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Instructor
Information
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Name
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Dr. Gerard Awanou (go by Dr. Awanou)
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Email
Web page
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awanou@math.niu.edu
http://www.math.niu.edu/~awanou
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Office location
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351 Watson Hall
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Office hours
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MWF 10:00 am-10:50 am
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Phone
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(Office) 815 753 6749 (intercom 28)
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Biography
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I'm an assistant professor in the department of
mathematical sciences since Fall 05. I received my Ph.d
in mathematics in summer 2003 from the University of Georgia and spent two years as a
postdoctoral associate at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications,
University
of Minnesota. My research
interests are primarily in the numerical analysis of partial differential
equations.
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Course information
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Course title
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Calculus I
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Course description
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Differential Calculus
studies instantaneous rates of change: how things change at a very moment.
How things change over five years, ten miles or six seconds are average
rates of change. We will learn how to find this instantaneous rate of
change, the so-called derivative to solve problems from physics to
business. The derivative is also a way of calculating how one quantity
responds to a change in another quantity. We will learn how to manipulate
it, understand its properties to get a better insight into the nature of real
world problems.
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Course date
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Monday August 24 through Friday December 4 |
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Location
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Du
Sable Hall 300
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Meeting
day(s)
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M
T W & F
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Meeting
time(s)
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11:00
am – 11:50 am, MTWF
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Prerequisite(s)
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MATH
155 or satisfactory performance on the Mathematics Placement Test.
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Textbook
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Required
reading
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Calculus,
Northern Illinois University Edition, Volume 1 (sixth edition) by James
Stewart (publ. by Cengage Learning). Deviations
from the textbook may be necessary.
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Drop and Withdrawal
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All
drops of or withdrawals from courses must be accomplished before the
applicable deadline indicated in the Schedule of Classes, October 16.
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Grading
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There
will be four equal hour exams, 100 points each, along with a comprehensive
final counting two times the value of an exam. Only three of the hour exams
will count toward the final grade. Home works and quizzes will count for
150 points, that is home works count for 75 points and quizzes for 75
points. The total of points is 650. Requests for grade change must be
done in writing and will trigger regrading of the whole paper. Grade lines
for the home work and the hour exams will be given. These grade lines with
the grade line for the final determine the final grade line. The default
grade line is A (over 90%), B (over 80%), C (over 65 %), D (over 55%), and
F (less than 55 %).
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Exam
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Tentative dates for the
hour exams are Tu Sept 15, Tu Oct 13, Tu Nov 3 and Tu Nov 24. The date of the final
departmental exam is F. December 11, 8-9:50
am. If you expect
to miss any of the hour exams and have a reasonable excuse (for example
illness or university business), notify me as far in advance of the exam as
possible. If you do not have a reasonable excuse, your grade on a missed
exam will be zero.
The
exams will include a few questions of a type not discussed in class to test
problem solving skills.
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Home works and Quizzes
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Home
works are collected on Tuesdays based on the topics covered up to Friday. You
are expected to work them as soon as the topic is covered in class. You are
expected to present clearly your arguments when presenting your work. Home
work taking several pages should be stapled together. The submitted work
should be legible and organized. Only a subset of the home works will
be graded.
A
tentative list of exercises from the textbook will be suggested. But some
home works may not be from the textbook.
There
is not a fixed date set for quizzes. Most quizzes are administered through WebWork. See below. Pop up quizzes will be given if
attendance is `low’. There is no make-up available for a missed quiz.
However there will be a few extra-credit opportunities.
For this class, we
will be using using a web-based homework system
called WebWork to administer some of the quizzes online. The login link is
http://hosted2.webwork.rochester.edu/webwork2/NIU_math229/.
This link is also available through the course’s website. Your
username is your last name. Your initial password is also your last name.
Both with the first letter in capitals. A requirement of this class is that
you change your password as grades may be communicated via WebWork.
WebWork is different from
your previous experiences with math homework. Until the assignment is due, you can try the
problems as many times as you like, and the system will tell you whether or not
you have the right answer. This
lets you correct your work immediately. After the assignment’s due date, the
system will show you the correct answer for each problem when you try it
(but your answers won’t
be scored). This is thus a great tool for reviews. The funny thing about WebWork is that the due dates are
absolute.
Since the system
shows
you the answers immediately after the due time, I can’t give
extensions on the quizzes. You may complete assignments in advance if you want to.
Be warned: the problems are a
little different for each student, so copying other folks’ answers won’t
work. The quiz questions when applicable will be released at Tuesday noon
and the deadline is 5 pm central time the following Friday.
When you first
login to WebWork, use the “Change
Email/Password” button to enter your email and to change your
password. Then work the introduction to see how the system works. Critical
information about how to enter mathematical expressions in Webwork is located on the right side of your screen for
each assignment.You can select a set and print it
out in PDF format to work out the problems on paper if you like. Your
problems will be the same when you login again to enter the answers. This
set is designed to give you a tutorial on how WebWork
works.
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Due dates
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No
late home work will be accepted once the answer key is made available, typically the day the homework is due.
Basically, students have trouble in Math 229 because they fall behind.
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Calculators
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Calculators
with no graphing and memory capabilities will be allowed on quizzes and
exams. A graphing calculator with roughly the capabilities of the TI-83 is
needed to investigate the concepts of the class and to check parts of your
home works.
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Attendance policy
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Students
are expected to attend each lecture and participate in the
discussions. Pop up quizzes will be given if attendance is
`low’.
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Academic Honesty and Civility in the Classroom
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Academic
honesty and mutual respect (student with student and instructor with student)
are expected in this course. Mutual respect means being on time for class
and not leaving early, (if you have to leave, arrange to sit near the door and
leave quietly), being prepared to give full attention to class work, not
reading newspapers or other material in class, not using cell phones,
pagers or other electronic devices during class time, no sleeping, no
eating, not bringing children to class, not talking to classmates outside
of group work, not copying the solutions of the home works from unnamed
sources and not looking at another student's work during exams. Academic
misconduct and incivility in the classroom, as defined by the Student
Judicial Code, will not be treated lightly.
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Doing well in the class
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After
each lecture, reread the material, review your class notes and do as many
of the assigned exercises as you can before the following class. In
doing home works, you should document carefully the kind of algebra
mistakes you make. Problem solving is one of the most important aspect of
this course. Most students need to go over the most difficult problems
several times and you may find that you need to do additional exercises.
You should plan on spending a minimum of nine hours per week outside of the
classes. It is important to take careful class notes. The act of getting
the ideas and methods outlined in the lecture down clearly on paper is a
powerful aid to memory. It doesn't matter if the ideas are already in the
book, taking them down in writing helps fix them in your memory. It is also
a good idea to review your notes repeatedly, partly to identify areas of
confusion, partly to review. You must stay on top of the material from day
one. If you do not understand a concept or technique seek help immediately.
You should consult your book or ask a fellow student. You could also seek
help through the ACCESS/PAL tutoring services, the Mathematics Assistance
Center and office
hours. Experience has shown that students who take advantage of these opportunities
regularly tend to do better in the course. Additional information about
tutoring and additional help sessions will be given later during the
course.
You must also change the way you
view mathematics. Success in Calculus is driven by your study habits not by
an obscure gift you may or may not have for mathematics. It is not about
using the right formula at the right time. It is only understanding of the
new ideas and concepts of the class which will allow you to solve problems
you have never seen before. The ability you will develop to solve problems
will help you in your lives.
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