| Professor: | Dr M-G
|
| Office: | 202B Love
|
| Office hours: |
Please click here.
Office hours are subject to change during the semester
at 24 hours notice, but current times are always posted
online. Note that office hours are for personal matters
that cannot be addressed in class. They are not
intended for tutorial help (for which proceed as
described below under How to
study) |
| Phone: | (850 64) 42580
|
| Email: | mmestert@mailer.fsu.edu
|
| Web site: | http://www.math.fsu.edu/~mm-g |
| Goal: | The purpose of this course is to introduce
multivariable calculus and some of its applications |
| Course
page: | http://www.math.fsu.edu/~mm-g/CalcIII.html (this
page—but
obviously, if you are reading a hard copy of it, then you won't be able to
activate the links until you go online) |
| Class meets: | In 102 LOV,
Mondays and Wednesdays 1:25 p.m.—2:15 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00 p.m.—3:15 p.m.
|
| Text: | Hughes-Hallett et al,
Calculus: Single and Multivariable, 3nd edition
(Wiley, 2002), Chapters 12-20 |
| 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 & MAC
2312); and
|
| (ii) | self-motivation and industriousness. Dr
M-G's philosophy
of learning is perhaps best expressed by the following
diagram: |
|
| | 
For further details, please click here. |
| Communication: | It is your responsibility to
register here for a
(free) FSU computer account so that I can send you email, which you are
expected to check regularly. If you prefer to read your email elsewhere
then you can arrange to have messages
forwarded, but you must still obtain an FSU account in the first
instance |
| 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. Please take a sheet of paper, fold it in half, write
your first name in large letters on one side and stand it up on your desk
so that I can see it. (Write whatever you want me to call you—if
you're a William who likes to be called Dubya, write Dubya, not William.)
Please bring your name plate 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 your reading of eighteen
lectures (all available online) interspersed by much interactive
problem solving (on which we'll spend most of our time). The text will
serve primarily as a source of problems. After each period I will set
homework for the following period (at the end of class or by email). In
class, I will always assume that you have both read (not necessarily
understood) any assigned readings and at least attempted (not
necessarily completed) a significant and representative sample of the
homework problems. Questions may be asked at any time (and should be,
if there's anything you don't understand).
For example, your homework for Monday, January
6 is to (download and) read the first two lectures, namely, Cartesian
coordinates in three dimensions and Surfaces as
graphs. Contour maps, and to calculate the surface area of
the trough of water defined at the end of Lecture 2. (This problem is
basically a Calculus II problem, so it will serve as an excellent
review exercise.) When we meet for class on Tuesday, January 7, I will
assume that you have read both lectures and have the gumption to
ask about anything you didn't understand (because all I will do in
class—before moving on to solving problems—is to summarize
key points to jog your memory, then ask you if you have any
questions).
You should understand that the purpose of the
eighteen 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. |
| Test Format: |
For a classroom test, 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 (do NOT use dog ears). Similarly for the
assignment. (Not owning a stapler is no excuse: I will bring a stapler
to every test, and for the assignment you can borrow the stapler in 208
Love.) Needless to say, in either case, your name must appear legibly
on Page 1 |
| Calculator policy: |
You are allowed to use a TI-30Xa 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 three classroom tests
(15% each), a written assignment (15%) and a cumulative final
examination (40%). Note that quality of presentation is extremely
important. It is not enough merely to produce an answer: the method by
which you obtain it must be sound, and you must clearly demonstrate that
you understand it. Therefore, there will be penalties (commensurate with
degree of infraction) for bad presentation—which includes bad grammar,
illegibility, incompleteness, incoherence and untidiness—especially on
the written assignment. Even on a classroom test, however, you must show
all necessary steps in your method, with enough comments and/or diagrams to
convince me that you thoroughly understand.
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 90%, 80% and 70%, respectively. In
borderline cases, 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). Plus or minus grades may 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,
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 |
| Test solutions: |
Will always be posted online (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. 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 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 |
| Exam policy: |
No makeup exams. An absence may be excused given sufficient
evidence of 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 have private conversations with others during class.) |
| Probable test dates: | Tuesday,
January 28
Tuesday,
February 25
Tuesday,
April 15 |
| Assignment: |
The assignment will be set soon after Spring Break, and will be due
within at most 10 days; probable dates are March 17-27. Needless to
say, the assignment must be turned in on time (otherwise, the normal
result will be a grade of zero) |
| Final: | Friday, May 2, 10:00
a.m.—12:00 noon in 102
LOV |
| How to study: |
There is a huge amount 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 of the homework problems. I encourage
you to form a homework study group with others in the class. But meet
only after each of you individually has attempted at least some of the
problems. If you get stuck, you may find that the Math Help Center can
offer limited help (i.e., some, but not all, of the staffers can help
with Calculus III: opening hours will be posted here as soon as
they are known).
Alternatively—and, subject to certain
constraints (see below), preferably—send me your question by
email. As soon as I possibly can, which might be as soon as within half
an hour, but might also be as late as a few days 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). Often my email will just be a short message to the effect
that a reply has been posted here
The constraints are as follows. First, you must
identify yourself (i.e., you remain anonymous to the other students in
the class, but not to me). Second, if you even hope for a relatively
rapid response, then your question must be self-contained: in
particular, do not refer to the text (because I always leave it at the
office, and you almost always ask your questions when I'm at home).
Third, and most important of all, 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. By far and away the
best way to be as specific as possible is to scan your attempt at the
problem into your computer and send it to me by email; I then have the
option of posting an annotated version of your solution (after, of
course, removing any instances of your name), either alone or in
conjunction with a solution of my own.
Needless to say, if you find yourself unable to
abide by these constraints, then you must either use the Math Help
Center or wait to ask a question in class |
| 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. |