Syllabus for Calculus III
Professor: Mark McClure
Course purpose
As the follow up to Calc I and II, we hope to accomplish the following in this third semester course:
- Learn multi-dimensional calculus: The main theme of Calculus III is application of the ideas developed in Calculus I and II to higher dimensional settings. You already have most of the necessary fundamental ideas; we just need to do a little extra book-keeping.
- Understand the universe: Seriously! Newton developed calculus to help understand the motions of the heavens.
- Develop 3D visualization: You will definitely need some skill in geometric visualization to succeed in this class. The computer will help quite a lot in this regard.
- Reinforcement of algebraic skills: We will constantly use skills you developed in Calculus I and II. You should find that you get better at differentiation and integration as we go along.
Materials
- Text: We will use The APEX Calculus text. This is an open text made freely available through a Creative Commons license. You may You are not required to purchase a hard copy; I suspect that use of the online versions will be just fine for many students.
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Websites
- WebWork: Our auto graded homework system
- Math Discourse: Our online forum
- Technology: We will not be using calculators and they will not be permitted on quizzes or exams. A calculator or other computational tool will often be useful on homework assignments, however.
Grades
- Quizzes: We will have several quizzes whose dates are already on our course calendar.
- Exams:
There will be three exams during the semester worth about 100 points apiece. Likely dates for the exams are:
- Wednesday, September 14
- Wednesday, October 12
- Wednesday, November 9
- Final exam: There will be a comprehensive, final exam worth around 180 points on Friday, December 2 at 8:00 AM for the 8:00 class and on Monday, December 5 at 11:30 AM for the 12:30 class.
- Homework: There will be three types of homework:
- In class problems: We will often work problem sheets together. Quiz and exam problems will be closely related to these sheets. In addition, you will receive a 40 point class participation grade simply for participating regularly.
- Final grades: I will determine final grades using a scale not more stringent than the standard 90-80-70-60 scale. You will be apprised of your standing as the term progresses.
- Late work: In general, I don't accept late work.
- Cheating: I expect that your work on all in class quizzes and exams is yours and yours alone. If I suspect cheating my policy is to assign you a score of zero on that assessment and to refer you to the adminstration. You can read more on our legalese document
Advice
- Learning mathematics: I expect that you wouldn't be in calculus if you didn't already know that mathematical study is a challenging, yet worthwhile endeavor. Mathematics is the most natural language with which we describe the world around us and, I believe, this this helps us better comprehend and enjoy the world. However, understanding this deep language has a price - it's hard and takes loads of work! I suggest that you spend at least 1.5 hours between classes and at least 3 hours over the weekend studying each math class. Remember that college is a full time job!
- The typical day: Class is 75 minutes long and will usually be divided between lecture and problem sessions or quizzes.
- Exam week: Problems for the exams will be taken from homework, in class sheets, and a small collection of review problems. The review problems will typically be available the five days before an exam and we will discuss them the period before the exam.
- Help:
You are not undertaking this challenging task alone. Here are a few sources of assistance:
- Me: I like to talk to people about mathematics! That's why I chose this profession. My schedule with office hours is posted on my webpage, but I'm around much more regularly than that. Please feel free to approach me any time you have questions.
- Your classmates: Most people learn mathematics best by talking it through with others. You will find that you can both learn from and help your fellow classmates. In particular, if your classmate is explaining a fine point to you, then you are helping them!
- Math Discourse: A kinda combination of the previous two that never sleeps!
- The Math Lab: We all know the Math Lab rocks! It's open long hours and is located right across the hall from my office. You will be welcome there and will definitely find people to talk to about mathematics.
Your rights and responsibilities
It's worth understanding your rights and responsibilities as a student at UNCA. One of my responsibilities is to make sure you have the information that you need to do that. Since this is common to all classes, I've got that information on this legalese document.