General Information
Class and Exams Schedule
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General Information

• Textbook: Precalculus, by Sullivan and Sullivan. This is a custom edition for this course, which is cheaper than buying it commercially. The bookstore has two versions: one which is a physical copy of the book, and one which is an e-book. EITHER IS OK, it's up to you. The e-book is cheaper by about $50, but if you prefer a real book you can write in, turn pages, buy the actual book. Both come with the package "MyMathLab" which is has online homework, testing, self-study plans, etc... We will be using MyMathLab for homework, so you have to have it.
• Clickers: This course will make use of i-clickers. You will need to get one at the bookstore. Many courses at UCSC make use of clickers, so this is a "one-off" expense. You can also very easily sell it back to the bookstore (or to another student) after using it if you prefer. As an alternative, if you just want to get a clicker for 1 quarter or 2, you can use the REEF polling system by i-clicker. Using REEF polling works with your smartphone, without the need to buy a clicker. To register for REEF polling, please visit this website. It is cheaper for just a few quarters, but more expensive over long periods of time.

• Grades:
  • Attendance:
    • At the beginning of each class, and throughout, there will be clicker questions. The clicker questions are graded. They are also used to keep track of attendance and to encourage active participation.

    • Attendance to the class and to sections is mandatory. More than 40% missed classes or sections is an automatic F for the class.
  • Homework: Online homework will be assigned on a weekly basis through MyMathLab.com. You should start it well in advance, as it will probably take you 3-4 hours to do it every week.
  • Exams: There will be two midterms and one final exam
  • Grading Policy: 
  • The concept of "curving" will not apply. Your grade reflects your own progress, not that of the rest of the class.
    
  • The total grade is calculated according to the following scheme
  • Each grade during the class (Attendance, Quiz, Midterm or Final) is out of 100
  • The total grade (also out of 100) is a weighed average of all grades acquired during the quarter with
  • Attendance: 3% of the total grade. More than 40% missed classes/sections is an automatic D for the class.
  • Clicker questions: 7% of the total grade.
  • Homework: 10% of total grade; weakest grade dropped. More than two missed Homeworks is an automatic D for the class. Homework will be done with online testing "MyMathLab" so you really do need to buy it.
  • Quizzes: 20% of total grade; there will be weekly quizzes in section. Weakest grade is dropped. More than two missed Quizzes is an automatic D for the class.
  • 1 Mid-term exam: 25 % of total grade
  • 1 Final exam: 35 % of total grade. Note that there is a minimum grade required in the Final Exam to pass the class, typically around 40/100.
  • Your letter grade for the class is then chosen according to the following table:
    
  • A+ : 93% and above
  • A : 86% to 93%
  • A- : 80% to 86%
  • B+ : 73% to 80%
  • B : 66% to 73%
  • B- : 60% to 66%
  • C+ : 55% to 60%
  • C : 50% to 55%
  • C-: 40% to 50%
  • D : any total grade below 40%, or failure to achieve minimal grade in the final
  • F : cheating

• Policy on cheating: Zero tolerance
• Cheating will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Any student caught cheating will be reported for academic dishonesty, and get an F for the class.
• Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
• Copying a fellow student's work during exam conditions (midterm, final)
• Using any material, during an exam, which is not allowed by the instructor (such as calculators, cheat-sheets, getting outside help, etc.)
• Using someone's clicker to pretend they attended the class, or asking a friend to do this for you.
• The penalties imposed for academic dishonesty vary depending on how serious the case is. But know that "In serious cases in which academic misconduct has been determined to occur, a notation of misconduct shall be entered for a specified period on a student's transcript, including all external copies. "
• The bottom line: don't even think about it!

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Tentative Schedule: (this will be updated as the course progresses). Numbers in bold denote the book sections that these lectures are based on.

• Week 1:
• Apr 4 (Tu): 1.6. Opening remarks. Modeling with functions (constructing functions from real problems). Notion of variables (dependent, independent). What is the graph of a function. Vocabulary to describe graphs.
• Apr 6 (Th): 1.1-1.5. Graphing with Wolfram Alpha. Graphs of some standard functions. General properties of function graphs (horizontal/vertical translation, symmetries).

• Week 2:
• Apr 11 (Tu): Linear functions. Slope, intercept. Linear interpolation and extrapolation.
• Apr 13 (Th): Geometric properties of linear functions. Systems of linear equations

• Week 3:
  
• Apr 18 (Tu): 2.3-2.4. Quadratic functions. Zeros of quadratics. Basic factoring techniques. Graphical properties of quadratics.
• Apr 20 (Th): 2.6. The quadratic formula. Optimization problems.

• Week 4:
• Apr 25 (Th): 3.1-3.2. Polynomials. Power functions with integer positive power. Factoring polynomials. Roots of polynomials.
• Apr 27 (Th): 3.1-3.2. Graphing polynomials using signs tables.

• Week 5:
• May 2 (Tu): 3.4-3.5. Basic power functions with negative power. Rational functions. Asymptotes. Graphing rational functions with signs tables
• May 4th (Th): Rational functions (continued). Basic power functions.

• Week 6:
• May 9 (Tu): Midterm 1 on all material up to rational functions.
• May 11 (Th): 4.1-4.2 Composition of functions, inverses of functions. Graphical properties of inverses.

• Week 7:
  
  • May 16 (Tu): 4.3,4.7. Exponential function. Applications to financial models, growth and decay problems.
  • May 18 (Tu): 4.4-4.5. Logarithmic function as the inverse of the exponential. The graph of the logarithm.

• Week 8:
• May 23 (Tu): 4.6,4.8 Properties of logarithms and exponentials.
• May 25 (Th): Practical applications of logs and exponentials: Logarithmic axes and their uses to identify exponential functions and power laws. The Gaussian function

• Week 9:
• May 30 (Tu): 5.1-5.3 Angles, unit circle, polar coordinates. Right-angle triangles, sines and cosines.
• Jun 1 (Th): Trigonometric functions (sine, cosine and tangent). The Pythagorean property. Graphs of sine, cosine and tangent. The phase shift property.

• Week 10:
• Jun 6 (Tu): 5.6 Periodic functions. Mean, period, phase.
• Jun 8 (Th): 7.1-7.2. Solving some trigonometric equations

• Final's Week:
• Jun 15 (Th): 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM: FINAL