21-117: Integration and Differential Equations
Spring 2002 Mini3 Session
Preliminary Suggestions
This is a five-day-per-week course. You are responsible for everything
which occurs in every lecture and every recitation. The course will go
most smoothly for you if you commit yourself now to the following habits:
(i) Decide that you will attend evey lecture and every recitation unless
something absolutely unavoidable happens. Resist the temptation to tune
out if we are covering topics to which you have been exposed in previous
courses, because as you listen you may make conceptual connections which had
not occurred to you before. (ii) Later on the same day of a lecture, take
a few minutes to review what we covered, to identify quickly any points on
which you are confused. Seek immediate assistance through the professor,
your TA, or one of your chums in the class. (iii) Recognize that the
exams will cover concepts emphasized in lecture; the emphasis given in your text to particular topics
may be somewhat different. View the lecture as your primary source and the
text and recitations as a supplementary resource. (iv) Spread your work
on assignments over a week, rather than working on the problems all in one
day. (v) Always pause for a moment after working a problem, not so
much to check accuracy, but to look over your work in search of ways to
simpify what you did, or argue differently, or ask if the method you used
is applicable in more general contexts than the one from the problem you
just did. (vi) Recognize that your professor is a really nice guy; he
just doesn't like people talking during class, because it's inconsiderate
to other students. It can be especially problematic in a course like this,
with such large lecture enrollments. We are all adults and we have business
to conduct, so please help to contribute to a more pleasant environment
by remaining quiet during lecture -- unless you have a question or comment;
in that case by all means contribute.
So are you ready? Let's have a great course!
Textbook
The text for this course is Calculus: Early Transcendentals,
Fourth Edition, by James Stewart.
Instructor
Dr. John Tolle
Office: Wean Hall 6124
e-mail: tolle+@andrew.cmu.edu
Telephone: 268-8419
Office Hours: MWF 11:30-12:30, from January 14 to March 6.
I am also happy to make appointments if this time slot is not convenient.