Elementary Calculus at the University of Kentucky
This course is an introduction to differential and integral calculus, with applications to business and the biological and physical sciences. We cover differentiation of rational, radical, and exponential functions, integration as area, and using the fundamental theorem of calculus to integrate certain elementary functions. We cover applications to increasing and decreasing functions, concavity, optimization, marginal cost, and others.
This website contains almost all the information you will need this semester, including the official text for the course, contact information for your instructors, policies for grades and absences, worksheets used during recitations, important dates and deadlines, and more.
This course will emphasize computational and modeling aspects of mathematics. The course will also require you to effectively communicate your solutions. This means that by the end of the semester you should be able to: setup application or word problems, explain the result of a computation, interpret formulas or processes, and clearly communicate your solution process, in addition to getting the "right" answer.
The web homework is only capable of testing your computational ability. Discussion questions, recommended readings, and other provided materials will help develop your modeling and mathematical communication skills.
Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to
Students will improve with regard to the following mathematical practices.
Course policy regarding supportive discourse. Students are not allowed to make negative comments about themselves or their mathematical ability, at any time, for any reason. Here are example statements that are banned, along with acceptable replacement phrases.
| Last Name | Mathskeller Hours | In Office Hours |
| Bonventre | M 10-11am, W 11-12pm | |
| Clark | M,W,F 10-11am | |
| Druivenga | M,W,F 9:30-10:30am | |
| Guillou | M 1pm, T 2pm | |
| Dominguez | M,W,F 3-4pm | |
| Felton | M 10-11am | W 1-2pm, F 10-11am |
| George | M 1-2pm | M,W 8-9am |
| Hall | Th 4-5pm | M 8:30-9:30am, W 4-5pm |
| Peterson | W 2-3pm | M 1-2pm, Th 3:30-4:30pm |
| Pospisil | F 9-10am | T,Th 10-11am |
| Slone | M 2-3pm | M 2-4pm, T 1:30-2:30 |
| Speeter | F 10-11am | T,Th 1-2pm |
Detailed notes with the plan for each chapter have been written in order to assist you throughout the course. They will be used as a primary means of instruction.
We recommend that you review the lecture notes before attempting the homework. It is best to treat the original copy as a worksheet, fill in what answers you can, and only consult the versions with answers to check your work or if you get stuck.
There are also links to video lectures of each example in the course text starting with Chapter 2.
This course has about 160 pages of lecture notes and recitation worksheets. These pages can be printed on campus printers for about 12 cents per page, (see UK's IT site for current pricing information) which would total a bit less than $20. You might prefer to consider the following other alternatives:
You will need a calculator for the homework and exams. We allow the same calculators as the ACT allows. You may not use any machine (carbon-based life form or silicon-based) that has symbolic manipulation capabilities of any sort on any exam. This precludes the use of TI-89, TI-Nspire CAS, HP 48, TI 92, Voyage 200, Casio Classpad or laptop computer. Also, you may not use your mobile phone, iPhone or Blackberry on any exam even if you forget your regular calculator. If it runs Android, GEOS, iOS, Linux, MacOS, PalmOS, Ubuntu, Unix, Windows, or similar operating systems, you cannot use it on the exams. Answers that are simply the output of a calculator routine or a single numerical or symbolic expression that has no supporting work will receive no credit on exams.
The lecture portion of your grade is based on active participation in lecture (the Mon-Wed-Fri meetings). You will participate in class using your phone, laptop, or other device with an internet connection. You will need to create an iClicker REEF polling Student account and purchase a subscription. When setting up your account, please use your student ID number without the leading 9, and your official UK email address. A 180-day subscription costs $14.99 if purchased online directly through REEF, or $16.00 if buying an access code from the university bookstore. If you have any difficulties with obtaining an account or with bringing a phone or laptop to class, please see your instructor. If you are using iClicker REEF Polling in another class this term, you only need one subscription. You can access our iClicker REEF course by using the iClicker sync option on the left navigation bar of your Canvas course page. For more information about REEF Polling click here. See below for information about absences from lecture.
The recitation/participation points will be awarded for actively engaging in discussions in recitation, performance on worksheets, and performance on quizzes. Each recitation instructor will provide a handout on the first day explaining the polices and grading specific to their sections.
Excused absences are granted according to University Senate Rule 5.2.4.2, which defines the following as acceptable reasons for excused absences: serious illness; illness or death of family member; University-related trips; major religious holidays; other circumstances your instructor finds to be "reasonable cause for nonattendance".
The procedure for handling an absence varies based on whether you are missing an exam, a lecture class, or a recitation class.Absences from exams should be reported (in advance) on this form. Students who have university excused absences or who have university-scheduled class conflicts with uniform examinations need to make arrangements to take exam at an alternate time. According to university policy, it is the student's responsibility to resolve scheduling conflicts with common hour exams, and this must be done at least TWO WEEKS before the exam. If you fail to inform your instructor of exam conflicts in timely manner, a penalty may be assessed on your exam score and you will be required to take the exam at one of the already scheduled alternate exam times. To avoid any problems request alternate exams here as soon as you know you may have a conflict.
No final exams will be given before Tuesday, December 17 at 6pm.For lecture attendance, your clicker grade will automatically allow you to have up to five excused absences without providing any documentation. If you are absent, please collect your documentation in a safe place and keep careful count. If you accumulate six or more EXCUSED absences from lecture, you should provide official documentation for ALL of the absences to your lecturer within one week of the sixth excused absence (and for any absence thereafter). (In other words, in order to drop more than five days of lecture, you need to bring MORE than five days' worth of verifiable excuses.)
Recitation attendance is required. Because recitation meets only once a week, you should make every effort to attend. For policies about handling excused absences, see your recitation instructor for details. Contact information is on the Sections and Instructors page. Generally, you will be required to make up the work you miss in a timely fashion.
If you have documented disability that requires academic accommodations, please see your lecturer as soon as possible during scheduled office hours. In order to receive accommodations in this course, you must provide a Letter of Accommodation from the Disability Resource Center (Suite 407, Multidisciplinary Science Building, 859-257-2754, email address drc@uky.edu) for coordination of campus disability services available to students with disabilities. The letter must be submitted at least one week prior to the date you wish to use your accommodations. Some instructors may require an electronic version of the accomodation letter which you can download by logging into your account with the DRC.
You should feel free to study with friends, but any work you submit for a grade should be your own work. This applies to all exams, quizzes, and writing assignments, with the exception of assignments that are specifically designated as group assignments. Academic dishonesty, in any form, will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, having someone else bring your clicker to class, using multiple people's clickers during class, copying a classmate's work, allowing a classmate to copy your work, having someone else turn in a quiz for you, turning in a quiz for someone who was not there, modifying an exam after it has been handed back in an attempt to deceive the instructor into believing the assignment was graded incorrectly, using cell phone during an exam. A student found guilty of academic dishonesty will receive an automatic E on the assignment, and in some cases the offense may lead to an E for the course, academic probation, or even expulsion. See sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 of the University Senate Rules for more information regarding academic integrity.
Students are expected to be actively participating during class. Students are also expected not to distract others. If you arrive late, leave early, are distracted by your phone, or are otherwise not actively engaged with the class you may not receive credit for participating that day. If you are disrupting class, you may be asked to leave.
College-level mathematics can be very difficult, and many of your classmates will be having a hard time adjusting both to the university and to the demands of the class. You are expected to treat your classmates with respect. It is reasonable to disagree, but you should express your disagreement respectfully. Personal attacks or statements denigrating another on the basis of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender or gender expression, age, national/regional origin or other such irrelevant factors are considered a severe disruption. Harassment will not be tolerated.
The University of Kentucky faculty are committed to supporting students and upholding the University's non-discrimination policy. Discrimination is prohibited at UK. If you experience an incident of discrimination we encourage you to report it to Institutional Equity & Equal Opportunity (IEEO) Office, 13 Main Building, (859) 257-8927.
Acts of Sex- and Gender-Based Discrimination or Interpersonal Violence: If
you experience an incident of sex- or gender-based discrimination or
interpersonal violence, we encourage you to report it. While you may talk to a
faculty member or TA/RA/GA, understand that as a "Responsible Employee" of the
University these individuals MUST report any acts of violence (including verbal
bullying and sexual harassment) to the University's Title IX Coordinator in the
IEEO Office. If you would like to speak with someone who may be able to afford
you confidentiality, the Violence Intervention and
Prevention (VIP) program and Bias Incident Support Services
(Frazee Hall – Lower Level), the Counseling Center (106
Frazee Hall), and University Health
Services are confidential resources on campus.
Support. If you experience technical issues with Canvas, visit https://www.uky.edu/canvas for assistance or call customer service at (859) 218-4357. If you experience technical issues with WeBWork or Piazza, contact your professor.
For any written solutions to problems in this course, students are expected to submit work that is clear, legible, and well-written. Students should show all their work in an organized manner, using complete sentences to explain their solutions and justify their computations.
Mathematics is not a spectator sport. To understand what this means, consider how well you might learn to play football by merely watching Cristiano Ronaldo, or learn to sing by only listening to Adele. Similarly, you will not learn the material in this course by doing just enough to get the correct answer on the homework. In order to learn, you must attend all lectures and take notes, actively read the textbook, work a large number of problems, discuss problems with your classmates, and reflect on your work. The instructor's role is that of a coach or guide who will help you learn as much of the material as you desire. This being said, form good study skills from the start!
You may access your course grades through the Canvas system, logging in with your linkblue ID and password. Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:
| Activity | Percentage of Grade |
| 3 Common Hour Exams | 17% Each |
| Final Exam (cumulative) | 17% |
| Web Homework (WebWork) | 17% |
| Recitation | 10% |
| Lecture Participation/iClicker | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
| Minimum Overall Percentage | Final Grade |
| 90% | A |
| 80% | B |
| 70% | C |
| 60% | D |
| 0% | E |
THE GRADING SCALE IS STRICT. GRADES WILL NOT BE CURVED.
MA123 has common hour exams, including its final exam.
Click here for the room schedule for exams 1-3 and the final exam.
Each exam is worth 100 points. You must bring a photo ID to each exam and you may use a calculator on the exams. We allow the same calculators as the ACT allows; no Computer Algebra System (CAS), no network (data or wifi), no camera. Absolutely no cell phone use during an exam is allowed. The final exam, Exam 4, will be comprehensive.
After an exam is given, you should go back over the exam and redo problems you got wrong. Due to the cumulative nature of this course, it is worth your time to learn from your mistakes promptly.
Exams from previous semesters can be found here.
| Spring 2019 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2018 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
| Spring 2018 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
| Fall 2017 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
| Spring 2017 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
| Fall 2016 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
| Spring 2016 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
| Fall 2015 | Exam 1 Solutions | Exam 2 Solutions | Exam 3 Solutions |
Exam 4 Solutions |
Caution: The exact content of the exams may vary from semester to semester. Some new material has been added and some types of questions might be deleted. Nevertheless, the old exams still serve as a rough guide to the material. For all material, we rely on the Course Text, Web Homework and Recitation Worksheets to prepare exams.
In particular, the content for Chapter 7 has changed starting in Fall 2018. This affects parts of Exam 2 and the final. For Chapter 7 material, be especially sure to use the Course Text, Web Homework and Recitation Worksheets to practice the material. Also, on the old exams, you can skip any question involving the summation notation Σ. Due to the return of Fall Break, exams 1-3 will contain cover different homework assignments than in the past. Refer to exam information for more details.
Several versions of the exam are given during each sitting of the exam. The different versions contain essentially the same problems, but the data in the problems are different from version to version. Detailed solutions are provided for only one version of each exam.
Students who have university excused absences or who have university-scheduled class conflicts with uniform examinations may take the Alternate Exam. You must fill out the Alternate Exam Request Form and submit it to your instructor at least two weeks before the scheduled exam. Click here for instructions on filling out the alternate exam form.
No final exams will be given before Tuesday, December 17 at 6pm.Absences from exams should be reported (in advance) on this form. Students who have university excused absences or who have university-scheduled class conflicts with uniform examinations need to make arrangements to take exam at an alternate time. According to university policy, it is the student's responsibility to resolve scheduling conflicts with common hour exams, and this must be done at least TWO WEEKS before the exam. If you fail to inform your instructor of exam conflicts in timely manner, a penalty may be assessed on your exam score and you will be required to take the exam at one of the already scheduled alternate exam times. To avoid any problems request alternate exams here as soon as you know you may have a conflict.
Homework is turned in on WeBWork, our online homework system. To access WeBWork go to the Assignments tab of our Canvas page and select "WeBWork for UK MA 123." We strongly recommend using Chrome or Firefox as the web browser. Sometimes students using Safari will have problems, but not always.
We will add students to the homework system until the last day to add.
You have unlimited tries up until the due dates given in the Homework Schedule . For each homework due date given, the homework will close at 8am. Occasionally we may announce a homework extension for the entire class; be sure to check Canvas for announcements.
The document Entering Answers in WeBWorK gives more information about how to enter mathematics to answer questions in WeBWorK. Please contact your lecturer or teaching assistant if you have difficulty logging in.
The homework score will be computed as follows. There are more than 265 homework problems in the course, but the homework grade will be based on your best 265 problems, with only 240 required for full credit. Thus, if you answer X homework problems correctly, your homework score will be X/240 times 100. If you answer more than 240 problems correctly you will earn bonus points; the maximum allowed score is 110%. (Technically, if you answer X homework problems correctly, your homework score will be (min(X,265)/240) times 100).
Late web homework will not be accepted. Shortly after the homework is due, solutions to many of the web homework problems will be made available through the WeBWorK server. We cannot allow some students to continue working on the problems after the solutions are available or delay providing solutions to students who have completed the homework on time. If you have an unusual situation that prevents you from completing web homework, please contact your instructor. However, in general students will be expected to complete web homework even if they are traveling or if they have a minor illness.
Suggestions for working on web homework:
You are required to attend a recitation section. In Math 123, recitations serve as a kind of lab; they are an opportunity to look at problems more in-depth than we sometimes have time to in lecture, to work with other students, and to take quizzes or do other graded work.
(See the Sections and Instructors page to look
up your recitation according to your section number.)
Talk to your recitation instructor to find out policies and procedures specific to your section. Material for recitations will include the worksheets below.
Worksheet 1A, 1B Worksheet 2A, 2B Worksheet 3A, 3B Worksheet 4A, 4B Worksheet 5A, 5B Worksheet 6A, 6B Worksheet 7 Worksheet 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D Worksheet 9 Worksheet 10A, 10B Worksheet 11A, 11B Worksheet 12A, 12B, 12C
There will be almost weekly quizzes in recitation. Refer to the Tentative Recitation Schedule for the information you will need to know for each quiz. The quizzes begin the second week of recitation. There is will be no quizzes during exam weeks.