Check your schedule for the time and location of your discussion section.
You should have already had one course in Calculus, so we will assume you know the basics. This is evident by the breakneck speed at which we will cover chapters 2 -- 4. By the end of this class, you should be able to take derivatives and some integrals very quickly and without mistakes, be able to set up and solve a variety of word problems, be more comfortable with a higher level of abstraction, and understand the concepts underlying calculus well enough to teach them.
You may check your scores (not including homework) by going to www.math.uiuc.edu/Classes and clicking on the "Score Reports" link. Homework scores will be added at the end of the semester.
Most of your learning happens while you do the homework. There is no way to learn math unless you do math.
I recommend working on homework and studying together in groups. Explaining something is the best way to know whether or not you really understand it. On the other hand, don't let someone "give you all the answers"---this is the worst strategy for doing well in the class.
If you'd like some interactive help with practice problems (not necessarily homework problems), you can go to the Stewart Calculus webpage and check out the TEC (Tools for Enriching Calculus). www.stewartcalculus.com/tec/ which has help for problems in your text with red-boxed numbers (e.g. section 2.5; 3, 7, 11, 18...)
We will use an online homework system called WebAssign. www.webassign.net which provides immediate feedback on your work. To begin working on homework, you will need to log on to WebAssign. To do this, first go to the WebAssign login page. You will need your username, institution and password. Your username is your NetID, or else your NetID followed by ".1", the institution is uiuc and the password is "leininger221". For example, if your NetID is wtell2, then you would use the following to log in:
After your first login, please change your password.
If you registered on or after August 21 (for example, if you cannot log in with the above information), I'll need to add you to the roster by hand.
The online homework sets have due dates which should be visible when you log in (though I will also generally post the due dates on the updates webpage). You can complete and submit your homework at any time before the due date.
A word about online homework: You should work the problems on paper first, then submit your solutions. You will usually have 5 attempts to submit each answer, so do not panic if you get it wrong.
There will be a 10 minute quiz given at some (randomly chosen) time during the discussion section. There will be at most one quiz per week.
There will be three midterm exams, each given during the class hour in the regular classroom and another room. The midterms will be cumulative but with an emphasis on recent material. The midterm dates are: September 21, October 21, and December 2. Specific information about the logistics of the midterms will be explained in due course---see the updates page for more information as it becomes available.
The final exam will be cumulative, held December 15. There will be no conflict exam given
except for those few individuals who meet the
official university criteria given in the student code. See the
exam schedule for dates and times.
If you miss a homework set or quiz because of an illness, field trip, or sports travel, do not panic! The lowest 3 quiz scores and the lowest 6 homework scores will be dropped. There are no make-up quizzes or extensions for homework, but I encourage you to go over a missed quiz with your TA during office hours to make sure you know the material.
If you are going to miss an exam, you must contact me ahead of time with a valid reason. If you are going to miss class for several days, miss an exam, miss more than two quizes or more than 4 homework sets you must contact the Emergency Dean at 300 Student Services Building, 610 East John St., phone 333-0050, and ask them to send us a letter excusing your absence. They routinely deal with emergencies and are very helpful.
Note: "I overslept" is not considered an excusable reason for missing an exam. With a note from the doctor saying that you were extremely ill or a note from the Emergency Dean, we will excuse the missed exam and count the other exams with more weight. There are no make up exams, but you are encouraged to go through the exam with a TA or the professor to get the feedback you would have gotten if you'd taken it.
DO NOT SCHEDULE YOUR TRAVEL HOME FOR THE HOLIDAY BEFORE THE EXAM DATE. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR MISSING THE FINAL.
Cheating will not be tolerated. Any student caught cheating on quizzes or exams will receive an automatic F for the course and have a letter sent to the Dean for their permanent record.
No calculators are allowed on the exam. Problems will be chosen which do not require them.
Feel free to ask math questions anytime during class or during office hours (if questions in class become disruptive to the flow of the class and are not benefitting the majority of the students, I may defer answers to office hours). Email is also acceptable, though you should seek other methods of having questions answered first (see also the link for best results with email).
I have set up a discussion group on google for this class. To join, you only need a gmail account. Send me an email from your gmail account with heading "Math 221 google group". Include in the body of the email your name and your uiuc email address and I will invite you to join the group. This discussion group is to be used by the class for discussing mathematics related to this course. Please do not abuse it or it will have to be removed. I will occasionally (though not regularly) log on and follow some of the discussions.
Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to participate in this class should see me as soon as possible to make arrangements. Any accommodation on exams must be made at least a week in advance and will require a letter from DRES. You should also provide me with a copy of the RFA letter from DRES within the first two weeks.