PROFESSOR: David Henderson, 403 Malott Hall, dwh2@cornell.edu, 255-3523. For office hours, make an appointment in class or write by e-mail. I am almost always available before and after class and will be in my office most of each Tuesdays and Thursday.
COURSE CONTENT: The content of Math 121 will be essentially the same as Math 111 except that we go deeper into the meaning of the concepts and the theory. I will expect everyone in this course to work at an A or B level. If this is not possible for you then you will be easily able to switch into Math 111, especially if done early in the semester.
TEXTBOOK: The textbook for the course is Thomas' Calculus, (Alternate Edition), which is essentially identical to Thomas/Finney Calculus (9th Edition). The text will be used for exercises and its description of the traditional material of calculus. The text will be supplemented with additional material supplied by the instructor. We will cover most of Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and the first part of 6. Even though most of the students in Math 121 (and 111) have taken calculus in high school, I will not assume any previous knowledge of calculus. However, I will assume that you have taken a pre-calculus or "functions" course in high school (or elsewhere).
GRAPHING CALCULATORS/COMPUTERS: This semester I will assign some (not a lot) problems which will require the use of a graphing calculator or a program on a computer that will graph functions and allow you to zoom in on different parts of the graph. Many of the computer labs around campus have such programs (for example, Analyzer* which is on the computers in the Mathematics Department Computer Lab in 206 Stimson Hall). All sections of Math 111 will be using graphing calculators. We will make use of the computer/calculators' power to enhance our geometric intuition and to make calculations that are not possible by hand. Whenever you use a calculator/computer on homework, tell (briefly) what you did.
HOMEWORK: There will be two types of homework problems (almost) every week:
Exercises: These will be mostly taken from the text and designed to provide drill on the techniques and to help you understand the concepts. The exercises will not be graded but will be appropriate practice for the exams. I will assign a lot of exercises and you should decide how many you need to do for practice. The exercises will be looked at by the grader (TA) and returned with comments.
P-Problems: These will be problems that will challenge you to think deeply about the concepts and theory of calculus. The P-Problems will be of many different types -- for example, some of the problems will be open-ended, some will be designed to be done cooperatively with other students, and some will call for an essay such as "Write a letter describing a important idea in calculus to someone who does not know calculus". You will turn in a write up your thinking on each P-Problem and then I will return them with comments, you will then be able to respond to the comments and resubmit the P-Problem. Your grade for the P-Problem will be based solely on your last submission (as long as you first attempts show effort).
WORKING WITH OTHERS: I encourage you to study and with others on the material of the course -- this is often a very effective way to learn. On most homework you MAY work with someone else IF you both acknowledge this working together at the top of your papers and if you write up your work in your words and are able to explain what you wrote. There will be some P-Problems where I will specifically ask you to work alone.
GRADES: There will be two or three preliminary exams and a final. These exams will test your basic understanding of the concepts and techniques as contained in the exercises. Doing well on the exams will only guarantee you a grade of B. To earn an A± you will have to do well on the P-Problems.