************************************************************************* date: Mon, Dec 9, 2013 at 12:55 PM subject: Time, date and location of final exam To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Our final exam is 1:30pm-4:30pm on Friday 13 December. Room assignments just came out. Find your TA's name below: ------------- Amit Sharma's students go to Fraser 101. ------------- Ashley Earl's 10:10am students go to Fraser 101. Ashley Earl's 11:15am students go to Fraser 102. ------------- Madeline Handschy's students go to Fraser 102. ------------- Thomas Edward's students go to Fraser 101. ------------- Alice Nadeau's students go to Nicholson 155. ------------- Matthew Voight's 1:25pm students go to Nicholson 155. Matthew Voight's 2:30pm students go to Nicholson 275. ------------- Benjamin Strasser's students go to Nicholson 275. ------------- - Scot WARNING: In the preceding message ... ... when I said Ashley Earl's 10:10am students I meant those of her students whose TuTh recitation starts at 10:10am. This does not refer to a MWF lecture time. ... when I said Ashley Earl's 11:15am students I meant those of her students whose TuTh recitation starts at 11:15am. This does not refer to a MWF lecture time. ... when I said Matthew Voight's 1:25pm students I meant those of his students whose TuTh recitation starts at 1:25pm. This does not refer to a MWF lecture time. ... when I said Matthew Voight's 2:30pm students I meant those of his students whose TuTh recitation starts at 2:30pm. This does not refer to a MWF lecture time. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 3:04 PM subject: We will have class on Wednesday 27 November FYI: We will have class on Wednesday 27 November, the day before Thanksgiving. ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 4:14 PM subject: Midterm 2 and Final Exam prep Midterm 2 (all four versions) and solutions to Midterm 2 (all four versions) are all posted. Grade lines are also posted. I plan to start reviewing for the final exam this Friday, the 22nd. I'll plan to go through the posted exams at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/SampFinals/ Note that this website has the exams both with and without solutions. I'll work in reverse chronological order, starting with Spring 2008. (I'll also be doing some lecturing, and giving occasional clicker quizzes.) You may want to try working problems from the Spring 2008 exam to get ready for these preparation sessions, but keep in mind that it's not until the end of next week that you're scheduled to finish watching the videos. So there's a chance that some problems may require material in videos you haven't yet seen. As I go through the problems, if I come to one that requires knowledge from future videos, I'll plan to explain that material as part of solving the problem. Don't hesitate to ask questions -- these review sessions aren't for me, they're for you! I should also say that, if you've been following my "look ahead" work in class, then you should be ready for the problems you'll see on the posted final exams. I think, after tomorrow, we'll have at least discussed most everything you'll need. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 3:56 PM subject: Going over old versions of Midterm 2 To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: On Monday and Wednesday, in class, I plan to look at the archived versions of Midterm 2. I'll start with Version A of Midterm 2 from the Spring 2013 archive, and will continue to Version A of Midterm 2 from the Fall 2012 archive. If I have time, I'll go on to Version A of Midterm 2 from the Spring 2012 archive. All these archives are linked from the right column of http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ If you can find time, it would be a great idea to work through these archived midterms *before* I go over them in class. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 8:12 AM subject: Gateway progress report To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Currently 34 of our students have not passed Gateway and, of those, 14 have yet to post a positive score. (I expect that most of the 14 have not yet made a attempt at Gateway, but I haven't checked that yet.) These are the end days! If you're having difficulty, it's very important not to miss another opportunity to take the test. If you're having difficulty, please come to see me. (Bring a hard copy of your latest attempt, with previews.) The test closes at the end of the day tomorrow (Friday 25 October) and, on Monday, those who have not passed will have their Moodle exam scores set to 0, and will be advised to drop the course. If they don't drop, they'll, unfortunately, receive a failing grade for the course. Please take this seriously. If you haven't yet taken Gateway, start right NOW. Point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/gatewayMATH1271.html to begin. Come and see me if you have trouble. My office hours are posted on the syllabus http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 7:50 AM subject: Gateway progress update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: At this point 66 students have not yet passed Gateway and 25 students have not yet posted a nonzero score. Those numbers are down from 100 and 32 yesterday morning, so that's good progress, but we only have two days left, and I'm now expecting that a few students (particularly among the 25) will need to drop the course or fail. I'm sure this can be frustrating, but keep in mind that, if you can't differentiate, then it's impossible to pass anyway, and it's better to deal with this now, before the course withdrawal deadline -- as opposed to after the final exam. If you're having trouble with Gateway, please come to see me, and bring a hard copy of your latest effort, with previews. If you know someone in the class who has not yet passed the test, please encourage them not to miss any opportunities from here on. If they've made many attempts without success, please suggest that they come to see me during office hours. TAs can also help! There are only two days left. Let's make a big push to get those numbers down to 0 and 0, if we can! -Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 9:26 AM subject: Gateway progress update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Currently 305 students have passed Gateway, and 100 have not. Of these 100, there are 32 who have yet to post a positive score. The Friday deadline (this coming Friday, the 25th) is a firm deadline. After that, if you have not passed Gateway, you cannot pass the course, so the stakes are very high. In the past, by now, almost all students would have passed, and I would be dealing only with a handful. So it seems likely that this will be the first semester where I have to give a failing grade to some students for not passing Gateway. If you've been having trouble, or if you haven't even made your first attempt, please come to see me IMMEDIATELY. (If you know someone else in that situation, encourage them not to delay any further.) Even students who know how to differentiate usually have to take Gateway a few times to familiarize themselves with the WeBWorK interface. So, even if you're good at differentiation, don't think you can just wait until the last minute, and then pass on the first try. That probably won't happen. Also, don't think that, on Friday, if you're having difficulty, you can retake the test several times until you pass. You only get one try every 12 hours. As I announced earlier, I have extra office hours today, 9am-10am. (So far, no one has showed up.) My regular office hours are on the course syllabus, at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf To take Gateway, start at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/gatewayMATH1271.html - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 9:50 AM subject: Gateway progress update To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Currently 272 (of the 400 or so students in my classes) have passed Gateway. Congratulations! Only 51 still have a score of 0, and most of those have probably not even made one attempt at Gateway. I just sent a message to these 51 (with lots of capital letters) strongly encouraging them to come see me about this. The deadline is THIS FRIDAY, 25 October, and it's a FIRM DEADLINE, driven by the University's course-withdrawal deadline. If you know someone in the course who has not yet attempted Gateway, please encourage them to start and/or to seek help Anyone who has not yet passed is welcome to come and see me. If your scores are low and don't seem to be improving, I will do all I can to help. Your TA can also provide assistance, although the Gateway is primarily my responsibility. Please bring a hard copy of your last Gateway attempt, with previews, and we can go over the problems that you missed. Sometimes the only issues are computer-interface issues, and those are easily dealt with. For the more mathematical difficulties, it's even more important to see me. If you haven't passed, good luck with your next attempt. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 1:01 PM subject: Gateway progress report To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: At this point 206 have passed Gateway, and all but about 85 have made at least one attempt. This is good progress, but, of course, I always hope for more. If you haven't passed, keep working at it, and do feel free to come by my office hours if you have questions. It helps if you can bring a printout (with previews) of your latest attempt. If you're having any trouble logging in, please come to see me about it right away. Congratulations to those who have passed and, to the rest, good luck on your next attempt. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 2:53 PM subject: Re: Gateway progress report Currently 148 students have passed Gateway, and 238 have a nonzero score. That means about 170 students haven't yet tried (or, possibly, didn't get any questions right, although, for someone who's taking the test once every 12 hours, that's pretty unlikely). Inevitably, many students will have to drop the course because they wait until the last minute, and are unable to complete Gateway. I *can't* extend the deadline, because it is so close to the last date when students can drop the course. The Gateway deadline is set that way on purpose -- if a student doesn't pass, I want him or her to have the option to drop, so that they don't have to receive an "F". So, for this reason, please don't think that I can give anyone an extension. Also, truthfully, I have little sympathy for someone who hasn't passed, and doesn't even try to take the test for several days in a row -- especially with all the warnings I'm giving. So: If you haven't yet made your first try, please do so RIGHT AWAY. If you have tried several times, but haven't passed, please keep working at it, and feel free to talk to me -- we can try to troubleshoot the difficulty. Good luck. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 11:53 AM subject: Gateway progress report To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Currently 108 of our 410 students have passed Gateway. That's good progress. Only 187 students have gotten a nonzero score. I'd like to see that number be over 400 by now. If you haven't made your first attempt, please do so **right away**. If you're having any trouble logging in, come to my office hours ASAP, and we can troubleshoot. It's very important to get as many tries as possible on this test. The problems are not so difficult, but the interface takes a little work to understand, and, if you don't pass, then you can't pass the course. You can only make two tries per day. So to delay is to play with fire. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 11:48 AM subject: Gateway progress report To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: There are about 410 students in my lecture sections. Currently 110 have received a nonzero score on Gatway, and 52 have passed. I think this is good progress, given that the first midterm was yesterday and, no doubt, many of you were focused on that. Please do NOT delay working on the Gateway. Your best strategy, obviously, is to take the exam once every 12 hours until you get a passing grade. Remember that two weeks from today, on Friday 25 October, Gateway will close, and all those who have not passed will either drop the course or receive an "F" grade for the course. You can only take Gateway once every 12 hours, so, if you think you can wait until the 24th to start, planning to work on it all night, then you'll be very disappointed. So please don't delay. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Tue, Oct 8, 2013 at 12:31 PM subject: Gateway Exam To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: It **MUST** be completed by Friday 25 October. If you don't complete it by that date, you will need to drop this course (or receive a failing grade), so please get an early start, to get as many attempts as possible. You may want to use Gateway to get some extra practice on differentiation, in preparation for the midterm. If not, then I think it would be good not to delay your first attempt beyond this coming Friday, the day after the midterm. It must be completed by Friday 25 October. If you don't complete it by that date, you will need to drop this course, so please get an early start, to get as many attempts as possible. You may want to use it to get some extra practice on differentiation, in preparation for the midterm, but, if not, then I think it would be good not to delay your first attempt beyond this coming Friday, one day after the midterm. ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Oct 2, 2013 at 12:17 PM subject: Upcoming midterm, Th 10 Oct, covering up to & including Topic 0360 To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Possibly on Friday, but more likely on Monday, I plan to start our review for the midterm on Thursday 10 October. Part of the review involves going over problems from old midterms, starting with Version A of Midterm 01 in Spring 2013, which is linked from http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/archS13.html Look for the first link in the right column which reads "Midterm 1A (Spring 2013)". If you want to look at solutions, click on the second link in that column. I think it helps a lot if you go through the problems yourself before class, and try to work through each of them. Anything that you can do to move from passively watching me work problems to having an active role in the problem solving will redound to your benefit. If you make a mistake solving a problem, or have some difficulty, it'll mean more to you when you do see a correct solution in class, than if you just wait and watch. Please keep in mind that Midterm 01 of Spring 2013 only covered up to and including Topic 0280, whereas our upcoming midterm covers up to and including Topic 0360. If you want practice on problems in Topics 0290 through 0360, please point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ and then look down the right column (the "ARCHIVE") to the link that reads "Midterm problems, by Topic" and click on that to point your browser to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/probsbytopicMATH1271.pdf Then scroll down until you get to the topics for which you want practice problems. I do plan to work through some of those problems during our review, but I haven't yet decided which ones. For those of you who want even more practice problems, look to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/addlprobs.html Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Sun, Sep 15, 2013 at 12:44 PM subject: Re: Clickers and attendance Three-digit codes are now posted, in the Moodle grade book, for all students who were registered (in any of my lecture sections) at the moment (last Friday, in the afternoon), when I downloaded the clicker registration file off of Moodle. A few minutes after that, I closed down the Moodle clicker registration system completely. Even students who, at that moment, had not registered their clickers were given a three-digit code; all that mattered was that they were registered for one of my sections of MATH 1271. The three-digit code appears in the Moodle grade book under "Three-digit code". It appears as a grade, but it's worth zero credit. Ignore any percentage you see and simply look at the number under "Grade". Pad it with leading zeroes to make it have three digits. So, for example, if you see 23 under your Three-digit code grade, it means that your three-digit code is 023. Be sure you know your three-digit code when you come to class, and be sure to bring your clicker to every class. (If you forget your clicker, and there's a for-credit quiz, you'll receive a zero -- no exceptions.) Even if you have a three-digit code, please do NOT assume that that means that your clicker is registered. If you didn't register it, then it's not registered! We'll run another not-for-credit clicker test soon, maybe even tomorrow (Monday 16 September). If you don't receive a posted grade for that test, it means that there's some kind of problem, possibly a clicker registration problem. As I said earlier, as soon as I have my new receiver, we'll start for-credit clicker quizzing. Thank you for your patience, as we all (including me) adapt to a new version of Turning Point. Let me know if you have any questions. Best, Scot ************************************************************************* date: Sat, Sep 14, 2013 at 3:29 PM subject: Clickers and attendance To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: The Moodle clicker registration system was turned off yesterday after the 10am deadline, although I did give a few hours of grace. All those who registered on time should have received 100 points under Lecture quiz 0 in the Moodle grade book. If you don't have those 100 points, then you'll have to register your clicker by email, letting me know the time of your MWF Lecture section, along with the 6 character Device ID code on the back of your clicker, just below the barcode. With that information, I can register your clicker "by hand". Be sure to write from your university x500 account (which ends in @umn.edu). I need to see that to verify who you are. Don't confuse Lecture quiz 0 with Lecture quiz 2. The grades appearing in Lecture quiz 2 are from the clicker quiz that I gave on Wednesday 11 September, last Wednesday. Those points will eventually be replaced by the points from a for-credit quiz. That quiz was simply a test and was not for-credit. We'll test the clickers again, maybe on Monday. I'm currently waiting on a new receiver, and am told it will arrive soon. As soon as it does, we'll begin for-credit quizzing. To see the sorts of questions that might appear on a clicker quiz, point to the Problem Bank, at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/probBankMATH1271.html Keep in mind that perfect attendance is a basic expectation of this course. Even with the videos, this is definitely NOT an online course. Of all the correlations I've studied, one of the strongest is between course performance and class attendance. See the information about students "in good standing", at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2013/spring2013effclassflip.txt In spring 2013, 24.49% of my students in good standing received grades of A or A-, a much higher rate than for those not in good standing. "80% of success is showing up." - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 2:40 PM subject: Online office hours To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Just a reminder that, on Mondays and Wednesdays, in the afternoon, I hold online office hours, in case you can't make it to campus. Right at this moment (2:40pm on Monday 9 September), the Professor is IN, so feel free to join. Point to http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/onlineoffhrsMATH1271.html for more information. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 11:47 AM subject: Some useful links To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: If you're new to this class, please read carefully through http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/email.txt for information about the basic organization of the course. Many of you may find http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/miscMATH1271.html to be very useful, since, among other things, it correlates each of our topics with the sections of the Stewart text that cover the same material. It also does the same thing for the Whitman text. Also, do have a look at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/summaryMATH1271.html If, for example, you want to review synthetic division, but you can't remember which topic covers it, you can to to this website, and search on "synthetic" and you'll get to a line that reads 0030(22-24): synthetic division for dividing x-a into a polynomial This tells you that this material is covered in Topic 0030, starting on Slide 22. - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 12:28 PM subject: Clickers are now in the bookstore To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: My contact at the UofM bookstore in Coffman just told me that they've received the shipment of clickers for our class, so you can go there anytime to pick up yours. Sorry for the delay. We'll begin testing the clickers tomorrow or Monday, and by Friday 13 September, at 10am, everyone should have their clicker registered. (Those who have registered their clicker by that time will receive 100 points on Lecture quiz 0.) - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 2:28 PM subject: MATH 1271: Videos, flipping the classroom, and some other information To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Hello! I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday in our first lecture. You will meet your TAs in recitation on Tuesday. I hope to cover most course organizational issues by email, to free up class time to spend on material. If you have questions, please feel free to write to me. Typically, if you ask a question about organization in class, I'll ask you to write to me about it, unless it concerns something imminent. If the question and its answer are pertinent to the entire class, I'll respond by a group email message, like this one. Several comments: 1. In case you joined the class recently and didn't see my earlier message, you can review it at the email record at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/email.txt Incidentally, the message you're now reading will be added to that archive soon, at the top, so do scroll down, to look for older messages. -------------------------------- 2. Please read through the Course Expectations page at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/expectMATH1271.html If you cannot fulfill these expectations, it would probably be better for you to find another class. This class is not for everyone. -------------------------------- 3. We will not have traditional lectures during class time. Instead, lectures have been recorded, and are posted at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/topicsMATH1271.html These lectures have a mixture of theory and problem-solving, and BOTH are very important for your understanding. During the MWF classes, we spend most of our time on skill training; only a small amount of class time will be devoted to deeper, more theoretical issues. We are "flipping the classroom". You can read about this on the web. This teaching system seems to have worked very well last fall, especially for "students in good standing" For more information, see http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Fall2011/fall2011effclassflip.txt http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2012/spring2012effclassflip.txt http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Fall2012/fall2012effclassflip.txt http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/Semesters/Spring2013/spring2013effclassflip.txt You should watch the first five videos (Topics 0010, 0020, 0030, 0040 and 0050) by class time on Wednesday next week (4 September), and even by Tuesday, if you have time. The main textbook for the course is by Stewart, but, because of copyrighting issues, I was not allowed to reference Stewart in my slides. The recorded material instead references a different text, (the "Whitman text") which can be downloaded for free, from http://sites.google.com/site/whitmanmathematics/ Summaries for each topic appear at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/summaryMATH1271 Much miscellaneous information about each topic appears at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/miscMATH1271 The miscellaneous information includes number of slides, the time of the recording, the section(s) covered in Whitman and the section(s) covered in Stewart. Also, errata appears at this website. -------------------------------- 4. You will need to purchase a student response device (a.k.a. "clicker") at the University of Minnesota bookstore, in Coffman Hall, the student union building. Physics uses a different kind of clicker, and their clickers will not work in our class. You'll need a Turning Point (a.k.a. Turning Technologies) clicker for our class. The staff at the bookstore can help you to get the right one. You'll need to register your clicker, as follows: First, point to your Moodle site, as follows. If you are in the 10:10am lecture section, then your Moodle site is https://ay13.moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=3495 If you are in the 1:25pm lecture section, then your Moodle site is https://ay13.moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=3497 You can also access your Moodle site from the main course website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ via links near the bottom of the left column. Look in on the right side of your Moodle site for the link that reads Administer TurningTechnologies. Click on that link and the follow the instructions. Please register your clicker as soon as possible. If you register it by 10am on Friday of the second week of classes (13 September), then you'll receive full credit (100 points) for Lecture Quiz 0. Those who miss this deadline will receive 0 points. As soon as you get your clicker, please bring it to every class, including, if possible, the first class on Wednesday 4 September (this coming Wednesday). Frequently there will be in-class clicker quizzes testing the material in the videos that you are supposed to have watched. If you don't bring your clicker, you'll lose credit for those quizzes. Have your clicker out and ready to use at the start of each class. The first for-credit clicker quiz will probably be on Monday 16 September (Monday of the third week of classes), and no earlier. We will likely have several clicker quizzes before that date, but they will not count for credit. However, please do get and register your clicker as soon as you can. The more times you can test it in class before the for-credit quizzing, the better the chance is that you'll discover if there is any problem with it. Once the for-credit quizzing starts, clicker quiz grades will be posted within a couple of hours of the quiz itself, and you'll only have 24 hours to notify me if you notice a problem with your clicker quiz grade. If you wait until after that 24 hour deadline, the quiz score will stand, though, of course, we'll work to troubleshoot the problem. Your four lowest clicker quiz scores will be dropped, and there are no makeups on clicker quizzes. -------------------------------- 5. The daily plan for the entire course is set out in the course diary at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html -------------------------------- 6. The syllabus is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf The syllabus has my office hours. It also has textbook information, dates of midterms and final exam and our course grading policies, among other things. -------------------------------- 7. The course website is http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ If you are in the 10:10am lecture section, then your Moodle site is https://ay13.moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=3495 If you are in the 1:25pm lecture section, then your Moodle site is https://ay13.moodle.umn.edu/course/view.php?id=3497 You can also access your Moodle site from the main course website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ via links near the bottom of the left column. Grades will be posted at the Moodle site. -------------------------------- 8. Homework (a.k.a. NEW homework) for the course is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/hm3wrkMATH1271.html Almost every NEW homework problem is modeled on a problem that appears in the OLD Homework at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/hmwrkMATH1271.html You can look at solutions to those OLD problems at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/solnsMATH1271.html These solutions can be an aid to solving the NEW problems. This should help you quite a lot, but be aware that sometimes a small change to a problem can cause the solution to change in a significant way. Due dates for homework appear at the diary website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html For example, at that website, under "WEEK 02: THURSDAY RECITATION" it says "Homework is due from NEW Homework for Topics 0130 and 0150 (Homework 01)". -------------------------------- 9. Most Thursdays (but NOT this coming Thursday, 5 September), there will be a written recitation quiz designed and graded by the TAs. What material is covered on each quiz appears in the diary at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html You can drop your two lowest recitation quizzes, and there are no makeup quizzes. -------------------------------- 10. Observe, in the course website http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ on the right hand side, there is a column labeled "Archive". This contains a number of old midterms (each one appearing twice, once without solutions, once with). You may find this to be a useful study guide. Be aware, however, that our pace this semester may not be exactly the same as in earlier semesters, so there is no guarantee that each midterm this semester will cover exactly the same material as the corresponding midterm from an earlier semester. -------------------------------- 11. I highly recommend Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/ as another source of lectures, and to get extra practice. Khan Academy also has much precalc material, for review. However, please do not view Khan Academy as a substitute for the recorded lectures at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/topicsMATH1271.html The clicker quizzes will be based on these course topics, not on Khan's lectures. Note that there are some problems (in the Khan Academy format) that you can use, for practice, at http://math.umn.edu/~adams/KA/MATH1271-exercises/exercises/ These problems are not assigned and will not count for credit. More generally, if you feel you need additional practice problems, see http://math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/addlprobs.html -------------------------------- 12. I seek your feedback. Please don't hesitate to write to me with comments, questions and suggestions. I will try my best to respond individually, although, the volume of email could reach a point where I have to write to groups of students simultaneously. I'm happy to hear about all issues, large and small. In particular, please let me know about typographical errors you may find; however, if you do find a mistake, please review the errata at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/miscMATH1271 to see if it has already been noted, thanks. -------------------------------- See you Wednesday! - Scot ************************************************************************* date: Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 10:25 AM subject: MATH 1271: Videos, flipping the classroom, and some other information To students in MATH 1271 Lecture 020 (10:10am) and Lecture 040 (1:25pm), copying TAs: Hi. According to my records you're registered to take MATH 1271 LECTURE 020 or LECTURE 040 this coming semester. (If not, please ignore this message, with my apologies.) The MAIN POINT OF THIS MESSAGE is that you'll need to watch a lot of videos in the next two weeks, and you may want to get an early start. Details follow: I will be "flipping the classroom", a teaching technique in which lectures are viewed on video outside of class while skill-training is done in class. Basically, most of the passive learning is moved out of the classroom, and much of the class time is spent actively engaged in the material. It is important that you evaluate early whether this approach is likely to work for you. Toward this end, it may help you to have a look at the "Course Expectations" website at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/expectMATH1271.html See also http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ArchiveMATH1271/learnstats.html MORE INFORMATION ON THE VIDEOS: The course website is http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/ and I recommend looking over the "Class Diary" which is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/diaryMATH1271.html According to this Class Diary, by Wednesday 4 September, you'll need to have watched the videos for Topics 0010-0050. Also, by Friday 6 September, you'll need to have watched Topics 0060-0130 (except, possibly, Topics 0070 and 0100, which are optional). This totals 7.43 hours of videos. Most weeks will have a lot less, but, since there is no homework due in the first week, there is extra time put into videos. If you have time, you might want to watch some of these videos this week, just to get an early start. Links to the videos can be found at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/topicsMATH1271.html The syllabus is at http://www.math.umn.edu/~adams/MATH1271/syllabusMATH1271.pdf I look forward to seeing you in class on Wednesday the 4th. Best, Scot *************************************************************************