 Overview
This course is a continution of the topics covered in Calculus I and
Calculus II. In Calc I and II, you dealt mainly with functions f(x)
of one variable. As you may expect, in Multivariable Calculus we'll be
studying functions f(x,y) of two variables, where things suddenly become
much more complicated, and much more interesting.
Many of the topics we will cover this
semester allow us to solve many problems that do not seem to be
immediately related to calculus. Here is one of my favorites:
Many small rectangles are combined to form one large rectangle.
If each small rectangle has one pair of sides of integer length (but
not necessarily both pair of sides), does
the large rectangle have one pair of sides with integer length?
Reading the Text and Working with Other Students
Two of the goals of this course are that you learn to read a math text and that
you learn to communicate mathematics. Mathematics
is a very personal discipline that is best learned by doing
rather than by observing.
Many of the assignments this term will be group assignments where
you will work in groups of two or three (of your choosing). Each
assignment will receive a grade, and the group will
determine how the points are allocated to each member.
For example, if a group of
three receives an 85 on an assignment, then the group will have
3 x 85=255 points to distribute among them.
I will be available to mediate this process, if necessary.
You will have a reading assignment for nearly every class meeting, and
it is extremely important that you complete the reading before the
next class meeting! See the section below on Reading Assignments and
the Guidelines for Submitting Reading Assignments
for more information.
Evaluation
Your final grade will be determined by
| Two Exams | 30% |
| Comprehensive Final Exam | 20% |
| Three Major Projects | 30% |
| Homework | 15% |
| Reading Assignments | 5% |
Exams
On each of the two exams, there will be a short inclass part and a
more substantial takehome part.
See the Tentative Syllabus for the dates of the
exams.
The final will be entirely takehome and is due Wednesday, December 16.
Major Projects
There will be two group writing projects and an
individual Maple project assigned during the semester. You will
have one class period to work together on each group project, and your
written report will be due a week later
(see the syllabus for specific dates). I will give you the individual
project with plenty of time to complete it.
One of the main goals of the writing projects is that you learn to communicate
mathematics precisely, both verbally with your group and in
writing. The reports should be written in complete sentences explaining
the results and major ideas involved.
You may divide the writing of the report in whatever way is
agreeable to the group, but everyone should completely understand
the whole of the paper. Further, each member should proofread the
entire paper for consistency and typos.
I will give you a handout that explains my expectations for the
written reports in more detail.
Homework
Homework will be collected every Friday. I will carefully
grade three or so ``spotlight'' problems from each homework assignment, and
very quickly scan the rest of the assignment. I will tell you which
are the spotlight
problems, and these should be
especially well-written and placed at the beginning of your
assignment. Each spotlight problem will be receive a score between 0 and 4, and
I will also assign a total score of 0--4 for the non-spotlight problems.
The homework assignments will alternate between Individual
assignments and Group assignments. For the Group assignments,
each group will turn in one paper. On each assignment, one student will
be designated as the
primary author who writes-up the solutions. The role of primary
author must rotate among the members of the group.
For the Individual assignments, I encourage you to work with other
students, but each person must turn in a separate paper.
Here are a few guidelines for the presentation of your homework.
If you do not follow these, I reserve the right to return your homework ungraded!
- Place the spotlight problems at the beginning of your
assignment.
- Your writing must be clear and legible.
- Your homework should be well-written,
using complete sentences to justify your results where necessary.
A list of answers without explanation is not acceptable.
- Here is a good rule of thumb to follow when writing up your
homework:
Write your solutions so that you could hand them to another student in
the class and she could understand your
explanation.
- If you write in pen, there should be no scratch-outs.
- Do not turn in paper torn from a spiral notebook with ragged
edges.
- Clearly label each problem.
The homework is due in my office by 2:00 on Friday. Be aware
that
Late homework is not accepted!! No exceptions!!
Reading Assignments
I will put a copy of each reading assignment on the Math 236 homepage.
Each assignment will indicate which parts of the section are especially
important and which can be skipped. Each assignment will also have
three (or so) questions that you should be able to answer after you have
read the section.
See the Guidelines for Submitting Reading Assignments for more information.
Class Attendance
Although class attendance is not a specified percentage of your grade,
I will keep a class roll to help me determine borderline grades at the
end of the semester. If you do miss class, you are responsible
for the material that was covered.
Getting Help
Please come see me during my office hours! If you have a conflict
and cannot make my office hours, please call or email me and we can set up
an appointment for another time.
If you want to check on your grade at any time during the
semester, please ask me and I can give you a rough idea of your
current standing.
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