CALCULUS FOR BIOSCIENCES

MATH 17C Sections B01-03, B05
Spring 2007

Discussion Board: The class discussion board is available through your MyUCDavis web page. Whenever possible, please direct questions to the discussion board.

Course Web page: http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~andrebazos/MAT17C

Textbook:

C. Neuhauser "Calculus for Biology and Medicine" (prepared exclusively for UCD Math Dept. from the 2nd ed.) 2004, Pearson Custom Publ. ISBN 0-536-97558-2

Course Outline: This course covers Chapters 11 and 12 in the text.

Prerequisites: MAT017A and MAT017B, or equivalent.

Class Meeting Times:

Lectures: MWF 1:10pm-2:00 pm   Everson 176

Discussion Sections/ Teaching Assistants:

• B01    R 4:10-5:00PM    CRUESS 107       Andre Bazos

• B02    R 5:10-6:00PM    CHEM 176          Andre Bazos

• B03    R 6:10-7:00PM    CHEM 176          Sean O’Rourke

• B05    R 8:10-9:00PM    CHEM 176          Jeffrey Ferreira

Office Hours: You are welcome to attend any of the office hours below:

• Professor Benham, M 11:00AM-noon, W 2:10-3:00PM, MSB 2144

• TAs office hours TBA (TA office hours will be posted on web page soon).

Before seeking help in office hours, you should first read the text and try the homework problems yourselves. Note that there are also several helpful resources through the university; these are listed at below.

Grading:

The final grade will consist of four elements: weekly homework, four quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final exam.

• Homework: 15 % (no grade will be dropped)

• Quizzes: 15 % (the lowest grade will be dropped)

• Midterm: 30 %

• Final: 40 %

Quizzes:

Quizzes will be given in the first 15 minutes of your discussion section (Thursdays) four times during the quarter. Quizzes will cover the material from the previous two week's lectures; problems on the quiz will be similar to homework problems. Your TA will grade your quizzes and return them to you after one week. Quiz solutions will be available in PDF format on the solutions page of the course website on the day after the quiz.

Midterm: The midterm will be held in class on Monday, May 2, 1:10-2:00PM

Final:

The final exam will be held on Monday, June 11, 10:30-12:30AM. Note that the final exam is cumulative.

Exam and Quiz Policies:

• Calculators are allowed on exams or quizzes. Books, notes, laptops and cell phones will not be allowed. If you want a clock/watch during exams, be sure to bring one, but you will NOT be allowed to use your cell phone as a clock. (The use of cell phone during an exam is grounds for a 0.)

• A missed exam or quiz without a valid reason counts as 0 points. Only reasons involving major medical incidents, grave family emergencies and university athletics are considered valid; appropriate documentation must be presented in all cases. Whenever possible, advanced notice must be provided. Missing the final exam without a valid excuse will result in failing the course.

Homework: Homework will be assigned each Wednesday. The homework assignments will be posted on the course web page. Homework is due 8 days after it is posted and should be handed in to your TA at the beginning of you discussion section. It is your responsibility to consult the class web page to see what problems are assigned and the exact date that they are due. Only a portion of the assigned problems will be graded, typically 5-10 problems per week. The problems on the quizzes will be similar to problems assigned for homework. Homework solutions will be available in PDF format on the solutions page of the course website. No late homework will be accepted for any reason.


Advice: It is very important to

• Read the textbook regularly. For each hour of the lecture, you should read the corresponding sections of the book for at least 1 hr and spend another 1-3 hours solving problems from that section (not just homework problems).

• Pay attention to word problems . One of the main goals of this course is to teach you to translate verbal descriptions of biological phenomena into mathematical language, solve the problems that arise, and relate the mathematical conclusions back to the biology.

• Attend the discussion sections regularly. Discussion sections are an integral part of the course. During the lectures, the material will be explained and only a few problems will be solved. During the discussion sections, the TAs will focus on solving problems. Without solving these problems, it will be difficult to understand the material. Furthermore, exam problems will be similar to problems covered in the discussion sections.

• In the homework problems and exams, explain your train of thought by writing complete grammatically correct sentences and writing clearly, orderly and legibly.

Other Resources:

• UCD Learning Skills Center, 2205 Dutton Hall, Phone: 752-2013. They run workshops pre-calculus and calculus, as well as provide free tutoring and many other resources. A workshop specifically for MAT17A is held every Tuesday and Thursday 11:00AM-noon in Olson 121

• Calculus information of all types at calculus.org.

• UCD Counseling Center, 219 North Hall, Phone: 752-0871.