Math 114
Laboratory Calculus II
Fall 1996
This is the syllabus for Ma 114: Laboratory Calculus II. If you
are unfamiliar with the Laboratory Calculus program here at UK
please read this syllabus especially carefully. If you are
familiar with the program you should read this just the same as
there are some changes between Calculus I and Calculus II.
Laboratory Calculus differs from the conventional calculus sections in
some very important ways. Among these are:
- It meets for 3 hours of lecture MWF and
2.5 hours of laboratory TTH per week. The laboratory takes the place of the
traditional recitation sections.
- Laboratory attendance is not optional .
- You must register for Ma194 to receive an hour of
(pass-fail) credit for the laboratory work in addition to the
four hours credit for the calculus course.
- The examinations are not conventional (see
details further on).
- Instructor: Carl Eberhart
- Office: 756 POT
- Phone: 257-1258
- Office Hours: 1-2 and 3-4 MWF, or by appointment. Also, you
can ask questions by email to carl@ms.uky.edu
- Laborary Instructor:
- NAME: Don Shufran
- Office: 706 POT
- Phone: 257-6805
- Office Hours: 11-12 TR
- Text: Calculus from
Graphical, Numerical, and Symbolic Points of
View - Volume 2. Ostebee, A. and Zorn, P.. Saunders
College Publishing. 1995.
This book was used last year. You may be able to find used copies.
- Lectures: 2-2:50 pm MWF in CB 349
The lectures will concentrate on mathematics with a goal of
helping the student understand the essential concepts and
logical structure of calculus. They will include serious
discussions of the underlying analytic principles and how they
are derived from basic assumptions.
- Homework will be assigned essentially every class day and will be
due the next lecture, unless otherwise specified.
. - Homework must be submitted when due, in person, on
8.5 by 11, three-hole punched sheets.
- Submitted problems must contain the complete (or
equivalent) statement of the problem and a reference to its
location in the text or handout, followed by a solution.
- Selected problems in the homework will be
carefully checked but not graded (these problems will
be indicated by a circled problem number when graded).
- If you miss class due to an excused absence your
homework may be submitted at the next class meeting.
- Homework which is forgotten can be brought to the
instructors' office within a few hours if arrangements
are made after class.
- DO NOT turn in someone else's homework or ask someone
to do so for you. You MUST attend lecture and submit your
OWN work.
Your final grade (see below) can be influenced by the number
of homework problems attempted and properly submitted.
It is not expected or even recommended that students do all of
the homework by themselves. Students are encouraged to work
together on the homework. However when a solution is a joint
effort, a notation of the type ``Worked with John Smith and
Jane Clark'' should appear on each such problem. In such
cases the similarity of the solutions will not bother the
grader and the person submitting the problem, John, and Jane
will all get credit for the problem. However, submitting a
copy of someone else's work and representing it as your
own is plagiarism, the most serious academic offense.
- Tests: There will be four examinations: two
skills tests, a midterm, and a final examination. The
midterm and final are similar to traditional examinations but
will place most of their emphasis on understanding of
principles and applications. They will primarily
consist of long-answer or discussion questions.
The skills examinations are very traditional in form but less
traditional in the way they are graded. Skills examinations
concentrate on calculations.
- Skills tests DO NOT include explanations of
`concepts', definitions, or in depth calculations.
- A skills test may be retaken twice if necessary.
Students who are making progress may be allowed to take
an additional exam at the discretion of the instructors.
- The first time a skills test is given the only grades given are: 0, 50, and 100.
- Scores of 90 - 100 percent earn a 100
- Scores of 50 - 89 percent earn a 50
- Scores of 0 - 49 percent earn a 0
- The second time a skills test is given the only grades given are: 0, 50, and 90.
- Scores of 90 - 100 percent earn a 90
- Scores of 50 - 89 percent earn a 50
- Scores of 0 - 49 percent earn a 0
- The third time a skills test is given the only grades given are: 0, 50, and 80.
- Scores of 90 - 100 percent earn an 80
- Scores of 50 - 89 percent earn a 50
- Scores of 0 - 49 percent earn a 0
In the past about one third to one fourth of the students have passed
(i.e. made 90 percent or better) on each skills exam.
- Skills tests problems are similar to homework and
laboratory exercises. They generally cover routine
calculations, properties, and techniques directly taught or
required to do the course problems up to the time of the
exam. This means that repetitions of a skills exam may
contain additional material.
- Skills exams are designed with the expectation that a serious effort
by an average student will result in a score of 90 percent or better. They are
NOT tests designed in the traditional expectation that an average student
will make an average score. Therefore their scores are NOT curved. Moreover under no circumstances is it reasonable for a student who makes less that the threshold score on a skills exam to expect credit at the level of his/her score. That is not the way these exams work.
- The design of the skills tests and the supporting laboratory program is such that an average student who seriously studies for them has an extremely good chance of passing in three tries. If you take the first skills exam in a series lightly because of the
expectation of taking it again your situation is entirely different from a that of a student who took it seriously but made a few careless mistakes.
Copies of old skills exams are avialable in the Math Library (In the basement of Patterson Office Tower.
The skills tests and midterm are (approximately) one hour
exams. However in order to limit the effect of time pressure
these exams will be given on Tuesday evenings for two hours
(7:30-9:30pm). You need to make these times available for
testing. The final examination is a two hour exam given
during the time period announced in the schedule of classes.
The examination schedule is:
- First Skills Exam: TUESDAY, September 24, 7:30 - 9:30pm
- Midterm Exam: TUESDAY, October 22, 7:30 - 9:30pm
- Second Skills Exam: TUESDAY, November 19, 7:30 - 9:30pm
- Final Exam: Week of (December 16), Time and Day determined by Lecture time.
Repetitions of skills exams will also be given on Tuesday
evenings (7:30 - 9:30pm) in the two weeks immediately
following the dates above for each skills exam. If you do
not pass on the first try you will also need to make these
times available.
- Laboratory: Students will meet in laboratory
sections 2.5 hours per week under the supervision of a
Teaching Assistant. Laboratory work will typically be done
in groups of three students. Each group will have the use of a
graphics workstation. In the lab, students work in groups on
prepared worksheets. The worksheets contain problems emphasizing
both ``skills'' and ``concepts''. After each lab, the TA will review and
grade the lab on a ``check, check+ or check-'' basis and return
the worksheet to the group at the next session at which time
they will continue to work on that sheet or receive another.
For most labs you will be given one week of lab meetings (two lab meetings)
to complete a lab although there are some
labs designed for a single lab period.
Students are not required to work on lab worksheets
outside of lab, but they are encouraged to do so if they wish.
Your participation in group work and your progress will
comprise about half of the lab component of your grade
(explained further on).
- Laboratory Attendance is a MANDATORY Component of
the Course: Students may register for
an additional hour of pass/fail university credit for their
laboratory work. The grading policy for
the pass/fail credit is simple: Students will receive a
grade of `pass' in the one hour laboratory component provided
they: have NO unexcused absences for laboratory
meetings, make up ANY excused absences,
and they make a serious effort to participate.
A further remark on laboratory participation: Although
the lab seeks to promote group study and to integrate both
technology and writing into the study of calculus,
experience shows that students need to see a direct connection
between every consequential course activity and their final
grade. In addition to the Lab Component of the Final Grade
students should view the time spent in Laboratory as time is
being spent:
- Learning how to do the homework problems.
- Studying for the midterm and final exams.
- Studying for the skills exams.
Time spent working in lab will usually be much more efficient than
studying at home since there will be many more resources at your disposal
in the lab.
- Laboratory Projects: Two times during the
semester the class will work on lab `projects.' These will
take the form of problems requiring a substantial amount of
effort/interpretation. The problems will be discussed in
laboratory sessions and students will work in
groups to analyze, solve, and write a report on the problem.
Laboratory projects will generally require work outside of
class and will be graded with all members of a group receiving
the common grade. (Note that each group member must do their fair
share to recieve the groups grade, otherwise they will recieve a
grade of 0. Each member signs the report and in doing so affirms that
each member of the group contributed fairly to the final submission.)
- Students receive 4 semester hrs credit for the lecture
and 1 semester hour of pass/fail credit for the lab.
- The lecture grade is based on homework plus four tests.
- 15 percent of the student's grade is determined by his her
grade on each of two skills tests. (30 percent total).
- 25 percent of the student's grade is determined by his/her
grade on the lecture midterm
- 25 percent of the final grade is determined by the student's
grade on the final examination
- 20 percent of the student's final grade is based on work in
the laboratory sessions. Probably, about 2/3 from lab
projects and 1/3 from work done on worksheets. Your TA will
clarify the criterion and grading method.
- The grade of pass or fail in the laboratory will be
determined by attendance and satisfactory participation.
Excused laboratory absences must be made up. In laboratory,
a single unexcused absence or an excused absence which is not
made up will result in a failing laboratory grade (the one
credit portion). You will also need to continue attending
the remaining labs as they are the basis for a significant
amount of your grade. Hence it is a real waste to miss a class
and lose your extra credit.
How homework affects your grade: Remember that homework
must be submitted in the correct form or it will simply be
returned. Portions of homework which is submitted when due and
in the correct form is corrected but not graded. Corrections
should help you to spot weaknesses in your understanding of
the material covered. Please seek help when you need it.
The homework ``grader'' will keep records of all homework
problems that are properly submitted (on time and
correct format). On each skills test, a student can get a
Bonus of 2 points if they have completed ALL of
the homework up to that date or a Bonus of 1 point if
they have at least 66 percent of the assigned homework properly
completed. These Bonuses may seem small, but in the past
approximately 10 percent of the scores on skills tests have
been 88 or 89; scores that passed (or would have passed) only with
this Bonus. Failure to properly do your homework and attend class in order
to submit it will not only result in your not being as well prepared as
possible for the tests but can result in your failing or unnecessarily having
to repeat an exam.
This document was generated using the LaTeX2HTML translator Version 96.1 (Feb 5, 1996) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, Nikos Drakos, Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
The command line arguments were:
latex2html -link 0 -split 0 syllabus.tex.
The translation was initiated by Carl Eberhart on Wed Aug 28 00:03:56 EDT 1996
Carl Eberhart
Wed Aug 28 00:03:56 EDT 1996