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Instructor Contact and General Information

  
Instructor: Luís Finotti
Office: Ayres Hall 251
Phone: 974-1321 (don't leave messages! -- e-mail me if I don't answer!)
e-mail: lfinotti@utk.edu
Office Hours: MW 11:10-12:10, or by appointment. (Subject to change).
Textbook: J. Rogawski and C. Adams, "Calculus (Early Transcendentals)".
3rd Edition, Macmillan, 2015.
Prerequisite: Math 142 or 148.
Class Meeting Time: MWF 8:00-8:50 at AMB 210.
Exams: Midterm 1 (Sections 12.1-5, 12.7): 02/06 (Tue).
Midterm 2 (Sections 13.1-3, 14.1-4): 02/27 (Tue).
Midterm 3 (Sections 14.5-8, 15.1-3): 03/27 (Tue).
Midterm 4 (Sections 15.4-6, 16.1-3): 04/17 (Tue).
Final (comprehensive): 05/04 from 8am to 10am.
Grade: 15% for HW Average, 19% for each midterm with lowest dropped, 28% for the final.
 

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Recitations and TAs

  
TA: Gabriel Dusing
Sections: 009: T 11:10 at SSH 517
Office: Hoskins 191
Office Hours: M 1:25pm-2:15pm and Th 11:10am-12:05pm
e-mail: gdusing@vols.utk.edu
TA: Alexanderia Lacy
Sections: 001: 8:10 at BU 334,
004: T 9:40 at SSH 517
Office: Ayres 109
Office Hours: MW 1pm-2pm
e-mail: alacy4@vols.utk.edu
TA: John Long
Sections: 007: T 12:40 at PHY 304
Office: Ayres 226
Office Hours: MWF 10:10-11, T 10:45-12:00, Th 9:30-11:00 or by appointment.
e-mail: jlong1@utk.edu
TA: Bryan Self
Sections: 002: T 8:10 at HSS 217,
005: T 2:10 at EPS 302
Office: Ayres 226
Office Hours: MW 3-4, Th 2:30-3:30
e-mail: cself1@utk.edu
TA: Jon Vazeen
Sections: 003: T 3:40 at PHY 306,
006: T 2:10 at HSS 71,
008: T 12:40 at MinKao 525
Office: Ayres 233
Office Hours: By appointment only.
e-mail: jvazeen@utk.edu
TA: Larissa Weaver
Sections: 010: T 9:40 at Ferris Hall 510
Office: South College 101.
Office Hours: MW 2pm-3pm
e-mail: lweaver3@vols.utk.edu
 

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Course Information

Course Content

This the third semester of Calculus, which is basically Multivariable Calculus, after some introduction to Vector Geometry. It will build on the content of Calculus I and II, so all the previous background will be assumed (and used).

This is the hardest of the Calculus courses. In great part because (as I say above) you will use all the material from the previous courses, so those who "barely passed" before, will struggle with the old difficulties along with the new ones. (So please, make sure you are well prepared!)

Not only that, the content is intrinsically considerably more difficult, as the jump from one dimension to two and three (ore more) is a great one: shapes in one dimension, i.e., on a line, are simple! In two dimensions, i.e., on the plane, it gets more complicated! In three dimension, i.e., in space, it gets even more complicated!

So, please, don't underestimate this course!

 

Chapters and Topics

We will cover most of Chapters 12 to 17 from the text:

Although not very likely, this outline is subject to change!

 

Course Calendar

Here is the plan for covering the material above :

As it is the first time I'm teaching this course, the above might change as the course progresses.

Here is the calendar:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
01/10 01/12
01/15 01/16 01/17 01/19
01/22 01/23 01/24 01/26
01/29 01/30 01/31 02/02
02/05 02/06 02/07 02/09
02/12 02/13 02/14 02/16
02/19 02/20 02/21 02/23
02/26 02/27 02/28 03/02
03/05 03/06 03/07 03/09
03/12 03/13 03/14 03/16
03/19 03/20 03/21 03/23
03/26 03/27 03/28 03/30
04/02 04/03 04/04 04/06
04/09 04/10 04/11 04/13
04/16 04/17 04/18 04/20
04/23 04/24 04/25 04/27
05/04

Legend:

Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14
Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17
Exam No Class

For HW due dates, check WebAssign's calendar. (But basically you will have a HW due every Wednesday at 11:59pm.)

 

Recitations

I will lecture on MWF and on Tuesdays you will have recitation with a Teaching Assistant. Attendance to recitation is mandatory! I will often leave details and examples to be done by the TAs during recitation. In a few occasions I might even ask them to introduce something new, not done in class before. Therefore it is essential that you attend recitations.

Besides seeing more examples, you will have the opportunity to have your questions answered in recitation. Although I will take questions in class, the schedule is really tight, so I will not be able to use much of the class time to this very important part of the learning process. (I might have to just say "Ask your TA in recitation".)

Note that although the schedule put recitation on a one hour and fifteen minutes block, the actual recitation is only fifty minutes long.

Information about the TAs, including their e-mails, offices and office hours are above.

 

Exams

We will have four midterms and a final. Here is some more information (as described above):

Note that the final is during the time scheduled by the university. The midterms will all be during recitation on Tuesdays. Note that they are 50 minute exams!

All exams, midterms and final, are, of course, closed books and notes. Also, no calculators will be allowed, but the numbers should be simple.

You are required to bring your UT ID to all exams! If you are not able to show your ID if asked, you will get a zero (unless some suitable arrangement can be made with your TA).

Finally, it is your responsibility to keep all your graded midterms! It is very important to have them in case there is any problem with your grade, such as a typo made by one of us when entering your grades in Canvas. You can check all your scores in Canvas.

 

Grading Scale

We will use the usual grading scale to assign letter grades:

Grade Range Letter Grade
90 (including) and above A
above (and including) 87 and below 90 A-
above (and including) 83 and below 87 B+
above (and including) 80 and below 83 B
above (and including) 77 and below 80 B-
above (and including) 73 and below 77 C+
above (and including) 70 and below 73 C
above (and including) 67 and below 70 C-
above (and including) 63 and below 67 D+
above (and including) 60 and below 63 D
above (and including) 57 and below 60 D-
below 57 F

The might be a curve the course averages at the very end, if I feel it's granted, but there is no guarantee. The only way to make sure you get, say, a B-, is to have a course average of 77 or above. (Note that 77 is a guaranteed B-, a curve, if any, will only help.)

There will be no curve for individual midterms.

 

Homework Policy

Homework on this course will be done through WebAssign.

To access WebAssign:

  1. Go to WebAssign.net and click on the red login button in the upper right corner. (Note: there is no class key.)
  2. Login using your UT email (netid@vols.utk.edu).
    • If you already have a Cengage/WebAssign account (for example, from a previous course), use the password associated with that account.
    • If you do not already have a Cengage/WebAssign account (never used it before), use the password that I created for you. (These are available as an announcement in Canvas.)
    • If neither of the options above work for you, click on “Forget?” next to the password box. This will allow you to reset the password. (Again, use your vol.utk.edu e-mail!)
  3. Now you can choose Verify or I’ll Do It Later . Verify will prompt you to purchase an access code or enter an access code you have already purchased. I’ll Do It Later will allow you to continue your free trial (of 14 days). (Some might have bought "lifetime" access to our book in a previous course, some might have bought a single semester. The former will not have to buy access again, but the latter will! If you are not sure, you can call the WebAssign Tech Support at 800-955-8275.)
  4. I will update rosters daily to pick up recently added students. If you log in to WebAssign (using you @vols.utk.edu e-mail) and don't see our course listed, e-mail me asking to add you to the roster.

Here are some other resources:

 

You can check assignments and due dates for your HWs in WebAssign (they will not show on Canvas's calendar!), but you will have HWs mostly due on Wendesdays at 11:59pm, so that you can ask for help on recitation on Tuesday. I strongly recommend you start working on it early! It will give you more time and will help you keep up with the lectures!

You have 10 attempts to submit an answer (in WebAssign), but after the third attempt, you are penalized with 20% of the value of the question or part! (The point is that you should not guess!)

You can save an answer instead of submitting it. This will not count as an attempt. But, do not forget to later actually submit your answer! Saved answers are not graded!

You can turn in late HWs. A request for extension in WebAssign will be automatically granted:

 

If you are having trouble with WebAssign, contact them first! You can Create a Support Case or call them at 800-955-8275.

You can contact me if the problem occurs close to the due date, in which case, if I can confirm the problem, I can give you (or the whole class) an extension, but in general I cannot help you with technical difficulties.

In the past, there were a few problems that caused assignments to be postponed due to technical problems with WebAssign, but keep in mind that you should not leave things for the last minute. Also, I strongly recommend you get a print out of the assignment early. That way, you can work on the HW even if WebAssign is down (and later just enter your results).

All HW assignments for the whole course are already available, but the dates are still tentative! (You can start at anytime.) So, watch the calendar on WebAssign for changes.

 

Each HW set is composed of two of three different sections. For example, HW1 is due on 01/24 and covers sections 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3. (Check WebAssign for the other HW sets.) I will drop the lowest scores of four sections, not four HW sets. But this should help with any unexpected problem you might have to complete one of your HWs.

Besides the problems assigned in WebAssign, you should also work on the Additional Homework Problems. These were problems that were not available in WebAssign, but I consider them important. Although you will not turn any of those for grade, they are still part of the HW and I urge you to do them.

Calculators will not be allowed in exams! Thus, you should try to avoid using it in your HW too! You should only use it if numbers get "messy", which I will make sure it will not happen in the exam. This is a difficult decision as computer experimentation can be quite useful. But I believe one should understand well the process before delegating it to computers/calculators.

In my opinion, doing the HW is one of the most important parts of the learning process, so urge you to take it seriously and to work very hard on every assignment. It will pay off when preparing (and taking) exams!

Also, you should try to come to my office hours or your TA's if you are having difficulties with the course. We will do our best to help you. Please try to come during our scheduled office hours, but feel free to make an appointment if that would be impossible.

 

How to Be Successful in this Course

  

Piazza (Discussion Board)

We will use Piazza for online discussions. The advantage of Piazza (over other discussion boards) is that it allows us (or simply me) to use math symbols efficiently and with good looking results (unlike Canvas). Also, unlike Canvas, you can post anonymously in Piazza.

To enter math, you can use LaTeX code, which is quite useful to people who know it, like myself. But it also has an equation editor, that enters the LaTeX code for you. (Here is a video tutorial on how to use the equation editor.) But even if you can't enter nicely formatted equations, you can still just use words or describe your problem, while I can enter math in my answers, making it easier for all to read it.

You can access Piazza directly here: https://piazza.com/utk/spring2018/math241/home. (There is also a link at the "Navigation" section on the top of this page and on the Links section.)

To keep things organized, I've set up a few different folders/labels for our discussions:

I urge you to use Piazza often! (This is specially true for Feedback!) If you are ever thinking of sending me or your TA an e-mail, think first if it could be posted there. That way my (or someone else's) answer might help others that have the same questions as you and will be always available to all. (Of course, if it is something personal (such as your grades), you should e-mail me or your TA instead.)

Note that you can post anonymously. (Just be careful to check the proper box!) But please don't post anonymously if you don't feel compelled to, as it would help me (and the TAs) to know you, individually, much better.

Students can (and should!) reply to and comment on posts on Piazza. Discussion is encouraged here!

Also, please don't forget to choose the appropriate folder(s) (you can choose more than one, like a label) for your question. And make sure to choose between Question, Note or Poll.

When replying/commenting/contributing to a discussion, please do so in the appropriate place. If it is an answer to the question, use the Answer area. (Note: The answer area for students can be edited by other students. The idea is to be a collaborative answer. Only one answer will be presented for students and one from the instructor. So, if you want to contribute to answer already posted, just edit it.) You can also post a Follow Up discussion instead of (or besides) an answer. There can be multiple follow ups, but don't start a new one if it is the same discussion.

Important: Make sure you set your "Notifications Settings" on Piazza to receive notifications for all posts: Click on the gear on the top right of the Piazza site, the choose "Account/Email Setting", then "Edit Email Notifications" and then check "Automatically follow every question and note". Preferably, also set "Real Time" for both new and updates to questions and notes. I will consider a post in Piazza official communication in this course, I will assume all have read every single post there!

You can also use Piazza for Private Messages. I'd prefer you use e-mail to talk to me, unless it is a math question (in which either you or I would need to enter math symbols) that cannot be posted for all (such as an HW question). You can also send private messages to fellow students, but keep in mind that I can see those too! (So, not really that private...)

You should receive an invitation to join our class in Piazza via your "@tennessee.edu" e-mail address before classes start. If you don't, you can sign up here: https://piazza.com/utk/spring2018/math241. If you've register with a different e-mail (e.g., @vols.utk.edu) you do not need to register again, but you can consolidate your different e-mails (like @vols.utk.edu and @tennessee.edu) in Piazza, so that it knows it is the same person. (Only if you want to! It is recommended but not required as long as you have access to our course there!) Just click on the gear icon on the top right of Piazza, beside your name, and select "Account/Email Settings". Then, in "Other Emails" add the new ones.

Important: Please, if at all possible, come see us (me or the TAs) instead of posting math questions on Piazza. (This is only for math questions!) Replying in Piazza is time consuming, especially with so many students, and much less efficient than explaining in person.

Also, it goes without saying, you cannot ask how to do HW questions in Piazza! Again, come see us with these sorts of questions. If it is absolutely impossible, you may ask for hints or clarifications, but not for how to do it.

 

Missed Work

For late HW, see the section on Homework Policy above.

If you know you will have to miss a midterm and have a documented excuse (see below), please make arrangements with your TA (not with me) to try to schedule an alternative day/time.

If other arrangements are not (or cannot be) made before hand, missed midterms, with documented excuses (see below), will be made up by the part of the (comprehensive) final that corresponds to the missed midterm.

More precisely: say you missed Midterm 3, which involved sections 14.5-8 and 15.1-.3, and say that in our final questions 3 and 4 are all the questions about the material of those sections. Then, the points you get in those questions of the final will make you Midterm 3 grade.

Your justification for missing an exam has to be processed by the Office of the Dean of Students, more precisely, here. Note that, as stated in the referred site, final approval of all absences and missed work is determined by the instructor. (So, just because you've submitted a justification through the Office of the Dean of Students, it doesn't mean it will be accepted by me.)

 

Communications and E-Mail Policy

As stated before: if you are thinking of writing an e-mail to me or one of the TAs, please ask yourself if you can ask the question in Piazza, in other words, is it a general question for which the answer might benefit other students.

If you don't think the question is appropriate for Piazza, you first should try to e-mail your TA instead of me. (There are too many of you, and I might not be able to answer all in a timely manner.) If the TA cannot answer, they can refer you to me (or they can ask me, and then reply to you). If your best judgment is that you should write me instead of your TA, of course, feel free to do just that.

The main exception when you should contact me directly instead of your TA is for problems with WebAssign (with WebAssign itself, not with a HW problem posted in WebAssign!) not fit for Piazza, as the TAs will (mostly) not deal with that at all. If it is a technical problem, though, try contacting WebAssign Tech Support (800-955-8275) first!

You are required to set up notifications for Piazza (as explained above) and for Canvas to be sent to you immediately. For Canvas, check this page and/or this video on how to set your notifications. Set notifications for Announcements to "right away"! (Basically: click on the the profile button on left, under UT's "T", then click "Notifications". Click on the check mark ("notify me right away") for Announcements.)

Moreover, I may send e-mails with important information directly to you. I will use the e-mail given to me by the registrar and set up automatically in Canvas. (If that is not your preferred address, please make sure to forward your university e-mail to it!)

All three (notifications from Piazza, notifications from Canvas and e-mails) are official communications for this course and it's your responsibility to check them often!

 

Feedback

Please, post all comments and suggestions regarding the course using Piazza. Usually these should be posted as Notes and put in the Feedback folder/label (and add other labels if relevant). These can be posted anonymously (or not), just make sure to check the appropriate option. Others students and myself will be able to respond and comment. If you prefer to keep the conversation private (between us), you can send me an e-mail (not anonymous), or a private message in Piazza (possibly anonymous).

 

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Legal Issues

Conduct

All students should be familiar with Hilltopics' Students Code of Conduct and maintain their Academic Integrity: from Hilltopics Academics:

Academic Integrity

Study, preparation, and presentation should involve at all times the student’s own work, unless it has been clearly specified that work is to be a team effort. Academic honesty requires that the student present their own work in all academic projects, including tests, papers, homework, and class presentation. When incorporating the work of other scholars and writers into a project, the student must accurately cite the source of that work. For additional information see the applicable catalog or the UT Libraries site. See also Honor Statement (below).

All students should follow the Honor Statement (also from Hilltopics Academics):

Honor Statement

"An essential feature of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is a commitment to maintaining an atmosphere of intellectual integrity and academic honesty. As a student of the university, I pledge that I will neither knowingly give nor receive any inappropriate assistance in academic work, thus affirming my own personal commitment to honor and integrity."

You should also be familiar with the Classroom Behavior Expectations.

We are in a honor system in this course!

 

Disabilities

Students with disabilities that need special accommodations should contact the Student Disability Services and bring me the appropriate letter/forms.

 

Sexual Harassment and Discrimination

For Sexual Harassment and Discrimination information, please visit the Office of Equity and Diversity.

 

Campus Syllabus

Please, see also the Campus Syllabus.

 

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Links

 

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Handouts

   

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Additional Homework Problems

The following problems were not available in WebAssign, but still are part of your HW. Although they will not be turned in for grade, I urge you to do them. (Similar problems might appear in your exams).

 

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