Course syllabus
Basic Information
Instructor: Chris Kottke
Office: 455 Lake Hall
Email: c.kottke@neu.edu
Office Hours: Mon 10:30-12am, Thu 12:00-1:30pm
Text: Worldwide Multivariable Calculus, by David B. Massey. PDF and printed versions available at: http://www.centerofmath.org/textbooks/calc3/.
Web Materials; I do not use Blackboard for posting materials online. Class materials may be found on my own web site: http://www.northeastern.edu/ckottke/2321/.
Homework and Quizzes: Homework will be assigned daily, but will not be collected. At the beginning of class each Thursday (other than the first Thursday and the Thursdays of the midterm exams), there will be a short quiz taken verbatim from homework exercises from the previous Wednesday, Thursday, Monday. Homework assigned on the day before the quiz will not be on that Thursday's quiz. We will not have time to go over all homework questions in class. Thus, if you have a lot of questions on the homework, it will be essential for you to come to my office hours, make special appointments to see me, go to our TA's office hours, or go for tutoring in the Mathematics Department or in the College of Engineering.
Midterms and Final Exams:
There will be two midterm exams, and a final exam in this
course. The midterm exams are 65-minute in-class exams.
On the
midterm exams and final exam, you may use one 8.5x11" one-sided
sheet of notes.
Exam schedule:
Midterm 1: Thursday, Oct. 15
Midterm 2: Thursday, Nov. 19
Final: Monday December 14, 10:30-12:30
Check for exam schedule conflicts before Oct. 1.
Snow Days: If classes are cancelled due to snow, or for other official reasons, any scheduled quiz or midterm exam will occur on the next class meeting.
Grading: The course grade will be determined as follows:
Final exam: 40%
Midterm exams: 40% (20% each).
Quizzes:
20%. I will drop your worst quiz grade.
Letter grades are determined numerically:
A ≥ 93,
92 ≥ A- ≥ 90,
89 ≥ B+ ≥ 87,
86 ≥ B ≥ 83,
82 ≥ B- ≥ 80,
79 ≥ C+ ≥ 77,
76 ≥ C ≥ 73,
72 ≥ C- ≥ 70,
69 ≥ D+ ≥ 67,
66 ≥ D ≥ 63,
62 ≥ D- ≥ 60,
F ≥ 59
The total numerical grade for the course (0.4*Final + 0.2*Midterm1 + 0.2*Midterm2 + 0.2*Quizzes) will be curved by median adjustment (adding an overall constant to bring the median up to a B-, if necessary) at the end of the semester. Individual quizzes and exams will not be separately curved, though I will give you some idea of how the curve is looking as the semester progresses.
Course TAs:
- Jonier Antunes, 575 LA, office hours: MWF 1:30-2:30
- Vasileios Aravantinos-Sotiropoulos, 527 NI, office hours: Wed 6-7pm, Fri 9-11am
- Xu Sun, 563 LA, office hours: TTh 4:45-6:15
Recitation Sessions:
- Mondays, 5-6:40pm, 11 KA, Xu Sun
- Tuesdays, 1:35-3:15pm, 19 International Village, Vasileios Aravantinos-Sotiropoulos
- Wednesdays, 2:50-4:30pm, 291 RY, Jonier Antunes
Additional Resources: The Mathematics Department Tutoring Center is in Room 540B, Nightingale Hall. This peer tutoring is free. Peer Tutoring appointments can be booked via MyNEU under TUTORING. Although you can walk in, it is really best to sign up in advance. Tutoring requests are scheduled by students in real-time and confirmed by email. Next-day appointments must be booked by 9:00 pm the previous day. It is expected that tutoring services in the Mathematics Department Tutoring Center will begin shortly after the start of classes. See http://www.northeastern.edu/csastutoring/setting-up-appointments/ ror more information about peer tutoring.
The College of Engineering also provides tutoring for Calculus. See http://www.coe.neu.edu/coe/undergraduate-support/tutoring for details.
The PDF textbook contains links at the beginning of each section to online full-length, free, video lectures on the contents of that section. These videos can also be accessed directly by going to: http://www.centerofmath.org/videos/index.html#subject5. If there is a discrepancy between how the videos present material and how your instructor presents material, you should follow your instructor's presentation, but you should discuss the matter with your instructor.
An independent video-tutoring company, Kahn Academy, has produced a large collection of free, short video tutorials and examples on many topics, including Calculus; the url is http://www.khanacademy.org/. If there is a discrepancy between how the videos present material and how your instructor presents material, you should follow your instructor's presentation, but you should discuss the matter with your instructor.
Issues with the Course/Instructor: If you have issues with this course and/or instructor which you are not comfortable discussing with your instructor, you should contact the Teaching Director, Prof. Massey, at d.massey@neu.edu.
For the Schedule of Topics and Suggested Homework Exercises, see the syllabus.