João Pedro Boavida

Grades Out

As you know from my email, I've just posted the grades. As explained in the syllabus, I cannot return the finals to you. However, you may review them within the next year, if you wish to.

In our section, the average score on the final was 155/200 (B-). The middle 50% of scores on the final ranged from 138/200 (C) to 182/200 (A).

As to overall scores, the average was 518/650. The middle 50% of overall scores ranged from 474/650 to 609/650.

This is the last post. Have a great Fall!

Final Reminder

Our final is this Friday, August 8, during class (9:05 to 11), in MechE 108 (our usual Tuesday and Thursday room). The office hour before will be in that room too.

Fifth Test Report

We had our fifth test yesterday. Today I gave you the fifth test answer key. The scores are available on WebVista.

The results were good, but we need better than that on the final. The average was 39/50, and the middle 50% of scores ranged from 35 to 46.

Under Midterm, you'll find the combined score for all 5 tests (if you missed one of them, I just added the other four test scores). The average is 157/200, and the middle 50% of scores range from 142 to 184.

Under Homework, you'll find the current homework total (ignoring dropped scores). The current average is 199/240, and the middle 50% of scores tange from 180 to 229.

Under Up to T5/450, you'll find the current total score (missing only the last homework assignment and the final). The current average is 366/450, and the middle 50% of scores range from 320 to 411.

All in all, I'd say that scores below 300 are risky, and scores over 400 are pretty good. I expect to have more statistics tomorrow.

Tomorrow we'll resume our review for the final. I'd suggest you look at all tests, question by question, to identify weak points.

Review Week Plan

As I mentioned today, here's my plan of what topics and review problems to discuss next week:

• 4: mostly applications of derivatives (related rates, optimization, etc.), roughly problems 19–45;
• 5: Q&A and test;
• 6: mostly differentiation rules and limits, roughly problems 1–18;
• 7: mostly integrals, roughly problems 46–66;
• 8: final.

My idea is that before each class people prepare questions about the day's topic. We can discussed other topics too, but the day's topic would have priority.

Information About Test 5

As you know, our fifth (and last!) test is this coming Tuesday, August 5.

These are the questions:

1. area (§6.1), 6 points;
2. volume (§6.2 and §6.3), 6+6 points;
3. integration by substitution (§5.5), 6 points;
4. limits (§2.3, §2.6, or §4.4), 5 points;
5. tangent lines, 5 points;
6. graphing (§4.3), 6 points.
7. related rates (§3.9), 5 points;
8. optimization (§4.7), 5 points.

You may want to try last Summer's fifth midterm. Give yourself 50 minutes without interruptions (if 50 minutes are not enough, make a note of how much you got done, but finish the test). At the end compare your answers with the answer key. Notice that last year's test didn't quite cover the same topics, and the difficulty may be vary from question to question.

If you really want more practice material, and if you have already worked through the review problems, then you may want to look at our previous tests, as well as my tests from previous Summers (check the Summer 2007 and Summer 2006 pages). But I don't think you need to do that much.

Approximate Plan

This is the approximate plan for the next few days:

• 25, 28, 29: volumes (§6.2 and §6.3);
• 30: review integrals (chapters 5 and 6);
• 31: review differentiation rules and limits (chapters 3 and 2);
• 1: review applications of derivatives (chapter 4);
• 4: start review for the final (more details later);
• 5: Q&A and test.

Fourth Test Report

We had our fourth test yesterday. Today I gave you the fourth test answer key.

The results were good. The average was 38/50, and the middle 50% of scores ranged from 35 to 45. If you had less than 30, you need to do something about it. If you had more than 40, you have nothing to worry about.

As to the total test score (all four tests, with the lowest score counting only 50%, and counting only people who took all four tests), the average is 146/175, with the middle 50% of scores ranging from 134 to 162. If you had less than 110, you must do something. If you had more than 160, you have nothing to worry about.

I've posted the scores in WebVista. There you will find an entry named Up to T4/355. This includes the syllabus quiz, the top 17 homework assignments, and the test score (with the lowest counting only 50%). Again, counting only people who took all tests, the average was 312/255, with the middle 50% of scores ranging from 297 to 341. If you have less than 230, you need to do something. If you have more than 330, you have nothing to worry about.

Information About Test 4

As you know, our fourth test is this coming Thursday, July 24.

These are the questions:

1. two integrals (§5.1, §5.3), 5+5 points;
2. one integral by substitution (§5.5), 6 points;
3. one anti-derivative (§4.9), 6 points;
4. fundamental theorem (§5.3), 5 points;
5. area (§6.1), 6 points;
6. related rates (§3.9), 6 points;
7. optimization (§4.7), 5 points;
8. graphing (§4.3), 6 points.

For preparation, look at the warm-up recommendations in reading guide 6.

You may want to try last Summer's fourth midterm. Give yourself 50 minutes without interruptions (if 50 minutes are not enough, make a note of how much you got done, but finish the test). At the end compare your answers with the answer key. Notice that last year's test didn't quite cover the same topics.

Approximate Plan

This is the approximate plan up to the next test:

• 18: review integrals (§5.1, §5.2), fundamental theorem of calculus (§5.3);
• 21: fundamental theorem (§5.4), u-substitution (§5.5);
• 22: areas (§6.1), preview of volumes (maybe), start review;
• 23: review;
• 24: Q&A and test.

Third Test Report

We had our third test yesterday. Today I gave you the third test answer key.

The results were lower than the last times: the average was 28/50, and the middle 50% of scores ranged from 22 to 38. If you had less than 20, you definitely need to do something. If you had about 30 or so, things are mostly fine. If you had 35 or more, you have nothing to worry about.

As to the total test score (all three tests, and counting only people who took all three of them), the average is 114/150. The middle 50% of scores range from 111 to 133. If you have less than 90, you most definitely need to work more. If you have about 110 or so, things are mostly fine. If you have 120 or more, you have nothing to worry about.

I have posted the scores into WebVista. There you will also find a total score so far, labeled Up to T3/300. This was obtained by adding the syllabus quiz, the top 14 homework scores, and the three tests. Counting only people who took all three tests, the median is 255/300, and the middle 50% of scores range from 239 to 279. If you have less than 200, you need to do something. If you have 270 or more, you have nothing to worry about.

If you take these three numbers into account, you may find cause for concern in some and not in others. That will suggest what weaknesses should be addressed. For example, some people are doing a very good job on the tests, but not so good overall, due to skipping too much homework (thus pulling the total score down). In general, homework scores tend to be higher. So, if your test scores account for more than half of the total score, it means that missing or poor homework is pulling your score down a lot.

As always, if you have any concerns about how you are doing, don't hesitate to get in touch!

Information About Test 3

As you know, our third test is this coming Thursday, July 17.

These are the questions:

1. two limits (§4.4), 5+5 points;
2. related rates (§3.9), 6 points;
3. implicit differentiation (§3.5), 5 points;
4. optimization (§4.7), 5 points;
5. linearization (§3.10), 6 points;
6. graphing (§4.5), 6 points;
7. intermediate value theorem and mean value theorem (§4.2), 3 points;
8. graphing, 4 points;
9. chain rule (§3.4), 5 points.

For preparation, look at the warm-up recommendations in reading guide 5.

You may want to try last Summer's third midterm. Give yourself 50 minutes without interruptions (if 50 minutes are not enough, make a note of how much you got done, but finish the test). At the end compare your answers with the answer key.

Notice that last year's test didn't quite cover the same topics (in particular, it didn't cover linearization and mean value theorem). For those, you'll have to rely on the reading guide.

Also, in case you want to practice with more old tests, you may want to take a look at my Summer 2006 page. I'd say that the midterm (posted on July 13) would be the closest to our current discussion topics.

Approximate Plan

This is the approximate plan up to the next test:

• 9: implicit differentiation (§3.5), derivatives of logarithms (§3.6), exponential growth (§3.8);
• 10, 11: related rates (§3.9), more limits (§4.4);
• 14, 15: linear approximation (§3.10), mean value theorem (§4.2), Newton's method (§4.8);
• 16: review, drill, etc.;
• 17: Q&A and test.

Second Test Report

We had our second test yesterday. Today I gave you the second test answer key.

The results were similar to the first test: the average was 40/50, and the middle 50% of scores ranged from 38 to 47.

If you had less than 30, you definitely need to do something. If you had about 35 or so, things are mostly fine. If you had 40 or more, you have nothing to worry about.

One word of caution though: don't forget the homework counts for a lot of the score. Even a few missed assignments (beyond the dropped ones) have an impact on your overall grade.

As always, if you have any concerns about how you are doing, don't hesitate to get in touch!

Information about Test 2

As you know, we have our second test this coming Tuesday, July 8.

The test will have the following questions:

1. two limits (§2.3), 5+5 points;
2. one limit at infinity (§2.6), 4 points;
3. one stand-alone derivative, 4 points;
4. one anti-derivative, 4 points;
5. equation of a tangent line, 6 points;
6. intermediate value theorem (§2.5), 4 points;
7. optimization (§4.7), 9 points;
8. graphing (§4.5), 9 points.

All derivatives involved can be done with the rules from §3.1, §3.2 or §3.3. In the graphing problem you'll specifically be told which features to show (for example, you could be asked to do increase and decrease, but not concavity).

The homework due Monday includes review questions for the test.

You may want to try last Summer's second midterm. However, keep in mind that it didn't cover quite the same topics and that some questions may be harder or easier than the ones on our test. Give yourself 50 minutes without interruptions (if 50 minutes are not enough, make a note of how much you got done, but finish the test). At the end compare your answers with the answer key.

Approximate Plan

This is the approximate plan up to the next test:

• 25: limits not at infinity (§2.3);
• 26: wrap-up §2.3, continuity (§2.5);
• 27: limits at infinity (§2.6);
• 30, 1, 2: how to calculate derivatives (§3.1–3), and applications to graphing (§4.5) and optimization (§4.7);
• 3: chain rule (§3.4) and more examples and applications;
• 7: review, drill, etc.;
• 8: Q&A and test.

First Test Report

Today we had our first test. I also gave you a copy of the first test answer key (note that the typo in answer 3 was fixed).

The results were pretty good: the average was 42/50, and the middle 50% of scores ranged from 40 to 48. If you had about 20, you really need to do something about it. If you had about 35, you need to take care of a few things, but you're mostly fine. If you had about 40 or more you have nothing to worry about.

If you are concerned about how well you did, don't hesitate to get in touch!

First Test

As you know, our first test is on Tuesday, June 24. On Monday we'll do an overview of what we've done so far. On Tuesday, the first half will be a Q&A session, and we'll take the test on the second half.

The test will have nine questions (five are setting up word problems and four are sketching curves from their descriptions).

You may want to try last Summer's first midterm. Give yourself 50 minutes without interruptions (if 50 minutes are not enough, make a note of how much you got done, but finish the test). At the end compare your answers with the answer key.

If you your algebra is shaky, take a look at the (free) algebra review they have on the textbook's website.

Syllabus & WebVista

I've just posted the syllabus. The course will be very similar to last Summer's. The schedule will be somewhat different, and the homework policy is not quite the same.

You will receive a copy of the syllabus in class on Monday.

We will have a modest WebVista site for the course. To get to it, go to myU and choose the myCourses tab. Look for the MATH 1271 section, and there should be a link there (something including “WebVista” in the link name). It could take a day or so to appear.

To find more about WebVista, go to the student support site, where they have an online tutorial and more information. If you have difficulties logging in, let me know.

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to email me.

Room Changes

In case you are wondering what is our classroom after all, this is the correct information:

• M/W/F we will meet in MurH 214;
• T/Th and August 8 we will meet in MechE 108.

Class Information

This will be the page for MATH 1271, Calculus I, Summer 2008, Section 001. Announcements will be posted here.

The course will be similar to what I did last Summer. However, I'm still playing with a couple of suggestions from the end-of-term surveys. So, it's possible that I'll change the homework setup and the scoring structure a little bit. Also, I will not follow the same schedule (though it will be similar).

Note that the textbook edition is not the same as last year.

If you want to see how I ran this class over the last two Summers, take a look at my 1271 page for Summer 2007 and my 1271 page for Summer 2006.

I expect to post complete details sometime next week.