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Math 056 Course Syllabus
Prof. Wladis
profwladis@gmail.com, cwladis@bmcc.cuny.edu (Please send all attachments to the gmail address, NOT to the BMCC address!)
Phone: (212) 220-1363 (email is always the fastest way to reach me)
Office: N598E
Office hours:
(fall 2023) Thurs 9am-12pm
These are virtual office hours. Text or call me on my office phone (212-220-1363) during this time.
General Course Syllabus for Math 301 Online
Read this ENTIRE document carefully! It explains all of the details of how the course works and how you are graded. I strongly recommend that you reread this regularly or print this out and keep it with you as a reference throughout the course.
If you have already read the syllabus and are just looking for an answer to a specific question, you can click on the links below to take you directly to that section.
Required Textbook
What you must do to pass this course
How to Tell When Work is Due
Assignments and Grading
Deadlines and Submitting Assignments
Policy on late work
Attendance Policy
Students with Disabilities
Policy on Plagarism and Academic Integrity
What to do if you are having technical trouble
What to do if you need help with the math
Student Learning Outcomes
Course Description:
An integrated course in analytic geometry and calculus applied to functions of a single variable. A study of functions; limits; continuity; related rates; differentiation of algebraic and transcendental functions; Rolle's Theorem; The Mean Value Theorem; Maxima and Minima; curve sketching; differentials; and introduction to integration.
MAT 301 has a computer laboratory component. Students utilize computer software such as graphing packages, a computer algebra system, and a mathematical word processor to complete laboratory assignments associated with their calculus course.
Prerequisites:
MAT 206.
Required Textbook:
Calculus - Alternate Sixth Edition; Ronald E. Larson, Robert P. Hostetler, Bruce H. Edwards; Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York; 1998, with webassign access code. ISBN: 9781133539278.
This book is technically required by the math department. If you take MAT 302 here at BMCC, it will require the same book. In terms of this course that you will be taking with me, while the book is technically required by the department, if you feel that you do not need it because there is enough information in the online lecture notes, then you will not be penalized in any way for not purchasing it. None of the work for the course requires the book, although it is possible that you might find it helpful as a reference.
To see a few places where you can buy the book, click here.
What you must do to pass this course:
- Login to the course webpage at least 2-3 times per week whenever class is in session, and respond to all the posts in your group that need your feedback. Then look at the Assignments page for the week to see what work has been assigned for that week.
- Check your BMCC email (or the email address you have signed up to the class mailing list) 2-3 times per week while class is in session.
- Turn in all work by the deadlines posted each week on the course webpage under the Assignments menu.
- If you have a valid reason for turning work in late (i.e. death in the family, sickness, etc.), let me know ASAP and be prepared to provide written justification.
- Start your work several days BEFORE the deadline. If you wait until the night before work is due to begin and then cannot complete it on time because you have technical difficulties, your work will lose points for being late!
How to Tell When Work is Due:
Look at the Assignments page in the main course webpage: The Due Date column, which is the far left column gives the final due date for all the assignments that are listed in each row of the Assignments table.
Assignments and Grades:
This class has several kinds of assignments:
- Labs: (20% of your final grade)
Labs are completed in WebWork. This means that most weeks you will have a lab to complete using either the Maple software or online graphing programs (e.g., Desmos). For instructions on how to login to Webwork, click here.
For help with learning how to use the Maple software, click here.
- Homework: (10% of your final grade)
All the homework for this course is completed online on a website called WebWork. For instructions on how to login to Webwork, click here.
- Section Tests: (15% of your final grade each)
Whenever we have a test assigned for that week, you will see the test assigned on the Assignments page.
Tests need to be submitted as a PDF file, so that I am sure that I can read them--the link to submit them is on the Assignments page. .
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Tests are open book, but you must do them ALONE.
Be sure that your responses don't look identical to anyone else in the class.
If you are caught cheating, you may also be turned over to the committee on academic standing, where they have the authority to expel you from CUNY if they think the offense is serious enough; if this happens, then the student can’t take any classes at any CUNY college. Cheating is very serious! So please don’t risk it!
You must save your tests in PDF form. You upload them at the link given on the Assignments Page.
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Everything you write on the test should be in your own words.
If you give an answer to an essay question that you have copied word for word from my lecture, or from the book, or from another student's posts you will get a 0 on that question!
- Final exam: (15% of your final grade)
At the end of the class, we will have a final exam. It will be cumulative. It will be very similar in structure and difficulty to the chapter tests. If you have studied and done well on all the previous tests, you will probably do well on the final. The final will also be open book/notes, will need to be saved as a PDF, and will need to be uploaded at the link on the assignments page.
Deadlines and Submitting Assignments:
Deadlines:
All assignment deadlines are listed on the Assignments Page, which is always available in Blackboard, and also openly available on my website, even if Blackboard is down.
The deadline for ALL assignments each week are listed in red in the column at the far left, with the one exception of the first post to the Discussion Board, where the deadline is three days earlier than the main deadline for the week (the deadline for the first post to the Discussion Board can be found in red in the Discussion Board column on the Assignments Page).
Policy on Late Work:
- What will be accepted late: homework, labs, group projects (although you may have to do them alone)
- What will NOT be accepted late (without a valid excuse and permission from me): tests
- Penalty for late work turned in:
- Before the last day of classes: You will receive 75% of the credit for the assignment. This means that the highest grade you can get at this point on the assignment is a 75.
- After the last day of classes: You will receive NO credit on this work unless you have a valid excuse (i.e. sickness, death in the family, etc.) with some kind of documentation, and you have let me know about the problem ASAP.
To see what the last day of classes is for this semester, go to the BMCC academic calendar by clicking here. Once you go to this page, scroll down to the current semester, and see on which date the "last day of classes" falls.
What Excuses will be considered Valid enough to Get an Extension for Classwork?
- Illness or death in the family are the most obvious valid reasons why you may request an extension; just be prepared, especially if you have missed a test, to give me some kind of documentation. Other unexpected events of a magnitude similar to these may also be considered; just be sure to contact me as soon as possible.
- Technical problems: Technical problems will only be considered as grounds for an extension under certain circumstances.
Here is what you must do if you want to request an extension due to technical problems:
- Do NOT wait until the night before work is due to begin the assigned work. Start the work for the week at least 3 days before the due date. This means, for example, that if the due date for the week is midnight on Wednesday night, you should have at least begun the work by midnight on Sunday.
- When you encounter a technical problem with the course material, contact eLearning technical help right away. (If it is after hours, leave a message, and then call back in the morning.)
Every time you contact them (in person, or by email or phone):
- Write down the date and time you contacted them.
- Write down the name of the person to whom you spoke.
- Write down a short but specific description of what you told them about your problem and what they told you to do about it.
- Email me to let me know that you’ve contacted them and to describe briefly to me what the technical problem is that you are havivng. Just remember that I cannot fix the problem; only the tech people can fix the problem. I want you to email me to let me know what is going on, but I do not have the technical expertise or the right kind of access to Blackboard to actually fix the issue.
- Keep contacting eLearning technical help until the problem is fixed. Sometimes it can be frustrating if you have called several times but have still not been able to get the right kind of technical help to fix your problem, but your technical problems won’t get fixed unless you keep trying.
(I know this can be frustrating, but unfortunately, I cannot fix technical issues. It is your responsibility as the student to keep contacting the tech department at BMCC until you can get through to a person who has the expertise to solve your problem. If the first person you talk to can’t help, then ask them to transfer you or give you the name of someone with more expertise who might be able to help you. Then contact that person. Keep this up until you can get someone to fix the technical issue.)
- Finish all other work that does not depend upon the technical issue by the deadline. For example, if you are having problems with a set of the lecture questions, be sure that you still turn in the homework and respond to the discussion question by the deadline.
College Attendance Policy
This is BMCC's official attendance policy: "At BMCC, the maximum number of absences is limited to one more hour than the number of hours a class meets in one week. For example, you may be enrolled in a three-hour class. In that class, you would be allowed 4 hours of absence (not 4 days). In the case of excessive absences, the instructor has the option to lower the grade or assign an F or WU grade."
Even though this course does not have regular face-to-face class meetings, you are still required to participate regularly and you can still be penalized for being absent. For example, if you do not login to the website for a week and do not turn in any work that week, this constitutes an absense of 6 hours. If you do not participate in the course for more than a week and a half, you can get an F or a WU grade for the course, unless you have contacted me to let me know about your situation and you make up all work once you return to the class. Remember that even though this class is online, it still has all the same requirements as a face-to-face class.
Academic Adjustments for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments for this course must contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities. BMCC is committed to providing equal access to all programs and curricula to all students.
BMCC Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Integrity Statement
This is BMCC's official policy on plagarism and academic integrity: "Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas, words or artistic, scientific, or technical work as one’s own creation. Using the idea or work of another is permissible only when the original author is identified. Paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as direct quotations, require citations to the original source. Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. Lack of dishonest intent does not necessarily absolve a student of responsibility for plagiarism.
Students who are unsure how and when to provide documentation are advised to consult with their instructors. The library has guides designed to help students to appropriately identify a cited work. The full policy can be found on BMCC’s web side, www.bmcc.cuny.edu. For further information on integrity and behavior, please consult the college bulletin (also available online)."
The best way to protect yourself from plagarising the work of others is to make sure that you never write anything down that you do not understand. Do all the work you can to try to work out what the answer is to a given problem - consult my lectures, your textbook, other students, tutors, etc. Then, once you think you understand what the answers is, put all of these reference materials aside and try to write out the correct answer in your own words. Read your answer to yourself out loud and see if you think it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense to you when you read it aloud to yourself, go back and try to revise it until you think it does make sense. Try to keep your explanations as simple as possible.
On every assignment you complete in this class, even if you work with other students on it, it is your responsibility to make sure that all of your final answers are in your own words. In many cases you may consult my written lectures and discuss your work with other students, but you may never simply copy the answer another student has given or copy a portion of my lecures and turn it in as your own work. You may also never copy work from another textbook or website and turn it in as your own work. Even if you take someone else's answer and just make small changes to it, this is still considered plagarism, even if it isn't copied exactly, so you should never try to model your answer on something someone else has written, instead, you should always try to explain your answer completely in your own words.
If you cheat or plagarize on an assignment, I will give you a 0 on that assignment, and depending upon the circumstances, I may submit an official report to the college detailing the incident, which could result in disciplinary action by the college. If the instance is severe enough, I may also give you an F in the class. If you are referred for disciplinary action, the college can decide to expell you from the college so that you cannot take classes at any CUNY college. The penalites for cheating and plagarism can be very serious.
If I suspect that you may have cheated or plagarized on an assignment, I also reserve the right to ask you to come to the college to redo that assignment in person.
What to do if you are having technical trouble:
- On the course webpage, go to “FAQs” on the main course menu. Read what it written here FIRST! Read it carefully! Many of the problems you are likely to encounter are already listed here!
- If that doesn’t work, contact contact E-Support at 212-220-8126 or at esupport@bmcc.cuny.edu for problems with the course webpage, Blackboard or the portal. If you are having BMCC email trouble, contact
the Help Desk at BMCC at 212-220-8379 or at helpdesk@bmcc.cuny.edu.
Each time you contact E-Support (or the Help Desk), write down the DATE and TIME you contacted them, and write down the NAME of the person you talked to.
Keep calling or emailing E-Support (or the Help Desk) until you get through to someone who is able to solve your problem. You may need to ask to be transferred to the right person.
Keep calling back until you get the problem fixed.
- If it takes more than a day or two to fix your technical problem, then email me at profwladis@gmail.com and tell me:
- What the problem is:
- Describe to me step-by-step exactly what the problem is and what happens when you run into it. (For example, don’t just tell me that you “can’t do the lecture questions.” Instead, do tell me specifically what is wrong, like this: “When I go to the Assignments page for this week and click on the link to the lecture questions, I get an error message that says, ‘The page cannot be displayed.’”
- Do you have the same problem on several different computers, or just one?
- Approximately what day and time the problem started.
- Who you have contacted at E-Support (or the Help Desk) and when you have contacted them.
Do not contact me with technical problems until you have already contacted E-Support (or the help desk)! I cannot fix any technical problems; I am not a computer technician and will not be able to help you with computer issues because I do not have the knowledge or the website access needed to fix most technical issues. Only E-Support (or the helpdesk) can fix computer problems. The only reason you should contact me about your technical issues is so that:
- I am aware that you are having a problem, and
- If several students are having the same problem, I can notify other technical people at the college of the problem so that it might be fixed more quickly.
What to do if you need help with the math:
Student Learning Outcomes:
Course Student Learning Outcomes |
Measurements |
| Students will be able to calculate the limit analytically and geometrically. They will use the limit to determine continuity. |
Homework assignments and/or projects; Quizzes and/or Midterm Exams; Final Exam; Lab Projects. |
Students will be able to use the concept of the limit to compute the derivative. Students will be able to calculate the derivative for algebraic and transcendental functions. Students will use implicit and explicit differentiation to solve applied problems. |
Homework assignments and/or projects; Quizzes and/or Midterm Exams; Final Exam; Lab Projects |
Students will be able to compute higher order derivatives and apply this to curve sketching and optimization problems. |
Homework assignments and/or projects; Quizzes and/or Midterm Exams; Final Exam; Lab Projects. |
Students will be able to use the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to compute the definite integral. |
Homework assignments and/or projects; Quizzes and/or Midterm Exams; Final Exam; Lab Projects. |
Below are the college’s general education learning outcomes; the outcomes that are checked in the left-hand column indicate goals that will be covered and assessed in this course.
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General Education Learning Outcomes |
Measurements |
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Communication Skills- Students will be able to write, read, listen and speak critically and effectively. |
Discussion boards, group projects |
X |
Quantitative Reasoning- Students will be able to use quantitative skills and the concepts and methods of mathematics to solve problems. |
Quizzes, tests, homework and/or projects |
X |
Information & Technology Literacy- Students will be able to collect, evaluate and interpret information and effectively use information technologies. |
Quizzes, tests, homework and/or projects |
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