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
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 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: Early Transcendental Functions, 6th Edition, Ron Larson & Bruce Edwards; Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2014.  ISBN-13: 978-1285774770. This book is not necessary to complete any of the course assignments for this course section. If you go on to take MAT 302 at BMCC, you will likely be required to buy the book for that course; some students also find it helpful to have the book as a reference. But if you are happy with the online lectures as your primary reference material, you may find that you do not need the book for this class.

If you would like to buy the book online, you can do so at the BMCC bookstore. You may also be able to find it online at amazon.com or other online bookstores, so you may want to shop around to find the cheapest price.

Assignments and Grades:

This class has several kinds of assignments:

• Labs: (10% of your final grade)

Two hours each week are dedicated to labs which use technology to give you the opportunity to develop better intuition about how some of the important course concepts work. This means that most weeks you will have a lab to complete using the Maple software. A lab instructor will be present during these lab periods, and they should be able to help you use Maple. Your labs can be either submitted on paper or emailed to me. If you choose to email them (to profwladis@gmail.com), save the lab as a pdf, and put the name of the lab in the subject of the email. You can also hand them in to me on paper in class.

For instructions on how to download and install Maple, click here.

For help with learning how to use the Maple software, click here.

• Homework: (15% of your final grade)

All the homework for this course is completed online on a website called WebWork. For instructions on how to login, click here.

• Group Projects: (35% of your final grade)

  You can see instructions for the group projects for the course here.

• Section Tests: (25% of your final grade each)

  We will take tests in class that will cover all of the material since the last test. You should study primarily from the projects in order to prepare for the tests, but looking over the homework will also be helpful. You may bring one page of notes to each test.



• 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. You can bring one page of notes to the final exam.

Deadlines and Submitting Assignments:

Deadlines:

All assignment deadlines are listed on the Assignments Page, which is openly available on my website.

The deadline for ALL assignments each week are listed in red in the column at the far left. Be sure to check here for which work is due each week. Aside from the homework, which must be completed in WebWork (see below), all other work can either be handed in on paper in class or submitted via email (saved as a pdf file (to save as a pdf file, select print, and then choose "save as pdf" under the printer choice options) and emailed to the address profwladis@gmail.com with the assignment title in the subject line).

Homework:

Your homework is completed in WebWork. For instructions on how to login to WebWork for the firs time, click here.

You can tell which homework is due each week by looking at the Assignments page. The due dates in WebWork are not the actual dates that assignments are due, but rather the last date that you will be able to view your work. The absolute last date to submit any homework assignment and have it count towards your final grade is the last day of classes of the semester.

Labs:

Labs are given on the Assignments Page. To complete each lab, you will attend a lab session that will be supervised by a lab technician. They can help you with any questions you may have with Maple, the software that will be used to complete the labs.

This software can be downloaded for free by all CUNY students by logging into the CUNY portal and clicking on CUNY eMall at the very top once you are logged in (then click on software and on the next page click on Maplesoft software - if you end up on the Microsoft software page, just click More Software towards the top of the page and it should display Maple as one of the options).

For help with learning how to use the Maple software, click here.

All labs should be either submitted on paper in class, or saved as a pdf file (to save as a pdf file, select print, and then choose "save as pdf" under the printer choice options) and emailed to the address profwladis@gmail.com with the lab title in the subject line.

Projects:

Projects are given on the Assignments Page. Be sure to use the project instructions and project form to complete all projects (at the top of the project column on the Assignments Page). These assignments will be completed in groups, primarily in class. You need only submit one project per group, with every group member's name on the project. Be sure your name is clearly written next to the "Prover" or "Explainer" role on each project and that you have fairly shared the work. You should ask me to look over your work on the project before you submit it so that we can pinpoint together any issues--I am happy to give you feedback on all of your work in time for you to correct it, and so everyone should be able to get an A grade on the projects if they spend enough time on them and take the time to ask questions when needed.

All projects should be either submitted on paper in class, or saved as a pdf file (to save as a pdf file, select print, and then choose "save as pdf" under the printer choice options) and emailed to the address profwladis@gmail.com with the project title in the subject line.

Tests:

Tests will be given in class, or in a "take home" format for you to complete at home. You will be permitted to bring notes to the exam. You can bring a calculator as well if you prefer, although the tests will not require use of one--if you do choose to use a calculator it cannot be one on the computer or on your phone. The best way to prepare for the tests will be to go over your work on the group projects.

Policy on Late Work:

• What will be accepted late: homework, labs, projects


• 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.

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:

1. 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!


2. 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.

3. If it takes more than a day or two to fix your technical problem, then email me at profwladis@gmail.com and tell me:
   
   
   1. What the problem is:
   
   
   1. 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.’”
   
   
   2. Do you have the same problem on several different computers, or just one?
   
   
   2. Approximately what day and time the problem started.
   
   
   3. 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:

• Ask me: You can email me any questions you may have. Be sure to be specific - take a picture of, type, or copy and paste a particular problem or example that you are having trouble with and explain in a sentence or two where you are getting lost - the more specific you are about what you don't understand, the more I can help you. "I just don't get this chapter," or "I just don't understand how to do derivaties," for example, are requests for help that don't really give me any information about what you are struggling with, and so it makes it hard for me to give you any meaningful help.
  
  
• Get tutoring:
  
  
  • The Math Lab: You can go to the Math Lab in room S511 any time they are open to get help. You can get tutoring here, but you will have to be patient, as the tutors are usually helping several students at a time in several different subjects. You will need a valid BMCC student ID to get into the math lab. You can look up the current hours of the math lab here: http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/math/page.jsp?pid=1022&n=Mathematics%20Lab
    
    For more information you can also check out the Math Lab webpage at http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/mathlab/.
    
  • The Learning Resource Center: The Learning Resource Center Offers several kinds of tutoring. You can take a look at their webpage at http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/lrc/index.html. Some specific kinds of tutoring they offer are:
    
    
    • One-on-one tutoring: To sign up for this, drop by the LRC at the main BMCC campus in room S500, call the Tutor Hotline at 212-220-1383, or email the LRC at lrc@bmcc.cuny.edu. You should have your student ID and your schedule available. If you are interested in one-on-one tutoring at the LRC, it is a good idea to check out the information about what you can expect at tutoring: http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/lrc/tutoring/expect.html or the LRC’s frequently asked questions about tutoring: http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/lrc/tutoring/faq_tutoring.html.
    
    
    • Online tutoring: The LRC also offers online e-tutoring, where you can submit any questions via email and get a response within 24 hours (or if it is a weekend or vacation, by the next day that classes are in session). To submit a question to the e-tutors, just visit the webpage: http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/etutoring/. You can also contact the e-tutoring office by phone at 212-220-1380 or by email at e-tutoring@bmcc.cuny.edu if you have any questions about the program.

Student Learning Outcomes:

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.