| Course page: |
ON CAMPUS: http://www.math.fsu.edu/~mesterto/CalcIII.html (this
page)
OFF CAMPUS: http://www.math.fsu.edu.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/~mesterto/CalcIII.html (with your
FSUID username and password) |
| Professor: | Dr Mesterton-Gibbons, or Dr M-G for short |
| Office: | 202B Love
|
| Office hours: | Please click
here. Note that office
hours are primarily for personal matters that cannot be
addressed in class (as opposed to tutorial help, for
which see under Course format and
How to study below) |
| Phone: | (850 64) 42580
|
| Main website: |
Professor M-G's
Home Page Email: |
| Goal: | The purpose of this course is to introduce
multivariable calculus and some of its applications |
| Class meets: |
In 107 LOV, Mondays and Wednesdays 5:15 p.m.—6:05
p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:15 p.m.—6:30 p.m.
|
| Text: | Stewart,
Calculus: Early Transcendentals/Multivariable Calculus: Early
Transcendentals), 7th edition (Cengage, 2012, ISBN 978-1-285-15128-1/978-0-538-49787-4), Chapters 12-16 |
| Credit: | 5 semester hours |
| Eligibility: | Is your responsibility. You must
have the prerequisites listed below, and must never have completed with a
grade of C- or better a course for which MAC 2313 is a (stated or implied)
prerequisite. Moreover, if you have more than eight hours of prior credit
in college calculus, then you must reduce your credit for MAC 2313
accordingly |
| Prerequisites: |
| (i) | C- or better in MAC 2312 (Calculus with Analytic Geometry
II) or appropriate transfer credit (satisfactory completion of at least
eight hours of calculus courses equivalent to MAC 2311 and MAC
2312); and
|
| (ii) | self-motivation and industriousness |
| My philosophy of learning is perhaps best
expressed by the green curve in the diagram below: |
|
| |
ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS
PAIN
 |
For further details, please click here.
|
| Communication: |
I will send email to your FSU email account on a regular
basis. It is your responsibility to check it regularly (or arrange to
have my messages forwarded, if you prefer to read your email
elsewhere) |
| Your name: |
 |
| I don't
know who you are, but because everything works so much better
when I do, I would like to learn your name as soon as possible.
So, please take a sheet of card stock (or even paper), fold it
in half, write your name in large letters on one side and stand
it up on your desk so that I can see it. (Write what you want
me to call you: if you're a John who likes to be called Fred or
a Jane who likes to be called Sue, write Fred or Sue, not
John or Jane.) Please bring your nameplate to every class
until I have finally learnt your name (which will take
significantly longer than it used to take when I started
out) |
|
| Course format: | The course
will be based on 21 lectures interspersed by interactive problem
solving, on which we will spend much of our time. I will send you each
lecture as a PDF file as soon as possible after class. I may edit a
lecture at any time—in particular, if I discover an error during
class—but if so then I will email you a new PDF, and in any event
the most up-to-date version will always be posted here. The text will serve primarily as a source of
problems (though it will also be handy for its colored diagrams of
surfaces and as a reference). After each period I will set homework
for the following period, usually by email. Sometimes homework will
include reading the next lecture before we actually cover the material
in class. I will always assume that you have both read (not
necessarily understood) any assigned reading and have at least
attempted (not necessarily completed) a significant and representative
sample of any homework problems. Questions may be asked at any
time—and should be, if there's anything you don't understand.
(Perhaps you have a question that you anticipate being answered by one
or more of the problems we work together, in which case, it may well be
socially minded not to ask your question at the outset. However, if it
turns out that you anticipated incorrectly, then be sure to ask your
question before the
class is over!)
In particular, you should understand that the
purpose of the lectures is to introduce the essential material.
Their coverage is not exhaustive: some of the things I expect you to
know will be
introduced only when the need for them arises in a problem.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will attempt to
end the formal class period after 55-60 minutes so that the last 15-20
minutes can be devoted to individual tutorial help |
| Test format: | You must write your answers in black
or blue ink. If you make a mistake, just cross it out and
make a correction (a far more efficient process, by the way, than
erasing pencilling). Begin each question (but not subsequent parts of
the same question) on a fresh sheet of paper, use one side of the paper
only, and have your solutions stapled together in order at the end of
the examination (without the question sheet, which is yours to keep).
Please do not use dog ears; I will bring a stapler to the classroom.
Needless to say, your name must appear on Page 1 of your solutions (as
opposed to the question sheet, which you are keeping) |
| Calculator policy: |
You are allowed to use a Texas Instruments TI30XA Scientific
Calculator or a four-function calculator for classroom tests. The use
of any other calculator for a classroom test is strictly
forbidden |
| Grades: | Will be based on four classroom tests
(20% apiece) and a cumulative final examination (20%). Note that it is
not enough merely to produce an answer. The method by which you obtain
it must be sound, and clearly demonstrated: show all necessary steps in
your method, with enough comments and/or diagrams to convince me that
you thoroughly understand. Needless to say, clearly implies legibly.
Precise cut-off points for A, B and C will be
determined by the distribution of grades at the end of the semester,
but are likely be in the vicinity of (though perhaps lower than) 90%,
80% and 70%, respectively. In borderline cases of A versus B or B
versus C, a smaller number of completely correct solutions will carry
more weight than a proportionate number of fragmentary answers; later
test scores will carry more weight than earlier test scores; and a
record of active participation in class will carry more weight than a
record of passive attendance (in that order of relative importance
among these three factors). Likewise for borderline cases of C versus
D—but in addition, for a given points total, a smaller number of
minimally satisfactory solutions will carry more weight than a larger
number of lower scores. Plus or minus grades may (or may not)
be assigned
in a manner consistent with standard University practice.
Please note that partial credit will be awarded
only when part of a solution is completely correct—not when all of
a solution is partially correct, whatever that means, if anything.
Also note that a grade of I will not be given to avoid a grade of F or
to give additional study time. Failure to process a course drop will
result in a course grade of F |
| Scores: | A score for a question worth 10
points should be interpreted as follows:
| 10 |
Practically perfect |
9 |
Still very good, but
lacking—or wrong about—a significant detail |
| 8 |
Still good, but lacking—or
wrong about—significant details |
| 7 |
Minimally satisfactory. You
have—just—managed to demonstrate that you basically
understand and are at least capable of getting all details correct
(although it clearly did not happen this time) |
| 6 |
A grade that will not be given |
| 5 |
Half right in some appropriate sense
(e.g., there were two parts, each worth 5 points, and your first part
was practically perfect) |
| 1-4 |
Not even half right and showing
little understanding, but some degree of positive effort |
| 0 |
Zero effort, or submitted in pencil |
|
| Test solutions: |
Will always be posted online posted here (along with the test itself). There
are two advantages. First, online solutions make grading far more
efficient: instead of writing the same corrections on numerous
manuscripts, I simply identify the point(s) at which a solution goes
awry. Second, the online tests and solutions together form a test bank
for use by students in future years (all accessible to you from the top of this page). I caution you, however:
never read my solution to a problem until first of all you have
seriously attempted the problem yourself. If you have at least
made a serious (and I do mean serious) attempt, then—even if you
were unable to complete the problem yourself—you will benefit from
reading my solution to it; if not, then not (rather, you will merely
form a false impression of how well you understand ... as indicated by
the above learning-versus-pain diagram) |
| Attendance policy: | You are expected to attend class
regularly, and bear the full responsibility for learning anything
covered during any class that you miss. On the other hand, it would
be extremely anti-social to attend class if you either have, or are
coming down with, a contagious disease. So please keep me apprised
(by email) of any illness or other emergency, so that I can make any
necessary adjustments (and please make friends within the class as
soon as possible if you haven't done so already, so that there is
someone you can call upon to borrow notes if the need should
arise) |
| Exam policy: | No makeup exams. An absence may be
excused given sufficient evidence of exceptional or extenuating
circumstances (in which case, extra weight will be attached to the
other exams). But you must either have discussed the matter with me
(well) in advance; or, in the case of illness, have brought me a note
from a physician explicitly stating that you were too ill to attend
class on the day in question. An unexcused absence will result in a
grade of zero |
| Etiquette: |
You are firmly bound by Florida State University's Academic Honor Code. Briefly, you have the
responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in
your own work, to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity
in the University community, and to foster a high sense of integrity
and social responsibility on the part of the University community. Even
more briefly, you must neither cheat nor enable others to cheat. The
penalties for violations can be severe. Please carefully read the
section in the FSU Student Handbook on the Honor Code and official
procedures for dealing with students who violate it. If you are in any
doubt at all as to what constitutes acceptable behavior in this regard,
you should ask me for clarification.
You are also bound by the ordinary rules and
customs of polite behavior that prevail in a civilized society. I
assume that you know these rules and customs, and I expect you to
comply with them. (In particular, you are not allowed to use a cell
phone or otherwise have private conversations with others during
class.) |
| Probable test dates: | Thursday,
September 22
Tuesday,
October 18
Thursday, November 10
Tuesday,
December 6 |
| Final: | Wednesday, December 14, 5:30—7:30
p.m. in 107 LOV |
| How to study: |
There is a lot of material to be covered in this course, so it is
important that you keep up from the very beginning, always attempting
as many as possible (or as necessary) of the homework problems. If you
get stuck, then send me a question by email. As soon as I possibly can,
which might be as soon as within half an hour, but might also be a day
or two later (I have a life, too, you know), I will reply—not to
you, but rather to the class alias (after carefully concealing your
identity, just in case you are inexplicably bashful about being
perceived as smart enough to ask a question).
Note, however, the following. First, you must
identify yourself (i.e., you remain anonymous to the other students in
the class, but not to me) in the body of your message (because
your username does not identify you to me, and I don't reply to anonymous
email). Second, you should be as specific as possible in describing your
difficulty: the more precisely you identify how you got stuck, the more
helpful my reply is likely to be |
| Disabilities: | If you have a disability requiring
academic accommodations, then not only should you register with the Student
Disability Resource Center (SDRC),
but also you should bring me written confirmation from SDRC during the
first week of class. This and other class materials are available in
alternative format upon request. |
This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format
upon request.
For more information about services available to FSU students with
disabilities, contact the:
On-campus tutoring and writing assistance is available for many courses at
Florida State University. For more information, visit the Academic Center
for Excellence (ACE) Tutoring Services' comprehensive list of on-campus
tutoring options—see http://ace.fsu.edu.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/tutoring or contact
tutor@fsu.edu.
High-quality tutoring is available by appointment and on a walk-in basis.
These services are offered by tutors trained to encourage the highest level
of individual academic success while upholding personal academic integrity.
Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the
evaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and
is subject to change with advance notice.