Syllabus

Course:  Math 20C   (Course Catalog)

Title:  Calculus for Science and Engineering III

Credit Hours:  4   (Two credits if taken after Math 10C and no credit if taken after Math 21C or 31BH.)

Prerequisites:  AP Calculus BC score of 4 or 5, or Math 20B with a grade of C- or better.

Catalog Description:  Vector geometry, vector functions and their derivatives. Partial differentiation. Maxima and minima. Double integration.

Textbook:  The required textbook for the course is Vector Calculus (6th Edition), by Marsden and Tromba; published by W.H. Freeman and Company (2012). (We will cover most of Chapters 1-5 of the text.)

Material Covered:  We will cover parts of Chapters 1-5 of the text. A list of the topics scheduled to be covered can be found on the Course Calendar.

Course Readings:  Reading the sections in the textbook that correspond to what we are discussing in class is a very important part of learning the subject. Lecture time is very limited and not every subject can be fully covered in the time allotted for lecture. Consequently, it is in your own interests to read the related chapters in the textbook.

Homework:   Homework is a very important part of the course and in order to fully master the topics it is essential that you work carefully on every assignment and try your best to complete every problem. We will have two different kinds of homework assignments in this class: online homework (which will be graded) and "paper-and-pen" homework (which will not be graded).

Homework due dates are chosen to help students keep to the pace of the course and stay current with the topics covered in the lectures. The "No late homework" policy is designed to encourage students to complete homework assignments on time and reward those who do.

You can get help with the textbook homework in the Calculus Tutoring Lab.

Electronic Computing Devices:  Graphing calculators and computer programs (or online computing websites such as Wolfram|Alpha) can be very helpful when working through your homework. However, a calculator/computer should be used as an aid in the learning concepts, not just as a means of computation. You should use these devices when working on math problems at home, but always keep in mind that you will not be allowed access to any electronic computing devices during exams. Of course, this also means that you will not be asked to solve problems on exams that require the aid of an electronic computing device.

Exams:  There will be two midterm exams and a final exam. Check the  Course Calendar  for the exact dates of the midterm and final exams. You may use one 8.5 x 11 inch page of handwritten notes. (Both sides are okay, but no photocopies are allowed.) You may not use any other notes or any electronic devices. Please bring your student ID to the exams.

Final Exams:

Make-up Exams:  Make-up exams will not be given. If you miss a midterm exam for any reason, then your course grade will be computed using Method 2. (See below.)

Grading:  There are three methods to determine your course grade:

Your grade will be computed using all three methods and then the better grade will be used.

Note: There is NOT a fourth method that is 25% best midterm exam score and 75% final exam score.

After your weighted average is calculated, letter grades will be assigned based on the standard grading scale:

A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F
[99,100] [93,99) [90,93) [87,90) [83,87) [80,83) [77,80) [73,77) [70,73) [60,70) [0,60)

We may adjust the scale to be more lenient, but we guarantee that the grade corresponding to a given percentage will not be lower than specified by the above scale.

There will be no curve, but we may adjust the scale to be more lenient (depending on the performance of the class).

Please notice that outside factors, including the need for a certain grade for admission/retention in any academic program, scholarship or transfer credit, graduation requirements or personal desire for a specific grade DO NOT appear in the above calculations, and thus are not considered in any way in the determination of your course grade. Effort, improvement, class attendance and participation will all dramatically improve your grade in the course in that they will allow you to do well on quizzes, exams, and the final exam. They will NOT, however, actively participate in the calculation of your course grade.

No extra credit will be given in this class.

Gradescope: Exam grading will be done using an online tool called Gradescope (https://gradescope.com/). Exams will be scanned and uploaded to Gradescope and will be graded within it. As a consequence, exams will not be returned to the students. Instead, a digital version of your exams will be made available after the grading has been completed. An email will be sent from Gradescope when the exams are made available.

Regrades:  Regrade requests will be made using the built-in regrade request feature in Gradescope. There will be a limited window of time after the exams are made available during which the regrade request feature will be active. This time window will be announced when the exam scores are released to the students.

Academic Dishonesty:  Academic dishonesty is considered a serious offense at UCSD.  Students caught cheating will face an administrative sanction which may include suspension or expulsion from the university.  It is in your best interest to maintain your academic integrity. (Click here for more information.)

Suggestions:  Below are some suggestions that I hope will help you to succeed in this course: