You will be expected to understand and can apply the main tools of Calculus I, including limits, derivatives, definite and indefinite integrals, and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
Course Textbook
Calculus, Early Transcendentals, 8th ed., by James Stewart.
The book is required for both reading assignments and suggested homework problems. If you took MATH 235 at JMU with the same textbook and paid for the "life of he edition," you should still have access to the eBook through Cengage or WebAssign without paying an additional fee. If you paid for Cengage Unlimited and liked it, you might consider signing up it again this semester. Used copies of the 8th edition should be available through a variety of sellers on the web, and used print copies are likely to be quite inexpensive.
Course Description
This is a second university course in calculus, intended for students who are interested in the subject at a level beyond routine application. Serving as both an introduction to the study of higher mathematics and as a service course for the physical sciences, MATH 236 is especially relevant for students majoring in: biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, philosophy, quantitative finance, and physics.
The course is based on integration techniques and sequences and series, and treats both theory and application. This corresponds to chapters 5-8 and 11 of the textbook.
Course Goals
Tenative Course Schedule
Do the suggested problems and the homework. Come to class and office hours. Work with others in class. And above all, ask questions. Every day.
The time you spend thinking, talking, practicing, and questioning in this class is essential. You have a chance to become a better problem solver, and a stronger analytical thinker. You should be better able to construct and defend fact based arguments. You will have a chance to hone your team work skills, too!
Suggested problems
These do NOT contribute to your grade explicity.
Selected suggested homework problems will be listed on the Canvas page for each week. Some of the problems will be from the course textbook and others will be from a packet posted on Canvas. You should work all of these problems and write up your solutions as soon as possible after we cover the material.
Solutions are not just the correct answer. A solution is a clear and step-by-step sequence to arrive at the answer that anyone else in class should be able to follow and understand.
Solutions to the suggested problems will be posted weekly.
Homework
Late assignments will NOT be accepted, but I will drop 10% of the total possible points when I compute your grade.
Links to your weekly WeBWorK assignments will show up on Canvas, and due each Monday by 8am.
You will have an unlimited number of attempts to get problems right except for True/False. Homework will largely assess your computational skill.
Activities
Late activity submissions will NOT be accepted, but I will drop the lowest score when I compute your grade.
You will work in groups to create solutions to posted activity problem sets. The weekly activity days will provide a chance to collaborate and ask questions about the material. You will need to be present and actively involved to get credit for the group work, and you will need to turn this in by the end of the class. The activities are designed to build build computational and theoretical depth of knowledge.
Tests
There will be three in-class tests, one roughly every four weeks.
You can request an audit of up to 2 problems on each test. In an audit, you will need to explain the answer that you submitted on the test in order to earn credit. I also reserve the right to audit any of your responses, where I will ask to you explain your answer to me in order to earn credit.
Final
The final is cumulative, and our JMU registrar has already set the date and time and this will not change:
Grading
Each of the categories that contribute to your grade will get scaled to the following number of points:
Need a little extra help?
I love office hours, and students who use them frequently comment how useful they are. I strongly encourage you to use them, and don't be afraid to send an email or give me a call.
You might also get help from
Science and Math Learning Center in the SCC or the Math & Stat Learning Suite in Roop G25 (ground floor).
These are open most days of the week, are free, and you don't need an appointment! I plan to spend two of our office hours in the Learning Suite.
On-line Material
Course material is posted on Canvas. Log on and check it out!
Calculators
A graphing calculator is optional for this course. While I'm most
familiar with the TI, you may decide to use other brands. Calculators are great to help build intuition and to convince yourself that you can do calculus.
But since some calculators can handle symbolic algebra and calculus
operations, they will not be allowed for tests or on the final.
Honor code
Remember that JMU has a strict
honor code.
While you are strongly encouraged to work with others in this class,
the work you submit must be your own. Copying someone else's work
won't help you learn the material and might just get you expelled. And while the answer to a question might be online, unless you written and posted it you shouldn't claim it to be your own work.
Diversity and Inclusion
James Madison University is a community dedicated to diversity and
inclusivity. As faculty, we believe that learning environments should support a diversity of thoughts, perspectives, experiences, and identities. We invite you to share anything with us that might help create a more inclusive and welcoming learning environment.
Common JMU Academic Policies
Visit http://www.jmu.edu/syllabus/
for information about:
Attendance, Academic Honesty, Adding/Dropping Courses, Disability Accommodations, Disruptive Behavior, Inclement Weather, and Religious Accommodations.
Nature of the Course Content
(directly from the course catalog)
MATH 236. Calculus II
Credits 4.00 PeopleSoft Course ID 001884
Differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable. Sequences and infinite series.