Math 139B: Integrated PreCalculus / Calculus
January 2009
Instructor: Jeff Miller, Office: 112 Science, Phone: 907-4845
Email: jmiller@whittier.edu
Class Meetings: MTWR 10:00 – 1:00, in Science 102
Office Hours: Daily after class until 2:30. Come by any time I’m around as well.
CAS Tutor Hours: TBA
Text: Stewart: Calculus: Concepts and Contexts. 3rd Edition.
Material Covered: Through Section 5.2 of the text.
Grading: Grades will be based on the following breakdown:
Homework: 25% Daily Quizzes: 20% 2 Exams: 25% each
In Class Problem Presentation: 5%
Don’t ask about a curve … there isn’t one. I typically assign letter grades
by 10% groupings…. 90% - 100% earns an A, 80% - 90% earns a B, and
so on. Sometimes at the end of the semester I adjust this slightly. I
typically grade not from the total possible, but the highest score from the
class. I also reserve the right, in extremely rare cases, to throw the
formulas out the window and assign any letter grade I feel appropriate.
This comes in handy in cases of cheating, medical or family emergencies,
or other extreme circumstances.
Exams: Two exams: i) End of the second week, ii) The last day of the course.
These will be similar to the 139A exams in form, including MAPLE
questions. Again, these will generally be “no notes, no calculator” exams.
I’ll set aside about an hour at the end of class for each exam. As with all
Math classes, the exams will be cumulative to some extent; but I won’t go
out of my way to make them more so than they need to be.
Homework: Cram all you want for exams … if you don’t do the homework, you’ll do
poorly on exams, and your grade will be dismal. Homework will be due
on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the start of class. Start it early, and get
help as needed …. early. Important: To receive full credit, homework
must be neat, legible, stapled, with no “ripped out of a spiral notebook
confetti” on the left side. It must be turned in on time. Late homework
will only be accepted with a substantial penalty (usually 20% per day) and
ONLY until solutions are discussed in class or posted on the web. Believe
it or not, this isn’t to hurt you … it’s to save you from the tendency to fall
