Math 221-H Section 01
Spring 2007

Course webpage: http://www.math.tulane.edu/~tamdeberhan/math221spring07.html

Instructor: Tewodros Amdeberhan

Course content: This course studies functions of several variables, concretely focusing on those of two or three variables where we can use our geometric intuition to understand the situation more clearly. The focus of the course is to understand what it means to differentiate and integrate functions of several variables and to generalize the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to functions of several variables. The course will focus on both theoretical understanding of the concepts involved and application of the concepts to solve concrete problems.

Textbook: Calculus: Early Transcendentals, by Ian Stewart, Fifth edition. We will cover Chapters 12-16 in the book, omitting a few sections due to time constraints.

Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class meetings.

Exams: There will be three in-class exams during the semester, each of which will be weighted 15% toward your final grade. They are scheduled for Tuesday February 6 (covering Chapters 12 and 13); Tuesday TBA (covering Chapter 14); and Tuesday TBA (covering Chapter 15). (I will make an announcement the dates for the latter two, in class.)

Final Exam: The final exam will take place on Friday, May 4 from 8:00 AM until 12:00 PM in a location that will be announced at the end of the semester. You must take the final exam at the scheduled time. The final exam will be weighted as 35% of your final grade. The final exam will be cumulative, but it will be weighted heavily toward Chapter 16, which will comprise roughly 60% of the exam.

Homework: Weekly homework assignments are an essential part of the course. They are collected at the beginning of each recitation meeting. Each week the TA will grade each homework assignment (usually around 5), and this will be weighted as 10% of your grade. The weekly assignments are given below.

Quizzes: Each Tuesday during recitation, a short (15-20 minute) quiz will be administered, based on the homework assignment that was due that day. Clearly, no quiz on an exam day. These quizzes will be weighted as 10% of your final grade.

Recitation meetings: During recitation meetings, you will have the opportunity to go over homework problems and other questions you have regarding the material covered in the past week with the TA, Ms Marian Hernandez –Viera. During recitation, a short quiz will be administered based on the homework problems due that week.

A note on grading: The above weighting of the homework, quizzes, in-class exams, and final exams is only approximate. I will also use my judgment of your improvement through the semester and your effort to seek extra help on material you are struggling with to adjust your grade up or down as appropriate.

Academic honesty: All students are expected to comply with the Honor Code of the Liberal Arts and Sciences. I take academic honesty very seriously and will take appropriate steps regarding all perceived violations.

Additional resources: If you are having trouble with material in the course (and given the difficulty of the material we cover, don't be surprised if you do), please come see me or Ms. Hernandez during office hours or set up an appointment to meet at a different time. We are here to help! In addition, the tutoring center offers help for students taking Math 221. Consult their webpage for their schedule of services and contact information. Finally, the mathematics department runs a help desk on Mondays through Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30 in Dinwiddie, with graduate students on hand to assist students in any calculus course.

Calculator policy: Calculators that do not have the capability of performing symbolic algebra calculations are perfectly acceptable for use in the course on homeworks and quizzes. Be forewarned, however, that my fellow Math 221 instructors and I reserve the right to disallow the use of calculators for any tests if we feel that is appropriate. Use a calculator to speed up the rate at which you do calculations, but remember that a calculator is useless if you don't have sufficient conceptual mastery of the material to perform the right computations with your calculator.

A final word: This course is extremely challenging and will require a lot of effort on your part. If you don't regularly set aside time to study your notes, read the text, and do the homework problems, you will struggle in this course. There are ample resources available for you to succeed in this course, as long as you are willing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears to succeed.

Homework assignments and exam dates: