The King's University College
Mathematics 300 Course Outline

Term:                         Fall 2006

Lectures:                   Monday, Wednesday, Friday 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Location:                   Room S201

Instructor:                  Brian Martin ( A 207)

                                    phone:              922-4577 (home)

                                                            465-3500x8039 (office)     

Textbook:

Multivariable Calculus (5th edition)), Stewart (Thomson, 2006)

What's This Course About?

Math 300 is a continuation of the calculus that you learned in Math 200 and 205. The essential difference is that we now apply the ideas of calculus to functions of more than one variable (hence the title Multivariable Calculus). This will open up new vistas for us. Along the way we will also need to introduce the basic ideas of vectors and linear algebra. You should leave the course with a deepened understanding of the ideas of derivative and rate of change as well as an appreciation for the breadth of application of the ideas of calculus.

Method of Evaluation

The final mark that you receive will be based upon several different sources:

   

Source

Weight(%)

Daily Assignments

10

Long Assignments

25

Midterm  Exam-1

10

Midterm  Exam-2

20

Final Exam

35

Exam Dates:

            Midterm Exam-1                                    October 20

            Midterm Exam-2                                   November  29         

Comments on Assignments:

Read this carefully! There will be two kinds of assignment - each with its own purpose:

  1. Daily Assignments: You will be expected to hand in at the start of each class two worked questions from the chapter we will discuss during that class. These questions do three things: they encourage you to read your text!, they reward you for doing this and they provide me with feedback on how you are doing. Your grading will consist of two steps:

    initial attempt Your initial solutions will be graded on a 0 - 5 point scale:
    0 =
    		no effort
    1 =
    		poor effort, major errors
    2 =
    		fair effort with modest conceptual errors or good effort with major conceptual errors
    3 =
    		good effort with minor conceptual errors or fair effort with only minor errors
    4 =
    		good effort with only minor errors
    5 =
    		good effort with no errors
    correction You will receive your initial attempts the following class with a minimum of comments and a numerical score. The solutions to these questions will be posted at this time! You may receive up to 2 additional points if you correctly identify your mistake and correct it in a different color. You must clearly identify the error (explain what you did wrong not merely rephrase the posted solution!). You have up to (but not exceeding) one week to hand in your corrections.

  2. Weekly Assignments: Every 10 days (or so) you will have a major assignment that reviews material from previous classes!

 

Encouragement to Students

Calculus can sometimes be very frustrating!  The ideas are at times subtle, vague and you legitimately wonder "what good is this".  Almost everyone who has studied Calculus has had similar feelings.  Make sure that you are never afraid to ask a question.  When you feel lost come and get help - the office door is almost always open.

Mathematics and Faith

What could math possibly have to do with one's faith?  You might be tempted to see faith (Christian, Moslem etc) as something internal (personal) and math as something "objective".  However, ask you self a couple of simple questions:

1.       What's math about?

2.       Why is math "reliable"

When you try and answer questions like these, then you start to realize that the way you look at the world - your "worldview"- profoundly affects the answers you come up with.  Math is certainly an activity that is shaped by culture and belief.  The point is not that it's "only this" but that there is no way to argue convincingly that math is independent of cultures and beliefs.  A Christian will value math in ways that are shaped by her faith and how she experiences God's action in the world.  This leaves lots of room for questions about the nature of mathematics, its "validity" and limitations and so on.  Hopefully, as time permits, we will have occasions to consider questions like this.

The Pizza Rule

If you catch me making a major mistake in class, then the class earns 1/10 of a pizza.  If I make 10 major mistakes during the term I promise to buy the class pizza!  The fine print…

  1. The mistakes must be “real, substantial mistakes (typos, simple math errors etc do not count)      
  2. Someone other than me must detect and point out the error during class time

Policy on Examinations:

The emphasis here is getting you to pass the course!  If you are unsuccessful (less than 50%) on either midterm you may have a re-write.  In fact - you can have as many re-writes as necessary to get you through the course.  The "catch" is that on a re-write your maximum possible score is 50% - a bare pass.  This means that you should take your mid-terms very seriously but should you fail one you can recover.

The final exam is worth 35% but you do not have the re-write option.