Business Calculus

15-Math-1046

Section 005

Department of

Mathematical

Sciences

This page is a work in progress! All information is subject to change (Last revised 6 August 2014)

Instructor Prof David A Herron
4514 French Hall, 556-4075 		Office Hours
Mon,Wed,Fri 1:00-1:45, and by appt		 E-mail me at David's e-address
My web page is at David's w-address

Basic Course Information

Textbook: Applied Calculus (5th edition) by Hughes-Hallett, Gleason, Lock, Flath, et al. (ISBN: 978-0-470-17052-6). (WileyPLUS registration code is required. The code can be purchased with the book from the University Bookstore or separately from wileyplus.com).

General Syllabus: Chapters 2 thru 8.

Course Info Links:

Important Dates

University Information

The last day to drop this class (with no entry to your academic record) is September 8, 2014. The last day to withdraw from this class is October 31, 2014. These are official UC dates and something I have no control over. If you withdraw from this course, I will be required to verify whether or not you minimally participated in the class. Although I will try my best to respond accurately, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I will state that you did not minimally participate. Ways for you to provide clear evidence of your presence in the class include turning in at least one homework assignment, taking at least one quiz, or taking at least one exam.

Academic Integrity Policy
The University Rules, including the Student Code of Conduct, and other documented policies of the department, college, and university related to academic integrity will be enforced. Any violation of these regulations, including acts of plagiarism or cheating, will be dealt with on an individual basis according to the severity of the misconduct.

Special Needs Policy
If you have any special needs related to your participation in this course, including identified visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical impairment, communication disorder, and/or specific learning disability that may influence your performance in this course, you should meet with the instructor to arrange for reasonable provisions to ensure an equitable opportunity to meet all the requirements of this course. At the discretion of the instructor, some accommodations may require prior approval by Disability Services.

Except for a few courses, all mathematics classes satisfy the University Quantitative Reasoning Requirements. This course satisfies the QRR of UC's General Education program. This course was designed following the guidelines of the University of Cincinnati General Education Program. It satisfies, or partially satisfies, the Quantitative Reasoning distribution requirement.

Course Goals

The main course objectives are for you to: Daily class attendance and participation is expected. You are expected to arrive on time and stay the entire period. You should come prepared; please read the relevant sections of the text before class and be prepared to discuss the material. Bring questions!

You are responsible for everything that happens in class. This includes any material covered as well as any announcements made like changes in homework assignments or test schedules. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to check with someone else in the class to find out what you missed.

Calculators: You will want a graphing calculator for class, homework, and exams. A TI-84 is the recommended calculator for this course; however, do not buy a new one if you already have a graphing calculator. Unfortunately, the calculator on your cell phone will not work, since you will not be allowed to have it out during exams. Bring your calculator to each lecture.

Blackboard: Keep an eye on Blackboard. It will be used to post announcements, assignments, solutions, and scores.

Your Course Grade

Your final grade will be based on four in class hour exams, a cumulative final exam, quizzes, homework, and class participation. Here is the precise breakdown: Your grade will be determined solely from your exam scores---there will not be any possible "extra credit".

Grading Scale: The minimum weighted average for the grade will be 90% = A-, 80% = B-, 70% = C-, 60% = D-, below 60% = F.

Make-up Policy: There will be NO make-up exams nor make-up quizzes; if you cannot take an exam, you should not expect to be able to make it up, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. If you have a valid reason for missing an exam, please speak with me about it before and bring me documental proof; the missed exam score will be replaced by your final exam score (weighted appropriately). You will receive a zero if you do not have a legitimate reason for missing the test, or if you miss a second test for any reason. The exam dates are listed here.

Quizzes will be given at random days at the end of the class period. Take home quizzes may also be given. Classroom activities include attendance and participation. Your lowest two quiz scores will be dropped.

Participation: Every week there will be a class period during which students are expected to work with their classmates and present work to the class. You are expected to attend and actively engage in every class.

In order to receive audit credit for this course, you must attend all lectures and take all quizzes and exams.

I will start each class by answering questions. I encourage you to talk to other members of the class or to ask me for help.

HomeWork

There will be both online graded homework and suggested problems from the text; the latter will not be collected nor graded. Working both the suggested problems as well as the online homework will enhance your understanding of the material and help you do well in this course. I encourage you to work with other members of the class. It is your responsibility to turn in the homework assignments on or before the due dates. Late homework will not be accepted.

Course Exams

See the syllabus for the sections that each exam covers. The final exam will be cumulative.

Course Help

 If you are seeking help, there are Graduate Student Teaching Assistants on duty at the MASS Center located in French Hall West room 2133. The MASS Center provides free services for the students in this course. During the times listed on their web page, students will be able to work collaboratively with each other under the guidance of a highly-trained tutor. No appointment is necessary for these tutoring sessions, but there are a limited number of seats available on a first-come, first-served in the MASS Center.

There is also one-on-one tutoring available where students will be able to work one-on-one with a qualified and trained peer tutor. Students may schedule appointments online here. More information about the tutoring program is at the LAC website.

Perhaps the best way to get help is to ask your fellow classmates! In addition it is possible to hire a private tutor; see the MLC web page.

Finally, here is some friendly advice. I encourage you to get two notebooks for this course. Use one to write down class notes and problems that I work in class; do your homework problems in the other notebook. You will find it easier to study for exams if your class notes are not cluttered with your homework problems. I will go over as many problems as possible. However, mathematics is not a spectator sport; mathematical knowledge is not gained passively and you will not learn by osmosis; you must be an active participant in the learning process. This means that to learn the material you must work the problems yourself and practice every day. You must work lotsa problems, as many as you can. Don't be afraid to work some of the problems over and over, especially when you're studying for an exam. It is easy to fall behind; try to keep up with the course and seek help immediately if you have problems.

It is a excellent idea to go over your notes as soon as possible after class!

Regrading Policy

 Mistakes are made in grading, especially when there is only one person responsible for grading all of your work. Sometimes these mistakes are in the student's favor, but unfortunately sometimes they are not. By following the procedure outlined below, you can have mistakes in the grading of your work corrected. Please be aware that just as it is likely that you will receive more points, it is also possible for you to actually lose points -- this generally happens to at least one person each term. Thus there are three possible outcomes of a regrade request: your score may remain the same or your score may increase or your score may decrease.

Note that partial credit is awarded only for work that is mostly correct except for one or two minor errors. You will not be given partial credit for attempting to solve a problem by the wrong method. Nor will you receive credit---even for a correct answer---if no supporting work is present.

Here is the Procedure to Follow for a Regrade Request. If you believe an error was made in grading your work, then you must appeal the grade in writing within one day of the day the work was returned to the class. A late request for regrading will automatically be denied. To have your work regraded, you must return it along with a clearly written note indicating the mistakes that you believe were made in grading. If your point totals were added incorrectly, simply indicate this on your regrade request. Otherwise, please provide the following information for each problem that you believe was graded incorrectly.

  1. The number of the problem to be regraded and the score you think you should receive.
  2. The score you think you should receive.
  3. An explanation of why you think you deserve more points. This means that you should indicate which parts of your solution were graded incorrectly. You should be able to distinguish which part of your answer is correct and which part is incorrect. For example, you might say something like "I solved the problem correctly but forgot to multiply by 2 at the third step".
Note that no credit is given if you use the wrong method to solve a problem, even if your computations and/or your answers are correct.

Failure to provide any of the above information may result in your work not being regraded.

External Links

Here are some links to some other web pages. I will add to this list as the year progresses.