Math 131 FAQ

1. How can I use my TI-89 calculator?

Below is a list of some of the basic calculator skills that are either essential or very useful for Math 131. You may not yet understand what all these skills mean, since some involve concepts yet to be taught in the course. For help, in the first instance consult the manual for your calculator, or ask other students. Try the on-line TI-89 tutorial if you’re using a TI-89 or TI-89 Titanium. Or ask your professor or TA for help; be sure to bring the manual with you, especially if you’re not using the recommended calculator. Basic calculator skills: set or reset the calculator mode to use radians; set or reset the mode to use floating point display and to increase the number of display digits; evaluate a function at a numerical input; evaluate a function at a symbolic input, e.g., evaluate f(2 + h) in terms of h if f(x) = e2x + cos (x3 + 5x); find the roots (zeros) of a polynomial; more generally… solve an equation (numerically, in case the calculator cannot solve it symbolically in exact form); graph a function within a window, as given by an x-interval and a y-interval; locate the “local minima” (valley bottoms) and “local maxima” (mountain tops) on the graph of a function; calculate the derivative of a function symbolically; graph together both a given function and its derivative; calculate Riemann sums of a function on an interval (see example here); find the exact value of a definite integral (blue integral sign key or integrate function, on Calc menu); approximate the value of a definite integral (nInt function, on Calc menu)

2. How grades are calculated?

	A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D F 90 87 83 79 75 71 67 63 59 55 <55

	Example calculation of a course grade Example 1: Standard method

	Score Weight Net score Exam 1 83 20% 16 Exam 2 78 20% 15.6 Final Exam 61 25% 15.25 The average of In-class team quizzes 100 10% 10 The average of In-discussion quizzes 100 10% 10 Homewok total percentage 70 15% 10.5     Total score 77.35     Grade B–

3. When is homework due?

Homework due dates for your lecture section will be posted in WebAssign.

4. How can I log in to WebAssign?

The following is the standard procedure. your instructor may use another version of this procedure. If there is any problem contact the instructor. On the log-in page of http://webassign.net/, give your…

	Username:  your UMass Student ID number
	Institution: umass
	Password: initially, your UMass Student ID number (change it as soon as possible, and make it something you'll remember but others won't be able to figure out!)

5. When do I need ACCESS CODE?

Two weeks after the semester’s start, you will need to enter your WebAssign access code when you log in.

6. Where can I get my access code?

You get this access code when you buy the textbook + WebAssign package. If you didn't buy the package, you may buy an access code from the WebAssign site. for more details, you may see https://www.cengage.com/coursepages/UMass_MATH131.

7. Why do we use WebAssign?

In Math 131 we are using this on-line homework system, rather than written homework, because:

	you receive immediate feedback;
	you have multiple chances to get your answers correct;
	you won’t have to wait for a week or more for a human grader to return written homework papers; and
	you can work interactive tutorials in many assignments; and
	using WebAssign increases exam scores significantly!

 RELATION of WebAssign ASSIGNEMENTS, EXAMS and QUIZZES. WebAssign assignments are based upon problems and examples from the text, sometimes modified to fit the WebAssign format. Most WebAssign problems are “parameterized”, so that different students get different versions of the problem.

Most WebAssign problems are fill-in-the-blank, where you just supply the answer, and a few are multiple-choice. On exams, by contrast, you are expected to write out your solution in an organized fashion and show all the relevant work. The paper-and-pencil quizzes given in most lecture sections will provide practice with, and feedback on, writing out solutions.

8. How to Improve the Correct Rate of Homework?

For general homework questions (not including multiple choice questions), you may have 5 attempts, but don't use all of attempts, if you have already tried three times, you should stop, and drop ny Calculus Tutoring Center to ask for help. Otherwise you may lose the points if you have used all of attempts. For multiple choice questions, you may have only one attempt, if you are not sure, please drop by Calculus Tutoring Center for help.  

Normally, I leave one week period for you to complete a section homework, there is no extension after that. You should log on webassign to check the due dates, and complete the homework in time. Be sure to start a homework as early as possible, don’t push a homework to the last minutes, you can not finish a homework in a short time.

9. How to contact your instructor about unexpected absence?

To contact your Math 131 instructor to give prior notice of an unexpected absence from an exam or other class activity, you may:

	see your instructor at a class meeting; or
	go to your instructor’s office hours; or
	phone or e-mail your instructor (contact information is on the Office Hours page at the Mathematics and Statistics Department web site www.math.umass.edu); or
	leave a message in your instructor’s mailbox in LGRT 1623D; or
	phone the Mathematics and Statistics Department at 545-2762 or, when there is no answer outside business hours, leave voice mail at the department number 545-4499; or
	use one of the methods above to contact your TA.

If due to the nature of the emergency you yourself are unable to make contact by one of these methods, ask a friend or family member to do it for you.

Your instructor will make the final determination as to the validity of the reason for missing work, as well as how you should make up the work.

10. What to do if you are prevented from taking an exam?

See the course web for the exam make-up policy .Note that make-ups cannot be given just to accommodate travel plans.

11. What to do if you miss class when a quiz is given or homework is due?

Consult the policy provided by the instructor of your own section of Math 131.

12. Where to find Calculus links?

How to calculate a derivative symbolically for your examples, done live and step-by-step (from calc101.com).  Try first the stored examples, then your own.

Applets about meaning of the derivative as a slope, and relations between the graph of a function and the graph of its derivative (from Maths online)

Applets on limits and derivatives (from Internation Education Software).

Calculus on the Web (COW) Internet library for learning calculus.

An applet from MIT that explains Newton’s method graphically.

The Connected Curriculum Project: modules in calculus from Duke University and Montana State University (the latter developed by Frank Wattenberg, formerly of UMass).  Many of these modules presume use of a “computer algebra system” such as Mathematica or Maple, but for some a graphing calculator will suffice.  Lots of connections of calculus to the “real world” here.

Index of online calculus resources (from the Math Forum)

There are some single-variable calculus interactive materials from the Journal of Online Mathematics and Its Applications at “MathDL”, the Mathematical Sciences Digital Library.