Prof. Robbin's 221 Home Page: Fall 2006

Click here for the syllabus. It shows the order of the topics we will cover, but the dates are only approximate.

These crude lecture notes will be updated from time to time.

There will be three midterm exams. The lowest midterm exam score will score will be dropped. Each of the two remaining midterm exams is worth 20 percent of the final grade. The final exam will count forty percent. The remaining twenty percent will be allocated by your TA who will base it on homework, quizzes, participation, attendence, and effort. (This portion will be adjusted to account for variations among the TAs.)

Calculators are not allowed in exams. They are not needed since students are encouraged to leave arithmetic undone. Thus an answer like "x=2+2" is acceptable (if correct), but an answer like "x=2+2=5" will be penalized. The main reason for this policy is that mistakes in arithmetic make grading difficult: we can't know what you punched into your calculator and don't want to penalize you for hitting the wrong key. A similar policy applies to answers which are symbolic, i.e. not numeric. An answer like "2x+3x" need not be simplified to "5x". However it is very important that parentheses be inserted correctly. When in doubt, insert parentheses so that your answer is absolutely unambiguous.

The intelligent use of calculators oustide of exam rooms is however encouraged. For example, here is calculator warmup that I used in the past to help students appreciate that a derivative is a ratio of infinitely small quantities. Graphing calulators can be used to check your reasonong. Here is a link to an online graphing calculator which I wrote a few years ago specifically for use in this course and which I will occasionally use in the lectures.

The midterm exams will be given during the regular 75 minute lecture period.

You should do the exercises at the end of each section of the lecture notes after that section is covered in lecture. The last chapter of the lecture notes contains a long list of problems.

• It is guaranteed that 80 percent of the problems on any exam come either from this last chapter or from the exercises and examples in the lecture notes. (There may be minor changes and the hints may not be included.)
• It is guaranteed that a score of 80 percent on any exam is at least a B.

The official prerequisite is one of

• satisfactory placement scores, OR
• Math 112 and Math 113, OR
• Math 114.

There are many ways to get help with math.
Try the Java Powered Graphing Calculator.
Try Vadim Ponomarenko's math skills test.

What follows is some stuff from previous years. Students are cautioned that we have used various texts in recent years, and that the order of presentation and emphasis changes from year to year. Some of the exams have answers and grader comments. The latter may give you an idea of how we grade.

1. Here are the exams (with curves and some answers) I gave in the Spring of 2004.
   The first exam.
   The second exam.
   The third exam.
2. Here are the answers to the quizzes and exams I gave in the Spring of 2002.
   Quiz 1,
   Quiz 2,
   Quiz 3,
   Exam I,
   Quiz 4,
   Exam II,
   Quiz 5,
   Quiz 6,
   Exam III,
   Quiz 7,
   Final Exam.
   
3. Here are the answers to the quizzes and exams I gave in the Fall of 2000. Quiz 1,
   Quiz 2,
   Quiz 3,
   Quiz 4,
   Quiz 5,
   Quiz 6,
   Quiz 7,
   Exam I,
   Exam II,
   Exam III,
   Final Exam,
   
4. Here are the exams from 1999.
   Exam 1,
   Exam 2,
   Exam 3,
   Final.
   
5. Here is a Review Sheet handed out in lecture in 1999.
6. Here are some of my recent exams with answers.
7. Here is a pre-test and the answers to it.
8. Here is a calculator warmup (with answers) for differentiation.
9. Here is information about what was on the Final Exam in 1999.