-2:30pm, and Thursdays 1:15-2:15pm in HB 408
TA Help Sessions: Mondays 7-9pm in SEW 309 and Thursdays 7-9pm in HZ Amp (except for 10/27 when it will be in Keck 100)
Teaching Assistants: Natalie Durgin, Diego Vela, Quentin Funk

Course Description

This course is the continuation of MATH 101. The topics include integration by parts, partial fractions, and other methods of integration, infinite sequences and series, Taylor polynomials, tests for convergence, power series, polar coordinates, and parametric curves. See the following detailed (but tentative) schedule for what I plan to cover each day.

Textbook

The textbook for the course is Stewart's Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals (6th Edition) or Stewart's Calculus: Early Transcendentals (6th Edition).  The bookstore has a custom-made book for Rice (ISBN: 9781111699314), which includes a WebAssign account (see below), for $163.35.  It's also possible to buy a hardcover/ebook/etc. copy of Stewart and buy a WebAssign account separately ($47/semester for Webassign or $75/semester for Webassign and the ebook).  If you buy a WebAssign account directly from the WebAssign web site and drop the class within 14 days, WebAssign will supposedly provide a full refund, but no refund is possible if you buy the bookstore version once you break the shrink-wrap.  You should avoid the newer 7th edition or any earlier editions, as the exercise numbering may not match up.

Homework

There will be two components to the homework, WebAssign and written homework to be handed in:

1. WebAssign Homework will be due every class day at 9:00 PM.  It will be assigned through the WebAssign website.  Each student needs to sign up for a WebAssign account and get familiar with WebAssign as soon as possible.  The WebAssign homework problems are to be completed online, though they are generally quite similar to exercises in the textbook.

   The WebAssign key for this section is: rice 8227 7719.

   It is strongly recommended that you keep a notebook where you write down complete solutions to the WebAssign problems.  Such a notebook will be very useful when discussing homework problems in TA sessions or office hours, and  if you write down enough details that you will be able to follow your work weeks later, it can also be very useful when studying for the exams.

2. Written Homework will consist of 2-3 problems each week, due Friday at the start of class.  It will be assigned through OWL-Space.  You should submit detailed solutions to these problems, with explanations in grammatically correct complete English sentences.  You will be graded not only on the mathematical content of your solutions but also on your exposition.  I expect most of you to submit (legible!) handwritten homeworks, but if you choose to typeset them on a computer, I would strongly suggest learning to use L^aT_eχ.

You may use a calculator or computer algebra program to assist you on the homework, but you should remember that you will be allowed no calculators on the exams and practice accordingly.  You are welcome to work with other students on the homeworks, both WebAssign and the written homeworks, but you should make sure you understand your answers before submitting them to WebAssign, and on the written homeworks your write-up should be your own.  Late homework will not be accepted for ANY reason; instead, your four lowest WebAssign scores and your lowest written assignment score will be dropped when computing your homework average.  You should not search the internet for solutions to the specific homework problems you have been assigned, but you are welcome to read about a relevant mathematical topic on a site like Wikipedia with no relation to the specific problems from Stewart or WebAssign.

Exams

There will be two in-class midterm exams (on Wednesday 9/21 and Wednesday 11/9) and one comprehensive final exam at 7:00pm on Wednesday 12/7. All exams are are subject to the Rice University Honor Code. Exams are closed-book, closed-notes, and you will not be allowed to use a calculator on the exams.  Make-up exams will generally be allowed only in the case of a documented medical emergency.  If an exam conflicts with a holiday you observe, please let me know before the end of the first week of classes.

The date of the final exam is not available at this time.  It is the policy of the Mathematics department that no final exam may be given early to accommodate student travel plans.  If you make travel plans that later turn out to conflict with the scheduled exam, then it is your responsibility to either reschedule your travel plans or take a zero on the final.

Grades

Your grade in the class will be based on the following weights:

Homework		20%
Midterm 1: Wednesday, September 21		15-20%
Midterm 2: Wed, November 9		15-20%
Final Exam: Wed, December 7, at 7-10pm		40-50%

More precisely, the weighting will be whichever of 20%/20%/20%/40%, 20%/15%/20%/45%, 20%/20%/15%/45%, and 20%/15%/15%/50% maximizes your score.  The 20% for Homework will consist of 15% WebAssign and 5% written assignments.

Disability Support

If you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs.  Additionally, you will need to register with the Disability Support Services Office in the Allen Center.