************************************************************************* date: Fri, May 9, 2014 at 10:18 AM subject: Last office hours, date/time/location of final exm To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: My last office hours will be on Monday 12 May, from 10am to 1:30pm, in Vincent 354. Our class will take the final exam in Willey Hall 125 on Monday 12 May, 1:30pm-4:30pm. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, May 6, 2014 at 9:33 AM subject: SMART Learning Commons review sessions Forwarded message: The SMART Learning Commons is offering two exam review sessions in Math 1271. They will be held Thursday May 8th 4:45-6:00 in Akerman 209 (90 seats) and Friday May 9th 3:30-5:00 in Nicholson 125 (68 seats). There will be practice problems covering the following topics: Chain rule Volumes of revolution L'hôpital rule Limits Log Differentiation U-Substitution Optimization Due to limited seating, please register at http://www.workshop.umn.edu/ and find the workshops under "Exam Review". Contact information for questions and a description of the workshop can be found on this site. The sessions are free. ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 3:12 PM subject: Final exam for our class To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Final exam room assignments just came out. Our class will take the final exam in Willey Hall 125 on Monday 12 May, 1:30pm-4:30pm. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 9:54 AM subject: Review for the final exam To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: After today, we'll have three weeks left in the semester. Following the class diary, final exam review in lecture is scheduled to start one week from this coming Monday, but I want to move that up. I still have a few remaining topics I need to show you, but I'm hopeful that we can get started with our final exam review on Monday or Wednesday of next week. I plan to spend most of our reviewing time going over old MATH 1271 final exam problems, starting with the Spring 2008 final exam. To see this and other final exams, point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/SampFinals/ Note that they're posted both with and without solutions. After we finish Spring 2008, I'll continue in reverse chronological order, going from top to bottom at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/SampFinals/ So, after finishing the Spring 2008 final, the next exam I'll work through will be the Fall 2007 final. As before, to get the most out of the review, it pays to try to work through the problems before I do. That way, you have a chance to compare your approach with mine, and to think carefully about any differences that you see. NOTE: The final exam is on Monday 12 May 1:30pm to 4:30pm. I don't yet know where. As soon as I do, I'll pass that information along to you, but I probably won't find out the location (or locations) until the last week of classes. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 3:58 PM subject: Fwd: MATH 1271 Midterm Review ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Anthony Maxam Date: Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 3:55 PM Subject: MATH 1271 Midterm Review To: adams@math.umn.edu Professor Adams, Hello again! I was hoping you could pass this on to your students. - - - - - Hello students! Midterm number 2 is coming up! The time for review is NOW. I'm holding a review session on Wednesday, April 16th at 1:25 in Akerman 211. Topics include differentiation, antidifferentiation, optimization problems, minima/maxima, and other topics you need to know for your test on Thursday. I hope you can make it! -Anthony Maxam Peer-Assisted Learning Facilitator SMART Learning Commons ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 2:27 PM subject: No makeups on quizzes To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I continue to get requests for quiz makeups. Just a reminder that we don't have makeups on quizzes, but the Moodle system will automatically drop your two lowest recitation quiz scores, and your four lowest lecture quiz scores. Also, please see the course expectations page at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/expectMATH1271.html and have a look at the bullet point labeled ATTENDANCE. The design of this course depends very heavily on a high attendance rate, because skills are taught in class. This semester, the rate of attendance has been lower than usual, and I worry that we'll see the consequences when the distribution of grades on the final exam becomes available. That distribution affects all of us, so do encourage your classmates to keep up with all of the course expectations. Thanks. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 8:48 AM subject: Review for Midterm 2 To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Midterm 2 is on Thursday 17 April, ONE WEEK FROM TOMORROW. We'll follow the same process as with Midterm 1. In particular, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent in review. In lecture, I'll spend some time going over old versions of Midterm 2, in reverse chronological order. So please point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/archF13.html Then click on "Midterm 2A (Fall 2013)" print out and work through the problems. That way you can compare your solutions (and, importantly, methods of solution) with mine. After Fall 2013, if there's time, I'll work through problems from Version A of Midterm 2 from Spring 2013. That midterm is linked from http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/archS13.html The entire archive of old classes can be found in the rightmost column of http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ Also, old miterm problems are collected at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/probsbytopicMATH1271.pdf and sorted by topic. Keep in mind that, this semester, Midterm 2 covers up to and including Topic 0620, whereas, in previous semesters, nothing was covered (in Midterm 2) after Topic 0540. I will try, during review, to highlight some of the kinds of new questions I might be asking from Topics 0550-0620. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Sun, Apr 6, 2014 at 5:10 PM subject: Topic 0610 was accidentally left off of the diary To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Someone just pointed out to me that Topic 0610 was accidentally left off of the diary. I've now fixed that. Be sure to watch that video. Sorry for the typo. See you tomorrow. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 1:22 PM subject: Recheck your three-digit code on Moodle before class Monday (31 March) To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I posted the quiz scores for the most recent attendance quiz as Lecture Quiz 7. The scores should all be correct -- the *only* problem is in making sure everyone gets the right three-digit code. The new software I've been using this semester makes it harder than before to get a list of participants with their three-digit codes. If anyone is interested I could go through why this is so much harder, but the bottom line is that I *think*, after talking to tech support, I've finally figured out how to get the list in the right order without any blank lines. So, once again, I've posted three-digit codes on Moodle. I'm sorry to ask you to go through this again, but *please* have a look at Moodle one more time, and use the newest set of codes. SO, PLEASE RECHECK TO SEE WHAT YOUR THREE-DIGIT CODE IS, AS FOLLOWS: The three-digit code appears in the Moodle grade book under "Three-digit code". It appears as a grade, but it's worth zero credit. Ignore any percentage you see and simply look at the number under "Grade". Pad it with leading zeroes to make it have three digits. So, for example, if you see 23 under your Three-digit code grade, it means that your three-digit code is 023. Be sure you know your three-digit code when you come to class. We'll run another quiz on Monday. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 3:09 PM subject: Recheck your three-digit code on Moodle before class tomorrow (F 28 March) To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I think I've *finally* figured out what the problem is with the lecture quizzes. Somehow some of the three-digit codes posted on Moodle were not correct, or, somehow, the numbering in the participant list (in my laptop) for this class changed during the semester. I'm not sure how any of this could have happened, but I've reposted three-digit codes on Moodle so that they agree with the numbering in the participant list in my laptop. I hope this solves the problem. SO, PLEASE RECHECK TO SEE WHAT YOUR THREE-DIGIT CODE IS, AS FOLLOWS: The three-digit code appears in the Moodle grade book under "Three-digit code". It appears as a grade, but it's worth zero credit. Ignore any percentage you see and simply look at the number under "Grade". Pad it with leading zeroes to make it have three digits. So, for example, if you see 23 under your Three-digit code grade, it means that your three-digit code is 023. Be sure you know your three-digit code when you come to class. We'll run another quiz tomorrow. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 2:44 PM subject: Another quiz canceled Today's quiz is also canceled -- sorry. We'll do another quiz on Friday. The good news is that it seems that the responses *are* being correctly recorded. It's just that the response table (appearing on the slide) is not working as it should. If we can't get the tables to work, then I'll simply take them out, and we can use the green light on the clicker as confirmation of a response being received. (That wouldn't be my preference, but it may be that that's the best we can do.) - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 1:10 PM subject: Another canceled quiz (on M 24 March) I apologize for all the software trouble. Several students came to me after class earlier today to report difficulties with the Response Tables showing their responses. I just got off the phone with the staff at Turning Technologies, and they had me do a few things with the software that they say should help. So, once again, I'm going to cancel the quiz (today's), and we'll try this again on Wednesday. Keep in mind that you can see exactly which quizzes have gone through, by pointing to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/lectQuizzesMATH1271.html As you can see there, up to now, I've only been able to get six quizzes to work properly. Hopefully, things will go better going forward. Thanks for you patience. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 12:28 PM subject: Clicker quiz canceled To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: There was a software glitch with the lecture quiz today, so I have to cancel it. At first, I thought I might have forgotten to enter the correct participant list, but it turns out that that's not the issue, and, in fact, I don't have a good way to diagnose what went wrong -- probably just a bug somewhere in the Turning Technologies code. I'll ask the same questions again soon, and hopefully the software will work properly next time. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 8:42 AM subject: Gateway update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Today is the last day to pass Gateway. Currently 91% of you have passed, and another 2% have a score in the range 70-79. Another 4% have yet to post a positive score. If you haven't already passed, please come to see me right away, and good luck on your next try! - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 10:48 AM subject: Gateway update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Currently, we have 82% passing Gateway, and another 5% who have a score in the range 70-79. Tomorrow is the deadline, so please keep working hard on this. There are 6% who have yet to post a positive score, and that's of great concern. If you know someone who hasn't made an attempt yet, or who is having serious trouble, please encourage them to come to see me. The deadline will NOT be extended, and, if you don't pass Gateway, you should drop the course -- those who don't will receive a failing grade. Remember that you can only take Gateway once every 12 hours, so a student who plans to wait until the last moment, and then "pull an all nighter" working on Gateway will be unpleasantly surprised. If you're having trouble, come to see me or your TA immediately (with a printout of your last attempt that shows previews and correct answers). There's very little time left. If you haven't already passed, good luck on your next try! - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 9:09 AM subject: Gateway update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: This is another Gateway update, and, if you've already passed, then you needn't worry about your own score. If you know someone who hasn't yet started Gateway, or who hasn't put much time in on it yet, please remind them that they have ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT. So it's "crunch time". Currently 76% of you have passed, and 9% of you have yet to post a positive score. Another 7% have a score of 70-79, so those students are close to passing. If you haven't passed, and are worried or are having trouble, please come to see me or your TA as soon as possible, with a printout of your latest attempt. Don't miss any opportunities to take the test. You only get one try every 12 hours. The deadline will not be extended, and the amount of waiting time won't be reduced. If you haven't already passed, good luck on your next try! - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 9:11 AM subject: Gateway update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Currently, 61% of you have passed Gateway (congratulations!), but 23% have yet to post a positive score (which, in most cases, means the student hasn't even made an attempt). It's very important that you get on this quickly, if you haven't already. There's less than one week until the Wednesday deadline, and, for bureaucratic reasons, it simply cannot be extended. Every day of delay means you miss two chances at passing. Please come to see me or your TA, if you're having trouble. It's best if you can bring a printout of your most recent attempt. To take Gateway, start by pointing to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/gatewayMATH1271.html\ Be sure to read the information about entering answers, located at the bottom of that website. If you haven't already passed, good luck on your next try! - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 2:41 PM subject: Gateway update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Currently 71% of you have made at least one attempt at Gateway and 52% have passed. There's only one more week until the deadline. If you haven't even made your first attempt, please come to see me or your TA. If you're having difficulties, please come to see me or your TA. Please bring along a printout of your last attempt, with previews and correct answers. I mentioned before, but let me say again: Each day of delay means you get two less attempts at Gateway. It's very important to take this seriously, or you could end up being forced to drop the class not because you don't understand the material, but simply because you didn't start early enough on Gateway. Good luck on your next attempt. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 12:10 PM subject: Grade lines are posted To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Grade lines for the first midterm are posted. See http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ExamAndGrades1271/gradesmidterm01Y14M02D27MATH1271.txt The grades were disappointing, and I think I understand why. Be sure to attend class! The attendance rate at the last quiz was just under 70%, which is **terrible**. If, at a typical sports team practice, such a large percentage of players simply skipped, the coach and other players would be extremely frustrated. By analogy, if you're not attending class, and you do badly on the final exam (the 'big game'), then your low score will affect everyone else's course grades, since it's the distribution of our grades on the final exam that determines the distribution of grades for our course. So if you don't want to come to class for yourself, you could do it for the other students. In the week before each midterm, I make sure to go over the techniques needed for every midterm problem, so those who attend those classes have a huge advantage when they take the exam. Keep in mind also that, if you miss a class, it may affect your ability to understand later classes, since you'll have missed the introduction to certain topics. So you have to be patient as you try to catch up with the material you've missed. Last semester (Fall 2013), we had good attendance up until just after the first midterm. See http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Fall2013/gradesmidterm01Y13M10D10MATH1271.txt for the distribution of first midterm grades from that semester. Notice that 29 students received a perfect score of 100 on that midterm. (Then attendance dropped off, and the second midterm scores reflected that.) See also, for example, the information about "Students in good standing" at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2013/spring2013effclassflip.txt The correlation between attendance and grades is very, very strong. Finally please review all of the course expectations, at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/expectMATH1271.html I feel that anyone who enters this course with a mastery of precalculus, and who follows all the guidelines at that website should do very well in this course. I recommended, in the first class, that those who could not follow them should really find a different course. This course is not designed to appeal to everyone, so I try to be very up front about what's expected. See you tomorrow. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 4:14 PM subject: Typo on Midterm 1 Version D. Posting various items tomorrow. To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I just noticed a typo on Version D of Midterm 1: In Problem E under Part I, the "Hint" is incorrect. A student following that hint should be led to Answer e. If any of you gave that answer to that problem, then please see your TA, and you should be given credit for that. I'm sorry for the error. This ONLY applies to Version D of Midterm 1. There are Versions A,B,C and D. It does NOT apply to Version A or B or C. The version's letter appears just after Part II. This ONLY applies to students who answered Problem E with Answer e. I'm preparing solutions, and should post them tomorrow as well. I'm hoping to get the grade distribution and grade lines done tomorrow as well, but we'll see how that goes. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 8:34 AM subject: Gateway is open. To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Gateway is open. You can take it up to two times per day, and it must be passed by Wednesday 12 March. One passing score and you're done with this course requirement. Please make your first attempt AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Procrastination has only disadvantages -- each day you wait, you lose two possible attempts to pass. If you wait until the last minute, then don't pass on your first attempt, the 12 hour delay will mean you don't get another attempt, and you'll have to drop the course or fail. So waiting can easily lead to disaster, and starting early can only reduce your chances of difficulty. Please see http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/gatewayMATH1271.html for more information about Gateway. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 2:41 PM subject: Vertical asymptotes To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: A question came up right at the end of the class which I bobbled, partly due to not understanding what was being asked (until someone kindly explained it to me), and partly due to lack of time. Basically, the question focused on how one finds vertical asymptotes of y=f(x). The answer is: by solving the four equations the limit of f(x), as x --> a^-, is equal to infinity the limit of f(x), as x --> a^+, is equal to infinity the limit of f(x), as x --> a^-, is equal to minus infinity the limit of f(x), as x --> a^+, is equal to minus infinity for a. If a is any real number that makes one or more of those four equations true, then x=a is a vertical asymptote for y=f(x). That is, one finds the numbers a such that f has an infinite singularity at a, and then x=a is a vertical asymptote. The four equations above represent the four kinds of infinite singularities. Sometimes, students think that finding vertical asymptotes is exactly the same as taking the denominator of f(x), as an expression of x, setting it equal to zero, and solving for x. I mentioned in an earlier class (and want to say again) that, while that often works, it sometimes doesn't. Sometimes the denominator can vanish at a removable singularity, but vertical asymptotes *only* happen at infinite singularities. So, for example, let x^3 + x - 2 f(x) = --------------------------- x^2 - 4x + 3 . Then I leave it as an exercise for you to check that f(x) has a removable singularity at x=1 and that f(x) has an infinite singularity at x=3. To do this, you have to find the one-sided limits of f(x), as x-->1^- and x-->1^+, and, also, the one-sided limits of f(x), as x-->3^- and x-->3^+. Since f is rational, we've discussed how to do those computations. (For the two limits at 1, you factor x-1 as many times from numerator and denominator as possible, cancel as much as possible, and then take the limit. Same for 3, but factor x-3 instead.) Once you get these limits, you'll see that x=3 is a vertical asymptote of y=f(x), but x=1 is not even though the denominator vanishes both at x=3 and at x=1. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 4:14 PM subject: Work through archived Midterm 1 To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Please point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/archF13.html then, in the right column, click on the link Midterm 1A (Fall 2013) and print this archived midterm. Over the weekend, please work through all the problems on that midterm in preparation for our review next week. Note that solutions are also posted, via the link Midterm 1A with solutions (Fall 2013). You can also find earlier archived material (including Midterm 1 from earlier semesters), by using the rightmost column of the course website http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 2:51 PM subject: No makeup quizzes. Students who miss quizzes continue to request makeups. I need to reiterate that, if you miss a quiz -- even with good justification -- you'll get a zero, but Moodle will drop your two lowest recitation quiz scores, and your four lowest lecture quiz scores. In particular, if you fall ill and miss a quiz, you'll get a zero, but, as long as you don't get too many zero scores, that zero will be ignored in the calculation of your total course points. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 2:00 PM subject: MATH 1271 quiz, thursday To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I wrote (Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 9:04 AM): > You can drop your two lowest recitation quizzes, and there are no > makeup quizzes. I wrote (Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 8:47 AM): > Also, there are no makeups on recitation quiz scores, but Moodle is > configured to automatically drop your two lowest recitation quiz > scores, when evaluating your total course points. I wrote (Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 10:33 AM): > ... Also, there are no makeups on recitation quiz scores, but Moodle > is configured to automatically drop your two lowest recitation quiz > scores, when evaluating your total course points. I wrote (Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 1:04 PM): > Also, since it continues to come up, let me say once again that > there are no makeups on lecture quizzes or recitation > quizzes. Moodle will drop your lowest two recitation quiz scores ... I wrote (Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 12:29 PM): > Also, please remember that there are no makeups on quizzes. If you > miss class, and miss a quiz, your score will be zero, but Moodle > does drop some lowest quiz scores, as I explained earlier. A student asked (Sunday, February 16, 2014): > I have a test in another class that will overlap with our class this > thursday, in which we are supposed to be taking a quiz. Is it > possible for me to take it another time? The answer is no. There are no makeups on recitation quizzes, but Moodle will automatically drop your two lowest recitation quiz scores. Similarly, there are no makeups on lecture quizzes, but Moodle will automatically drop your four lowest lecture quiz scores. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 12:27 PM subject: Today's clicker quiz is canceled. To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I forgot one step during my setup of today's quiz, so, unfortunately, the data didn't get organized properly, and I don't have a way to tie each score to the correct student. So, with my apologies, today's quiz is officially canceled. This may happen occasionally, sometimes due to software glitches, and sometimes due to user error (i.e., *my* error). However, keep in mind that I'll be asking many of similar questions in future quizzes, and so there's a lot of value even in a canceled quiz. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 12:29 PM subject: online clicker registration is shut down AND no makeups on quizzes To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: The online clicker registration system was shut down a week ago -- see my message of Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 2:20 PM. I continue to get email messages from students looking for the online registration system. Please remember that it's no longer available. If you have not yet registered any clicker, you'll need to do your registration in person during office hours. If you have to replace an existing clicker that was registered, please just send me your three-digit code and the six-character device ID code located on the back of the new clicker, below the barcode. Be sure to send me this image from your x500 account, not from some other email address. Thanks. Also, please remember that there are no makeups on quizzes. If you miss class, and miss a quiz, your score will be zero, but Moodle does drop some lowest quiz scores, as I explained earlier. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 11:37 AM subject: Fwd: Important PAL Update, Topics FYI. If you have any questions about PAL, please write to "Anthony Maxam" Best, Scot ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Anthony Maxam Date: Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 11:29 AM Subject: Important PAL Update, Topics To: adams@math.umn.edu Hello Professor, I hope you can forward this information to your students regarding our weekly PAL sessions for Calc I: --- 1) The locations for the PAL sessions were listed incorrectly last week (a mix up on the administrative end). Luckily, we were still able to hold the sessions without issue. The Wednesday sessions are held at: 1:25-2:15 in Akerman 211 by Tony (That's me!), and 2:30-3:20 in STSS 530A by Dean (That's my twin brother!) 2) I'd invite all of you to come to the session if you can, as we will be covering a lot of important topics that will be on the quiz this Thursday. We'll be going over limit problems, and continuity, as well as any topics you wish to cover. If you have any questions, or want us to cover a particular topic, send me an email at maxam011@umn.edu. Thanks, and hope to see you this Wednesday, Tony Maxam PAL Facilitator, University of Minnesota SMART Learning Commons ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 3:26 PM subject: Lecture quiz 8 grades are posted To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I just posted grades for today's lecture quiz, and put them under Lecture quiz 8 in Moodle. These grades are only temporary. They are not for credit, and will be overwritten once I post grades for the 8th *for-credit* lecture quiz. However, do check your current grade for Lecture quiz 8, just to make sure that your clicker is working. I'll give another test quiz on Wednesday (also not for credit), and will probably start for-credit quizzing on Friday. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 2:20 PM subject: Three-digit codes and clicker testing To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Three-digit codes are now posted, in the Moodle grade book, for all students who were registered (in my lecture section) at the moment (this morning), when I downloaded the clicker registration file off of Moodle. A few minutes after that, I closed down the Moodle clicker registration system completely. Even students who, at that moment, had not registered their clickers were given a three-digit code; all that mattered was that they were registered for my section of MATH 1271. The three-digit code appears in the Moodle grade book under "Three-digit code". It appears as a grade, but it's worth zero credit. Ignore any percentage you see and simply look at the number under "Grade". Pad it with leading zeroes to make it have three digits. So, for example, if you see 23 under your Three-digit code grade, it means that your three-digit code is 023. Be sure you know your three-digit code when you come to class, and be sure to bring your clicker to every class. (If you forget your clicker, and there's a for-credit quiz, you'll receive a zero -- no exceptions.) Even if you have a three-digit code, please do NOT assume that that means that your clicker is registered. If you didn't register it, then it's not registered! We ran a not-for-credit clicker test today, and we'll run another soon, maybe even Wednesday (5 February). If you didn't receive a posted grade for today's test, it means that there's some kind of problem, possibly a clicker registration problem. Be sure to see me, and to retest your clicker on Wednesday. For-credit testing will probably start on Friday. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Jan 31, 2014 at 1:04 PM subject: Clickers AND no makeups on quizzes To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Currently all but 14 students have registered their clickers on Moodle. The deadline has already passed, but I'm giving a short grace period, until the end of the day today. You should have received a message from me a few minutes ago telling whether your clicker is registered. If it's not, please take care of it right away. There seems to be some confusion about what kind of clickers are used in this course. I wrote (Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 9:04 AM): > You'll need a Turning Point (a.k.a. Turning Technologies) clicker > for our class. The staff at the bookstore can help you to get the > right one. So, for example, an i-clicker will not work in this class -- sorry. Be sure to get the right kind of clicker. Otherwise the registration won't go through and you won't get credit on any lecture quiz. Also, since it continues to come up, let me say once again that there are no makeups on lecture quizzes or recitation quizzes. Moodle will drop your lowest two recitation quiz scores and your lowest four lecture quiz scores. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 10:33 AM subject: missed quizzes To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I continue to get requests to make up a missed lecture quiz. I want to remind you that I wrote (Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 9:04 AM): > Your four lowest clicker quiz scores will be dropped, and there are > no makeups on clicker quizzes. ... You can drop your two lowest > recitation quizzes, and there are no makeup quizzes. Please keep in mind that there are no makeups on clicker quiz scores, but Moodle is configured to automatically drop your four lowest clicker quiz scores, when evaluating your total course points. Also, there are no makeups on recitation quiz scores, but Moodle is configured to automatically drop your two lowest recitation quiz scores, when evaluating your total course points. The biggest problem with missing class isn't a quiz -- those count for very little in determining your final grade. The biggest problem is simply the missed learning opportunity, which can have a significant effect on your exam grades. Those count for much more. See http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2013/spring2013effclassflip.txt and have a look at the section "Students in good standing". - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 4:03 PM subject: Must register a clicker, not a cell phone A warning: Some of you may have registered your cell phone to be used as a clicker. This will not work for three reasons: First, the cell phone signals will probably not reach our classroom. Second, all cell phones must be turned off during all quizzes. Third, the participant lists I use won't have any registrations except for clicker registrations. You must obtain a clicker and register it, to get credit on lecture quizzes. You must do so by Friday to get credit on Lecture quiz 0. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 2:02 PM subject: Clicker registration AND the inverse of f(x)=e^{2x} To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: All students should have received an email message now saying whether their clicker is registered or not. Currently 42 of our 181 students still have not registered their clickers. The deadline is this Friday, 31 January. After that, you lose the 100 points on Lecture quiz 0. If you haven't already taken care of this, please do so right away. ------------------------------ After class today, a student pointed out to me that I had made a mistake in working the inverse of f(x)=e^{2x}. I accidentally took off my socks before taking off my shoes, and came up with ln(x/2). I should have undone exponentiation FIRST (by using ln), and THEN undone doubling (by dividing by 2). So the correct answer is (ln x)/2. The answer I gave was ln(x/2), and that's backward. So it's confusing! Probably best to follow the systematic way: y = e^{2x} x = e^{2y} ln x = 2y (ln x)/2 = y So, again, the CORRECT ANSWER is f^{-1}(x) = (ln x)/2. Sorry if I caused any confusion. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 8:55 AM subject: Fwd: MATH 1271 PAL Introduction FYI: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Anthony Maxam Date: Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 7:56 PM Subject: MATH 1271 PAL Introduction To: adams@math.umn.edu Hello Professor Adams, My name is Anthony Maxam, and I'm one of the peer-assisted learning (PAL) facilitators for this semester of MATH 1271. In case you are unfamiliar, the PAL program, run by the SMART Learning Commons, holds group study sessions for various introductory math and science courses held at the University of Minnesota. These sessions are designed to help students learn the math material, which many find challenging, as well as instill in them proper learning processes and concepts for use in their future coursework. We will be holding two of these sessions each week, and I would like to have as many students attend as possible. Attendance of PAL sessions have been linked to significantly improved learning and test performance, which many of your students likely find important. Would you be able to send an email to your students about these sessions? Additionally, if we could take a little bit of your class' time before lecture begins to tell them about it, that'd be really helpful. There are two session times: Wednesdays, from 1:25-2:15 in STSS 530A Wednesdays, from 2:30-3:20 in Akerman 211 I'd recommend that your students attend the 1:25 session (it's more geared to your lectures), but they are free to attend either at their convenience (perhaps even both!). Thanks for your time, Anthony Maxam ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 11:19 AM subject: Changes to office hours To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I apologize for the frequent email messages. With experience as my guide, they will probably continue for the next week or two and then taper off, as things stabilize. Because of a change to my own schedule, my Thursday office hours have been changed from 2pm-3pm to Thursdays, 3pm-4pm. These new Thursday office hours go into effect today, this afternoon. Also, there was a typo on the original syllabus showing MWF office hours 10am-11pm. Of course, that should have been 10am-11am. I'm there for you, but maybe not quite *that* much ... The syllabus at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf has been corrected, but bear in mind that you may need to clear cache and/or refresh your browser to get the new version. Also the online office hours website at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/onlineoffhrsMATH1271.html has been updated to reflect the change to my Thursday office hours. As with the syllabus, you may need to clear cache and/or refresh your browser to see the new version of that website. As I mentioned in an earlier email message, my online office hours will be on Wednesdays and Thursdays. ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 8:47 AM subject: missed quizzes AND change to online office hours To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: I want to remind you that I wrote (Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 9:04 AM): > Your four lowest clicker quiz scores will be dropped, and there are > no makeups on clicker quizzes. ... You can drop your two lowest > recitation quizzes, and there are no makeup quizzes. Please keep in mind that there are no makeups on clicker quiz scores, but Moodle is configured to automatically drop your four lowest clicker quiz scores, when evaluating your total course points. Also, there are no makeups on recitation quiz scores, but Moodle is configured to automatically drop your two lowest recitation quiz scores, when evaluating your total course points. The biggest problem with missing class isn't a quiz -- those count for very little in determining your final grade. The biggest problem is simply the missed learning opportunity, which can have a significant effect on your exam grades. Those count for much more. See http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2013/spring2013effclassflip.txt and have a look at the section "Students in good standing". ============== One other announcement: I'm changing my *online* office hours from MW to WTh. I think this will be more convenient for students. See http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/onlineoffhrsMATH1271.html for details. My in-person office hours are unchanged. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 12:36 PM subject: Online office hours To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Just a reminder that, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, in the afternoon, I hold online office hours. Right at this moment (12:37pm on Wednesday 22 January), the Professor is IN, so feel free to join. Point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/onlineoffhrsMATH1271.html for more information. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 9:04 AM subject: MATH 1271: Videos, flipping the classroom, and some other information To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am), copying TAs: Hello! I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday in our first lecture. You will meet your TAs in recitation on Tuesday. I hope to cover most course organizational issues by email, to free up class time to spend on material. If you have questions, please feel free to write to me. Typically, if you ask a question about organization in class, I'll ask you to write to me about it, unless it concerns something imminent. If the question and its answer are pertinent to the entire class, I'll respond by a group email message, like this one. Several comments: 1. In case you joined the class recently and didn't see my earlier message, you can review it at the email record at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/email.txt Incidentally, the message you're now reading will be added to that archive soon, at the top, so do scroll down, to look for older messages. -------------------------------- 2. Please read through the Course Expectations page at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/expectMATH1271.html If you cannot fulfill these expectations, it would probably be better for you to find another class. This class is not for everyone. -------------------------------- 3. We will not have traditional lectures during class time. Instead, lectures have been recorded, and are posted at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/topicsMATH1271.html These lectures have a mixture of theory and problem-solving, and BOTH are very important for your understanding. During the MWF classes, we spend most of our time on skill training; only a small amount of class time will be devoted to deeper, more theoretical issues. We are "flipping the classroom". You can read about this on the web. This teaching system seems to have worked very well last fall, especially for "students in good standing" For more information, see http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Fall2011/fall2011effclassflip.txt http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2012/spring2012effclassflip.txt http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Fall2012/fall2012effclassflip.txt http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2013/spring2013effclassflip.txt You should watch the first five videos (Topics 0010, 0020, 0030, 0040 and 0050) by class time on Wednesday next week (22 January), and even by Tuesday, if you have time. The main textbook for the course is by Stewart, but, because of copyrighting issues, I was not allowed to reference Stewart in my slides. The recorded material instead references a different text, (the "Whitman text") which can be downloaded for free, from http://sites.google.com/site/whitmanmathematics/ Summaries for each topic appear at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/summaryMATH1271 Much miscellaneous information about each topic appears at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/miscMATH1271 The miscellaneous information includes number of slides, the time of the recording, the section(s) covered in Whitman and the section(s) covered in Stewart. Also, errata appears at this website. -------------------------------- 4. You will need to purchase a student response device (a.k.a. "clicker") at the University of Minnesota bookstore, in Coffman Hall, the student union building. Physics uses a different kind of clicker, and their clickers will not work in our class. You'll need a Turning Point (a.k.a. Turning Technologies) clicker for our class. The staff at the bookstore can help you to get the right one. WARNING: Other clickers can be registered, but they will not work with the software we'll be using. In particular, BE SURE YOU DON'T TRY TO USE AN i-clicker IN THIS COURSE. You must purchase a clicker. It's true that there's software you can download that will make your smart phone work as a clicker, but we don't use it. First, the cell phone signals often don't reach the classrooms, but, also, all electronic devices (except the clickers) must be turned off during quizzes. You'll need to register your clicker, as follows: First, point to your Moodle site, as follows. Your Moodle site for our course is https://ay13.moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=11673 You can also access your Moodle site from the main course website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ via links near the bottom of the left column. Look in on the right side of your Moodle site for the link that reads Administer TurningTechnologies. Click on that link and the follow the instructions. Please register your clicker as soon as possible. If you register it by 10am on Friday of the second week of classes (31 January), then you'll receive full credit (100 points) for Lecture Quiz 0. Those who miss this deadline will receive 0 points. As soon as you get your clicker, please bring it to every class, including, if possible, the first class on Wednesday 22 January (this coming Wednesday). Frequently there will be in-class clicker quizzes testing the material in the videos that you are supposed to have watched. If you don't bring your clicker, you'll lose credit for those quizzes. Have your clicker out and ready to use at the start of each class. The first for-credit clicker quiz will probably be on Monday 3 February (Monday of the third week of classes), and no earlier. We will likely have several clicker quizzes before that date, but they will not count for credit. However, please do get and register your clicker as soon as you can. The more times you can test it in class before the for-credit quizzing, the better the chance is that you'll discover if there is any problem with it. Once the for-credit quizzing starts, clicker quiz grades will be posted within a couple of hours of the quiz itself, and you'll only have 24 hours to notify me if you notice a problem with your clicker quiz grade. If you wait until after that 24 hour deadline, the quiz score will stand, though, of course, we'll work to troubleshoot the problem. Your four lowest clicker quiz scores will be dropped, and there are no makeups on clicker quizzes. -------------------------------- 5. The daily plan for the entire course is set out in the course diary at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html -------------------------------- 6. The syllabus is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf The syllabus has my office hours. It also has textbook information, dates of midterms and final exam and our course grading policies, among other things. -------------------------------- 7. The course website is http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ Your Moodle site for our course is https://ay13.moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=11673 You can also access your Moodle site from the main course website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ via links near the bottom of the left column. Grades will be posted at the Moodle site. -------------------------------- 8. Homework (a.k.a. NEW homework) for the course is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/hm3wrkMATH1271.html Almost every NEW homework problem is modeled on a problem that appears in the OLD Homework at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/hmwrkMATH1271.html http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/hm2wrkMATH1271.html You can look at solutions to those OLD problems at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/solnsMATH1271.html http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/so2lnsMATH1271.html These solutions can be an aid to solving the NEW problems. This should help you quite a lot, but be aware that sometimes a small change to a problem can cause the solution to change in a significant way. Due dates for homework appear at the diary website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html For example, at that website, under "WEEK 02: THURSDAY RECITATION" it says "Homework is due from NEW Homework for Topics 0130 and 0150 (Homework 01)". -------------------------------- 9. Most Thursdays (but NOT this coming Thursday, 23 January), there will be a written recitation quiz designed and graded by the TAs. What material is covered on each quiz appears in the diary at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html You can drop your two lowest recitation quizzes, and there are no makeup quizzes. -------------------------------- 10. Observe, in the course website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ on the right hand side, there is a column labeled "Archive". This contains a number of old midterms (each one appearing twice, once without solutions, once with). You may find this to be a useful study guide. Be aware, however, that our pace this semester may not be exactly the same as in earlier semesters, so there is no guarantee that each midterm this semester will cover exactly the same material as the corresponding midterm from an earlier semester. -------------------------------- 11. I highly recommend Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/ as another source of lectures, and to get extra practice. Khan Academy also has much precalc material, for review. However, keep in mind that Khan's goal is to make a popular website. It is not to prepare anyone for a rigorous final exam. So please do not view Khan Academy as a substitute for the recorded lectures at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/topicsMATH1271.html The clicker quizzes will be based on these course topics, not on Khan's lectures. Note that there are some problems (in the Khan Academy format) that you can use, for practice, at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/KA/MATH1271-exercises/exercises/ These problems are not assigned and will not count for credit. More generally, if you feel you need additional practice problems, see http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/addlprobs.html -------------------------------- 12. I seek your feedback. Please don't hesitate to write to me with comments, questions and suggestions. I will try my best to respond individually, although, the volume of email could reach a point where I have to write to groups of students simultaneously. I'm happy to hear about all issues, large and small. In particular, please let me know about typographical errors you may find; however, if you do find a mistake, please review the errata at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/miscMATH1271 to see if it has already been noted, thanks. -------------------------------- See you Wednesday! - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 9:57 AM subject: MATH 1271: Videos, flipping the classroom, and some other information To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 030 (11:15am MWF), copying TAs: Hi. According to my records you're registered to take MATH 1271 LECTURE 030 this coming semester. (If not, please ignore this message, with my apologies.) The MAIN POINT OF THIS MESSAGE is that you'll need to watch a lot of videos in the next two weeks, and you may want to get an early start. Details follow: I will be "flipping the classroom", a teaching technique in which lectures are viewed on video outside of class while skill-training is done in class. Basically, most of the passive learning is moved out of the classroom, and much of the class time is spent actively engaged in the material. It is important that you evaluate early whether this approach is likely to work for you. Toward this end, it may help you to have a look at the "Course Expectations" website at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/expectMATH1271.html See also http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/learnstats.html MORE INFORMATION ON THE VIDEOS: The course website is http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ and I recommend looking over the "Class Diary" which is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html According to this Class Diary, by Wednesday 22 January, you'll need to have watched the videos for Topics 0010-0050. Also, by Friday 24 January, you'll need to have watched Topics 0060-0130 (except, possibly, Topics 0070 and 0100, which are optional). This totals 7.43 hours of videos. Most weeks will have a lot less, but, since there is no homework due in the first week, there is extra time put into videos. If you have time, you might want to watch some of these videos this week, just to get an early start. Links to the videos can be found at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/topicsMATH1271.html The syllabus is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf I look forward to seeing you in class on Wednesday the 22nd. Best, Scot *************************************************************************