Prerequisites: Two years of high school mathematics beyond plane geometry, including trigonometry.

Text: Integrated Calculus, by Laura Taalman.  This book is intended to be read. For each class session, you are encouraged to read the pertinent portion of the text at least twice  beforehand and at least once afterwards.  Study the book with a pencil in hand.  Make notes in it. Mark where you have questions.  Look at the exercises at the end of the chapter and use them to check/ improve your understanding of your reading.

Calculators:  You should have a graphing calculator available for use in class and on exams. If you are buying a new one, the department recommends the TI-83 or TI-86. You may use other calculators (especially other TIs, Casios, HP or Sharp) as long as you are able to enter a simple program into your calculator and you are comfortable with basic graphing features.   Calculators with symbolic algebra capability (e.g. TI-89 or TI-92) will not be allowed during exams.   A calculator is on reserve in the library (ask at the front desk).

Course Webpage: The best source of information about this course is available at  http://www.gac.edu/~kaiser/mcs118/ .  There you will find a complete syllabus, course description, current homework and prep problems, and so on.

Classes: Classes will be used for discussions, problem solving, lectures, and other fun activities.  You should prepare for classes by doing the reading beforehand,  thinking about the problems in the text, doing the prep problems, and formulating questions of your own.  You should also participate as much as possible in class.  Class meetings are not intended to be a complete encapsulation of the course material. You will be responsible for learning some of the material on your own.

Attendance, both physical and mental, is required.

Absences from class: Should you need to miss a class for any reason, you are still responsible for the material covered in that class. This means that you will need to make sure that you understand the reading for that day, that you should ask another student for the notes from that day, and make sure that you understand what was covered. It also means that if we had an assignment that we did in class that day, you will get a 0 for that assignment. If there is an assignment due that day, you should be sure to have someone hand it in. You do not need to explain why you missed a class unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

Should you miss more than four classes, no matter what the reason, I will lower you semester grade by at least a third.

Homework : You will need to read a section of the book and do problems for each day that we have class.   There are two kinds of homework: prep problems and study problems.

Prep problems are assigned to help you prepare for class. You are expected to do them after you've read a section but  before we have class on that section.  At the beginning of class, a student in the class will roll a die to determine whether or not I collect prep problems for that day.  I will grade the problems for effort and completeness, and this grade will be part of your class participation grade.  Except in extreme circumstances,  I will not accept late prep problems and you will not be able to make up missed assignments.

Study problems are designed to help you learn the material we cover in class and in the reading.  You should read the material and attempt the problems before coming to class. You should finish the problems after class.  Approximately twice a week, you will hand in your solutions to some of the problems you did. These should be neatly written on standard sized paper, and with all of the pages stapled together. The sections and problem numbers should be clearly labeled. My grader will only grade a few sample problems.

Late homework is any assignment that is not in the purple homework folder when I give it to my grader.    I always put homework in the folder during class, and I add any homework that I have received before I give the folder to the grader.  However, I can't guarantee that I check my mailbox (either the PO box or the department box), straighten my desk, or check any other place that students are likely to put assignments. In other words, be sure to hand homework in  in class. (You may add homework to the purple folder; it will be in the plastic box outside of Olin 310 or Olin 314.)    Late homework will be accepted as long as I get it before my grader hands back the graded assignments. (Alternatively, you can put it in the green folder for late homework.) In that case, the homework will be graded but you will lose 30% of the points on that assignment.

Quizzes and Exams: We will have seven in-class quizzes during the semester, as well as a midterm and a final exam.  These tests make up the majority of your semester grade.  In particular, be sure not to underestimate the importance of quizzes.  If you do poorly on quizzes, you will do poorly in the course.  The midterm will be given in the evening on Thursday,  October 19.  The final is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 16, at 1:30 pm.

Academic Integrity:  In this course, you are expected to to adhere to the highest standards of academic honesty, to uphold the Gustavus Honor Code and to abide by the Academic Honesty Policy. Copies of the honor code and academic honesty policy can be found in Academic Bulletin and in the Gustie Guide.

On homework,  you should make a real effort to solve each problem by yourself, although  you can  and should discuss problems and their solutions with your classmates after you've made this effort.  You should give credit to any people or texts that helped you find solutions. On tests,  you are expected to work completely by yourself.

You will be expected to sign the honor pledge on every quiz and exam.  

Course grade:

Class participation	9%
Homework	20%
Quizzes	21%
Midterm Exam	25%
Final Exam	25%