Phy 242 Course of Study

Calculus I Course of Study

Distance Learning Option

Course Title, Number and Description, Required Prerequisite Knowledge

MTH 173 - Calculus with Analytic Geometry I

Presents analytic geometry and the calculus of algebraic and transcendental functions including the study of limits, derivatives, differentials, and introduction to integration along with their applications. Designed for mathematical, physical and engineering science programs.

Prerequisites: a placement recommendation for MTH 173 and four units of high school mathematics including Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry and Trigonometry or equivalent. (Credit will not be awarded for more than one of MTH 173, MTH 175, or MTH 273.)

Lecture 4-5 hours per week.

Required Prerequisite Knowledge:  To succeed in this course a student must have good mastery of Precalculus, including:

The nature of the course

This course is offered via the Internet and via distributed DVD's in an asynchronous mode. The student will receive instructional information and assignments via these modes and will respond to assignments by submitting work through web forms.

The student must have standard access to the Internet and must have the ability to access the content on the DVD's.  The material on the DVD's is accessible using a variety of media players (e.g., Windows Media Player). 

The instructor is available via web forms (to which students will be introduced at the very beginning of the course), and will normally respond by the end of the day following your submission (and more typically on the same day) with answers to properly posed questions, feedback on your efforts, and other information. Exceptions may occur in the event of Internet problems or other technical events. 

Students with Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for assistance and various accommodations.  For details please check the Student Support Services link on the Blackboard page for your course.  Look under the heading VHCC Disability Services for Students, which contains the descriptive statement 'Students with learning, psychological or physical disabilities are eligible to receive academic related accommodations. This link will take you to the VHCC Disability Services website.'  The address http://www.vhcc.edu/index.aspx?page=374 might take you directly to this page; however the link might change without the instructor's knowledge so if this doesn't work, go to the Blackboard page and click on the Student Support Services link.

Note that the course videos as distributed on DVD's do not currently have transcripts, though a version can be provided in which videos are embedded within screen-readable documents.  If you require this version of the videos, and/or transcripts, due to a documented disability, please notify the instructor immediately.

Broad goals and Purpose of the Course

The student will learn how to use the concepts of the integral, the derivative, the differential and differential equations to relate quantities to rates of change. The student will learn the basic techniques for manipulating integrals and derivatives, mathematical modeling and optimization.

Specific course-level objectives are as follows:

  1. Apply the difference quotient and limits to derive formulas for derivatives of simple functions.
  2. Apply the rules of differentiation and the derivatives of basic functions to find derivatives of products, quotients, sums, multiples and composites of those functions.
  3. Construct graphs relating functions to their derivatives and antiderivatives.
  4. Interpret the behavior of graphs in terms of the behavior of the systems they represent.
  5. Construct integrals using Riemann Sums.
  6. Construct mathematical models of mathematical and real-world phenomena.
  7. Explain the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus in terms of rate-of-change and quantity functions, using graphical, numerical, verbal and symbolic representations.
  8. Approximate derivatives and integrals, and estimate approximation errors.
  9. Apply the derivative to solve problems involving optimization, graphing and rates.
  10. Investigate and explain the behavior of functions using graphical, verbal, numerical and symbolic reasoning.

Specific objectives

Each assigned task and problem constitutes a specific objective, which is to complete that problem or task and understand as fully as possible its relationship to the stated goals of the assignment and to other concepts, problems and situations encountered in the course.

Specific assignment-level objectives and module-level objectives are stated for each assignment at the course homepage.

A list of module-level objectives may be viewed at Module-level Objectives.

A list of more detailed specific assignment-level objectives, including Module-level Objectives, may be viewed at Assignment-level Objectives.

Requirement of communication

Regular communication is required of the student. This includes turning in assignments in a timely fashion and responding in a timely manner to feedback on these assignments. Any deviation of more than three days from the chosen schedule of the course must be approved in advance by the instructor. Exceptions will of course be made in the event of documented illness or other unexpected emergencies, but the instructor should be informed of such situations within a reasonable time of occurrence.

Students are required to access their Portfolio/Access Site at least once a week.

Getting Started in the Course

After registering for the course you will get an email, sent to your VCCS email account, with instructions for Orientation and Startup.  This process will constitute appropriately the first week's assignments for your course (about the first half of the week during the shorter summer term), and will show you the basic navigation of the website including how to communicate, submit work, locate assignments and due dates, and more.

Text and Other Instructional Materials

The text is specified in Textbook Information, which the student will have encountered prior to arriving at this page.  Any student who has not noted Textbook Information is advised to review all information to be sure no other essential details have been missed.

Areas to be Covered

Units to be covered:

Chapters 1-5 inclusive, plus supplementary material posted by instructor.

Chapter Topics:

Chapter 1: Functions

Chapter 2: The Derivative

Chapter 3: Differentiation

Chapter 4: Applications of the Derivative

Chapter 5: The Definite Integral

Specific information regarding assignments and areas covered is included on the homepage.

Instructional methods

Students will complete and submit the assignments specified on the homepage.

The instructor will respond in a timely fashion to any work submitted, making suggestions where improvement is needed and posing questions designed to enhance the student's learning experience. The student will be required to respond to all critiques, except those designated otherwise.

Questions posed by students and the instructor's responses will be posted to a site, specified in at the beginning of the course, for the student's review.

Students may on occasion be asked to critique work done by other students.  Full student anonymity will be preserved, with no reference  to the identity of any party in this exchange.

The instructor is available via web forms (to which you will be introduced at the very beginning of the course), and will normally respond by the end of the day following your submission (and more typically on the same day) with answers to properly posed questions, feedback on your efforts, and other information. Exceptions may occur in the event of Internet problems or other technical events. 

Use of email:  Prior to registration and receipt of initial instructions students my use Email to communicate with the instructor.  However email is much less reliable than web forms, and after registration and receipt of initial instructions anything sent through email should first be sent using the appropriate form.

Grading policy

A Major Quiz, two tests and a final exam will be administered.  The final examination will given the same weight as a regular test; however, if it is to the advantage of the student this final examination will be given double the weight of a regular test.  The Major Quiz will be given half the weight of a test, but if the score ends up helping the student's grade it will be given the full weight of one test.

Portfolio and Portfolio Grade

A student's portfolio, consisting of instructor responses to assigned work (consisting of all assigned documents which request submitted student responses) will at the end of the term be assigned a grade on a 100-point scale.  Each portfolio document is worth 1 point toward the portfolio grade, which will be awarded if the document meets acceptable standards.  If the document does not meet acceptable standards, the instructor will request a revision.  The total score on the 100-point scale will be equal to the number of points awarded as a percent of the total number of documents assigned.  Documents counted toward the portfolio grade include qa's, queries and randomized problems.  If this score is higher than the average on the other contributions to the final grade, it will be counted as 1/2 of a test grade (typically around 10% of the final grade); if not it will be counted as 1/4 of a test grade (typically around 6% of the final grade). The actual proportion of the final grade determined by the portfolio depends on weighting contingencies as defined previously and a further explained below.

Grading of Tests

Raw test scores will be normalized to the following scale, according to the difficulty of the test, as specified in advance of each test by the instructor:

A: 90 - 100

B: 80 - 90

C: 70 - 80

D: 60 - 70

F: Less than 60.

The final grade will be a weighted average according to the above guidelines. A summary of the weighting is as follows:

Major Quiz:  Weight .5 or 1.0, to the advantage of the student

Test #1: Weight 1.0

Test #2: Weight 1.0

Comprehensive Final Exam: Weight 1.0 or 2.0, to the advantage of the student

Assignment/Quiz Grade Average: Weight .5 or 1.0, to the advantage of the student.

The table below summarized the calculation of course grades:

assessment weighting contribution to total score
major quiz 1/2 <= m_weigh <= 1 test score * m_weight
test 2 1 test score * 1
test 3 1 test score * 1
final exam 1 <= f_weight <= 2 final exam score * f_weight
portfolio 1/4 <= p_weight <= 1/2 portfolio score * p_weight
  total of weightings total of contributions

Final average = total of contributions / total of weightings

Expanded Explanation of Weighting

The above is the simplest way to specify the grading scale for this course.  However some students are uncomfortable with fractions, proportional representations and weighted averages and prefer to see the contributions of various components of the course expressed in terms of point values.  Given the contingencies defined above, in which the major quiz, portfolio and final exam grades can each have two separate weightings, there are eight possible ways the algorithm defined above could be applied.

 Each column under 'points' defines a possible way of calculating the student's final grade.  The number of points for a given assessment will be multiplied by the student's percent score on that assessment to get the points earned on that assessment.  These points will be added to get the student's final percent score for the course.

The student's final grade will be based on the weighting is most advantageous to the student.  The student does not need to select one weighting or another.  The instructor will examine all possible weightings to determine the highest possible final grade for each individual student, and this will be the course grade given to that student.

 

Major Quiz 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Portfolio 0.25 0.25 0.5 0.5 0.25 0.25 0.5 0.5
Final Exam 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
Points Points Points Points Points Points Points Points
Major Quiz 13.33333 10.52632 12.5 10 13.33333 10.52632 12.5 10
Test 1 26.66667 21.05263 25 20 26.66667 21.05263 25 20
Test 2 26.66667 21.05263 25 20 26.66667 21.05263 25 20
Final Exam 26.66667 42.10526 25 40 26.66667 42.10526 25 40
Portfolio 6.666667 5.263158 12.5 10 6.666667 5.263158 12.5 10

 

 

Criteria for Grading of Tests:

Tests will consist of problems designed to measure the level of your achievement of the course goals. 

Each problem is graded on a 10-point scale, with the following guidelines:

In the event of a college-wide emergency 

In the event of a College-wide emergency, course requirements, classes, deadlines, and grading schemes are subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates, a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading scheme. 

In the case of a College-wide emergency, please refer to the following about changes in this course:

 

·      Course web page http://vhmthphy.vhcc.edu/ (click on your course)

·      Instructor’s email dsmith@vhcc.edu (however, you should use your access page for the most reliable responses)

 

For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to:

 

·      Web site  - www.vhcc.edu

·      Telephone Number - 276-739-2400

·         Emergency Text Messaging or Phone System- Virginia Highlands Community College uses VHCC Alert to immediately contact you during a major crisis or emergency. VHCC Alert delivers important emergency alerts, notifications and updates to you on your E-mail account (work, home, other), cell phone, pager or smartphone/PDA (BlackBerry, Treo & other handhelds). VHCC Alert is a free service offered by VHCC. Your wireless carrier may charge you a fee to receive messages on your wireless device. VHCC will test the alert system each semester. Register online at alert.vhcc.edu or by sending a text message to 411911 keyword: VHCC 

In the event of an emergency just regarding this class, the instructor will contact all students via email, and may post information to your access site.  You should check both email and your access site.