MATH 20B | Fall 2026

Textbook

Textbook: Chapters 5-11 of Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals (4th Edition) by Jon Rogawski, Colin Adams, and Robert Franzosa.

Supplement: We will also cover material from the Math 20B Supplement.

Piazza: This quarter we will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates, the TA, and myself. Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza.

Email policies

I get many emails every day. As such, it helps a lot if you can keep your emails short and to the point. If you do this, I will likely reply much more quickly.

Please refrain from using ChatGPT (or another LLM) to write your emails, as they tend to write very lengthy and wordy emails. As a result, if you write me an email that was clearly written by ChatGPT, I will likely take much longer to reply.

Grading policies

Weekly online homework assignments will be posted on Achieve, which is accessed through Canvas.

• Complete your online homework on Achieve.
• Textbook homework problems are not turned in and are not graded. See the Homework tab for the problem lists.
• DO NOT email me your homework.
• Late homework will be accepted up to 24 hours after the deadline, with a 10% point penalty.

Final grade

At the end of the course, we will calculate both versions of your grade and give you the higher score. Letter grades will be assigned based on the following scale:

I might adjust the scale to be more lenient, but I can guarantee that the grade corresponding to a given percentage will not be lower than specified by the above scale. For example, if your score is 89, then your grade will be at least a B+.

Note: The weights displayed on Canvas are only for Version 1 of your grade. Version 2 of your grade is calculated separately.

Homework policies

• Discussing homework with others is OK, but it is expected that everyone completes their own online homework.
• Online homework must be completed on Achieve by 11:59pm on the due date (Fridays, unless stated otherwise).
• Late homework will be accepted up to 24 hours after the deadline, with a 10% penalty.
• Lowest homework score will be dropped.
• Exam questions are often based on textbook homework problems, so work through them even though they are not graded.
• Note: There will be an assignment at the beginning of class for determining commencement of academic activity for financial aid purposes. This will not be part of your final score or grade.

Exam policies

Graphing calculators and online tools can be helpful when working through your homework. However, a calculator or computer should be used as an aid in the learning of concepts, not just as a means of computation. You should keep in mind that you will not be allowed access to any electronic 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 device.

• The use of electronic devices will not be permitted during exams.
• Bring your student ID to the exams.
• No make-up exams will be offered.

Midterms: We will have two 50-minute midterms, which will be held during class time on October 21 and November 18. There will be no make-up midterms under any circumstances.

Final exam: The final exam will take place on Wednesday, December 9 at 3-6pm in (room TBD).

• It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final examination. You should not enroll in this class if you cannot sit for the final examination at its scheduled time.
• There are no make-up exams for any reason. Nor do we allow alternate times for taking exams.
  • If you have a documented disability or must miss the exam for a university sponsored activity, then arrangements can be made using the standard procedures.
  • If you cannot attend one of the midterms, grading Version 2 (described above) will ensure fairness by taking such cases into account.
• There may be different versions of exams involving different numbers and/or different orderings of questions.
• Bring pen or pencil and your student ID.
• Formula sheets will be provided for exams. Cheat sheets are not allowed in this class.
• No calculators or electronic devices of any kind will be allowed during the examinations.

Regrade policy

Your exams will be graded using Gradescope. You will be able to request a regrade via Gradescope for one week after the scores have been released. Be sure to make your request within one week; no regrade requests will be accepted after the deadline.

You cannot lose points for regrade requests, provided your request was legitimate. Frivolous regrade requests in exams (in other words, obvious attempts at fishing for points, without any clear justification) will not be tolerated, and points will be taken off for such violations. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Asking for a regrade request for every question in an exam.
• Getting ChatGPT to generate a regrade request for you.
• Asking for extra points without any mathematical justification.
• Mentioning how close you are to the next letter-grade cut-off.
  • Any mention of being close to a cut-off (e.g. "I am 1 point away from a B+") in a regrade request will result in your regrade request being ignored and points being removed.
• Overly long regrade requests will be ignored and points may be deducted.

As a result, when asking for regrade requests, you must do the following:

• Only submit regrade requests if you believe there has been a mistake when grading a particular question.
  • Don't worry if it turns out that you simply misunderstood how your answer was graded. You will not lose any points if it's clear that you believe that there was a mistake and are not simply trying to fish for points.
• You must include a brief justification (1-2 sentences is usually enough) for why you believe your answer deserves more points.
  • Overly long regrade requests will be ignored. Keep it short and to the point!
• Do not submit regrade requests for every single question in an exam.

Doing the above will give you the best chance at a successful regrade request, and will also guarantee that you do not lose points.

Accommodations

Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities. Students are required to discuss accommodation arrangements with instructors and OSD liaisons in the department in advance of any exams or assignments.

There may be different versions of exams given. All versions of any exam will cover the same topics and will be calibrated to the same level of difficulty. It is standard Math Department practice to utilize different versions of exams, both within each lecture's exam, and between lectures whose exams are at different times.

Information about incomplete grades

According to university-wide regulations, a student's work must be of "non-failing quality" to be eligible for an incomplete grade. In this class, work of "non-failing quality" is taken to mean:

• At least 70% average homework score up to the day of the incomplete grade request.
• At least 70% in either Midterm 1 or Midterm 2.

Both of the above must be true. For example, you are not eligible for an incomplete grade if you scored over 70% in one of the midterms but your homework score is below 70%.

Academic integrity

Cheating will not be tolerated. See this link for information on how to promote academic integrity and the consequences of cheating.