You should use office hours (for all your classes) as the first source of assistance whenever you have questions or difficulties.  Knowing your professor is great motivation and a good way to get advice on courses and other education and career related decisions.

A second source of help is free tutoring available from the Math Center in the Center for Teaching and Learning, Museum 433 in Pocatello from 9 am to 7 pm M-Th and 9 am to 2 pm Friday, CHE Room 220 in Idaho Falls from 9 am to 4 pm M-Th.  More information at www.isu.edu/ctl/math.  

Questions: Suppose a device measures exactly how fast a car is going at every instant in time.  How might you describe the relationship between time and the car's speed using a graph, table, formula, or words?  If the car must first travel half of the distance to its destination, then half of the remaining distance and so on, can it ever reach that destination?  How can you tell how quickly the car is accelerating at a given instant?  How can you find when it was going the fastest?  What would negative acceleration mean?  Can you approximate how far the car traveled over a given time interval just from the information on its speed at every instant?  How could you improve that approximation and could the distance be computed exactly?  Ideas like these are related to the infinite and the infinitesimal, and to discrete and continuous phenomena, and have played a fundamental role throughout the history of mathematics.  Paradoxes of the infinite date back to the Greek mathematician Zeno around 450 B.C. and were not fully resolved until the development of calculus by Newton and Liebniz in the 1600s and Cantor's theory of infinite sets in the mid 1800's.  

Goals: In this course you will learn how mathematicians view discrete and continuous functions as well as how they deal with the infinitely large or small.  You will deepen your ability to work with functions from the perspectives of graphs, tables, formulas, and words, beginning with the quick review in Chapter 1 of polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic functions.  You will learn to find instantaneous rates of change (derivatives) and accumulated change (integrals) and explore the relationship between them as given by the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.  This will involve answering both theoretical questions related to these ideas and questions that arise in applying these ideas to cost and revenue, population growth, and drug concentration.

Because of this emphasis on using functions and their derivatives and integrals in applications, you will need to clearly describe the meaning of your answers, including giving appropriate units.  You will also be expected to consistently show and explain the steps in your answers as this will help you learn to clearly communicate solutions of problems to others. 

This course will help you:

• Be able to solve conceptual and applied problems related to functions and their derivatives and integrals.
  
• Thoroughly understand the concepts of differentiation, integration, their relationship, and what they mean.
• Be able to communicate solutions clearly through writing, including explaining how you got your answer and what it means in applications.
  
• Have developed learning and study skills to succeed in this course and beyond.

Materials:  The text is Applied Calculus, Third Edition, by Hughes-Hallett et al, most of Chapters 1-7.  You should have a graphing calculator.  I will be using a TI-83.  You are responsible for learning to use your calculator, but a calculator workshop will be offered on Wednesday, January 23 in PS 302 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.
Links to additional resources and pages of interest are given on the course web page.

Prerequisites:  Math 143, College Algebra, with a grade of C- or better, or demonstrated proficiency in effectively working with functions is required.  In particular Math 160 assumes you already know most of the material in Chapter 1 although we will review parts very quickly.  As stated in the undergraduate catalog, you must earn a C- or better in Math 160 to use it as a prerequisite for another math course.

Format and Evaluation
Class time will include a mixture of brief lectures and cooperative group work that will be collected for credit.  You are responsible for material covered in all class sessions regardless of whether you have reason to be absent.  Material covered in class lectures and group activities will assume that you have read and thought about the material ahead of time.  To fully succeed in accomplishing the goals above, you will need to take responsibility for and participate actively in your own learning, both inside and outside of class. Things that will help are to read the book both before and after material is presented in class, review class notes and make your own notes, work odd numbered problems for practice, complete and turn in assigned homework, and learn from comments and corrections on returned work.

Understanding and being able to do mathematics requires consistently working on problems yourself.  But in addition to doing so you are encouraged to study together and discuss problems with others since this can be a very effective and rewarding way to learn mathematics.  You must write up solutions yourself and give written credit for ideas obtained from other sources.  Violations of ISU's plagiarism policy will not be tolerated and will be addressed according to ISU policy (see the Student Code of Conduct in the Student Handbook, http://www.isu.edu/studenta/handbook.pdf and the section of the Faculty Staff Handbook referenced there, http://www.isu.edu/fs-handbook/part6/6_9/6_9a.html).

Exams will be closed book with no notes allowed and assume use of a graphing calculator.  Each will include some questions that involve applying familiar concepts in new situations.  If an emergency or exceptional circumstances require you to miss an exam, you should contact me or have someone else contact me before the exam if at all possible and no later than the next class meeting and must provide documentation.  The exam dates below are tentative.  The final date is firm, so please mark it down now.

Grades of A, B, C, D will be guaranteed by earning overall percentages of 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%.  Cutoffs for +/- will be these values +/- 3 percentage points.  The grades and comments on individual assignments and exams are intended to provide you with feedback and to help you assess your current state of learning.   The final course grade will reflect to what extent you have accomplished the first three goals above on what you should be able to do at the end of the course.

Philosophy: All of you have the potential to succeed in this course and hard work counts for a great deal.  I continue to learn by expanding my knowledge of mathematics and its connections with other subjects, by doing original research, by understanding more about learning and teaching, and by working to teach in ever more effective ways.  I expect you will deepen your knowledge of mathematics and its applications, will learn to formulate questions that lead you to construct your own understanding of mathematics, and will know more about the process of learning and problem solving after you complete this course.  The most important skill you gain during a college education is the ability to learn independently.

Accommodations: Idaho State University is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students.  If you have a diagnosed disability or if you believe you have a disability that might require reasonable accommodation in this course, please contact the ADA & Disability Resource Center, Room 123 Graveley Hall (282-3599) as soon as possible.