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Course Syllabi Spring 2009

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MATH 106 COURSE SYLLABUS

1. Objectives:

This course is the second semester of a two semester sequence in calculus designed for students majoring in the managerial, life, and social sciences. Calculus is a significant tool in those disciplines and the overall objective of the course is for students to become proficient in the methods of calculus so that they can make use of this tool. For continuity there will be some overlap with the material taught at the end of Math 105. The specific goals of Math 106 are as follows:
  • Understand and be proficient in the general topic of integration including calculation of area, volume of solids of revolution, definite integrals, the fundamental theorem of calculus, indefinite integrals, and integration by substitution.
  • Be proficient in additional topics in integration such as integration by parts, integration using tables of integrals, and improper integrals.
  • Understand the calculus of functions of several variables including partial derivatives, optimization of functions of several variables, constrained optimization, and multiple integrals.
  • Be proficient in certain methods in differential equations. Specifically that would include separation of variables, linear first order differential equations, some numerical methods in first order equations, and linear second order differential equations with constant coefficients.
  • Understand the relationship between probability and calculus. Know about expected value and standard deviation. Know about probability density functions, the exponential distribution, and the normal distribution.
  • If time remains in the course, become familiar with the calculus of trigonometric functions and/or power series.

2. Grades:

There will be 4 exams which may cut across chapter boundaries. The final exam will be cumulative, and will count as two hour exams. Specific homework assignments will be collected, and the homework average, after the lowest homework grade is dropped, will count as much as one hour exam. (If there are more than 10 turn-in homework assignments, the lowest two homework grades will be dropped.) Students may work together on homework, but each student should turn in their own assignment. Note that no homework assignment will be accepted late.

NO MAKEUP HOUR EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN. Instead, a cumulative general purpose makeup will be given at the end of the semester. Although the makeup is intended primarily for students who miss an hour exam, students who do not miss any hour exams may use the makeup to replace their lowest hour exam grade. In certain cases students who know in advance that they will miss an exam may be permitted to take the exam early. Exams will be curved if necessary. Students will be permitted to bring one 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper with notes to each hour exam, and two such sheets to the makeup exam and the final exam. The tentative exam dates are Feb. 2, Feb. 26, March 27, and April 24. The makeup exam is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, April 30, at 10:00 AM. Note that this is not a regular class day. If an hour exam is scheduled for a day when there is a canceled class or a compressed schedule, the exam will be given at the next regularly scheduled class. Extra credit pop quizzes may be given at any time.

3. Text:

Applied Calculus, 9th edition, by Laurence D. Hoffman and Gerald L. Bradley (expanded edition). A graphing calculator which can perform symbolic calculus manipulation, preferably the TI 89 calculator, is required for the course, and can be purchased from the bookstore, or at many other places (which might be cheaper than the bookstore). The calculator may be used for all exams and quizzes, and will be a valuable asset for future calculus, lab science, and other courses. In the textbook, we will cover chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10, skipping a few sections to be announced at the time. If there is time at the end of the semester we will also cover either chapter 9 or 11. Chapter 8 is about differential equations, and in addition to the chapter material we will be covering some material not in the text.

4. Office:

My office is room 415. My formal office hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 - 10:00 AM, 2:00 - 3:00 PM on Monday, and 2:00 - 3:00 PM on Thursday. During office hours I will see students on a first come, first served basis. Students are welcome (encouraged actually) to drop in at (or make a specific appointment for) any time that I do not have a previous commitment, whether or not it is a formal office hour. You are also welcome to call me (408-4834) or to send me email (tillman@mathcs.wilkes.edu). I can also be reached via our department fax machine (408-7883). Some students have used the fax to submit homework assignments. My schedule is posted on my office door and can also be found at http://course.wilkes.edu/tillman/stories/storyReader$163.

5. Attendance:

Attendance will be taken daily. Students are responsible for all material covered or assigned whether or not they are in class. Attendance may be used as a deciding factor in determining borderline grades.

6. Drops:

During the first three weeks of the semester students may drop for any reason, at their own whim. Following the third week, and up through the eighth week, students may drop with permission of the instructor and their advisor. I will always grant my permission. Following the eighth week, students may drop only with permission of the instructor and the dean of the appropriate school (Dean Bruns in this case), and only for extraordinary reasons (e.g. an illness which makes it impossible to catch up on the work). A failing average is not considered sufficient reason. Once again I will always grant my permission.

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MATH 150 COURSE SYLLABUS

1. Objectives:

A significant portion of the research done in the biological, health, and social sciences depends to a large extent on statistical studies in general and statistical inference in particular. Appropriate statistical use is also a major tool in other disciplines as well. It is probably fair to say that no mathematical tool (excluding basic arithmetic) is used more heavily than statistics. Therefore the overriding objective of the course is to learn how to draw an inference based on a statistical study, and to be able to measure how "good" that inference is. Particular objectives of the course are as follows:
  • Learn about various types of descriptive statistics (histograms, pie charts, etc.) and statistical measures (measures of central tendency, measures of variation, etc.).
  • Learn about the normal probability distribution.
  • Learn to estimate various population parameters such as proportion, mean, etc. and appropriate sample size for a desired estimate.
  • Learn about hypothesis testing for population proportions and population means.
  • Learn about inferences from two samples, including comparing proportions, comparing means, matched samples, and a non-parametric procedure to compare samples when very little is known about the underlying populations.
  • Learn about inferences that can be drawn from linear regression and correlation.
  • Learn to use the chi-square test to draw inferences about the independence of factors for categorical data.
  • Learn to draw inferences about multiple populations using analysis of variance.

2. Exams:

There will be 3 class time exams, each worth 17% of the final grade. The exams may cut across chapter boundaries. The final exam will be cumulative, and will count as 34% of the final grade. NO MAKEUP HOUR EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN. Instead, a cumulative general purpose makeup will be given at the end of the semester. Although the makeup is intended primarily for students who miss an hour exam, students who do not miss any hour exams may use the makeup to replace their lowest hour exam grade. In certain cases students who know in advance that they will miss an exam may be permitted to take the exam early. Exams will be curved if necessary. Students will be permitted to bring one 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper with notes to each hour exam, and two such sheets to the makeup exam and the final exam. Within the text book there is a detachable formula/table card. You may use this for all exams. It is the student's responsibility to have it for exams. There are no extras available! The tentative dates for the hour exams are Feb. 11, March 20, and April 24. The makeup exam will be April 30 at 10:00 AM. In case of a canceled class or compressed schedule due to weather, the exam will be given at the next regular class period. Surprise extra credit quizzes may be given at any time.

3. Computer Projects and homework:

There will be several computer projects, which should be individual efforts. The computer projects will be worth 5% of the final grade. To do the projects you will use a program called StatDisk, which is included on a CD enclosed with the text. For the latest version of StatDisk (11.01) you may prefer to download it from the web. The URL is http://www.statdisk.org/ Copy this and paste it into your browser. Download the appropriate version for your computer (Windows or Mac OS X). You will not have to write any computer programs yourself. StatDisk will also be available in the computer lab in SLC 409 (you would need a mathcs password).

Homework will be assigned from the text on a regular basis. Most of the homework will be odd number problems, which have the answers in the back of the text. At certain times turn-in assignments, primarily even number problems, will be assigned as well. The homework average on the turn-in assignments, after the lowest grade is dropped, will count as 10% of the final grade. (If the number of turn-in assignments exceeds 10, then the lowest two assignments will be dropped.) Students may work together on homework, but each student should turn in their own assignment. NO COMPUTER PROJECT OR HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED LATE!

4. Text:

Elementary Statistics, tenth edition, by Mario F. Triola. Tentatively, the plan is to cover chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9,a small part of 13, 10, and some of 11 and 12. Not every section of the listed chapters will be covered. Specific sections will be announced at the time they are covered.

5. Office:

My office is room 415. My formal office hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 - 10:00 AM, 2:00 - 3:00 PM on Monday, and 2:00 - 3:00 PM on Thursday. During office hours I will see students on a first come, first served basis. Students are welcome (encouraged actually) to drop in at (or make a specific appointment for) any time that I do not have a previous commitment, whether or not it is a formal office hour. You are also welcome to call me (408-4834) or to send me email (tillman@mathcs.wilkes.edu). I can also be reached via our department fax machine (408-7883). Some students have used the fax to submit homework assignments. My schedule is posted on my office door and can also be found at http://course.wilkes.edu/tillman/stories/storyReader$163.

6. Attendance:

Attendance will be taken daily. Students are responsible for all material covered or assigned whether or not they are in class. Attendance may be used as a deciding factor in determining borderline grades.

7. Drops:

During the first three weeks of the semester students may drop for any reason, at their own whim. Following the third week, and up through the eighth week, students may drop with permission of the instructor and their advisor. I will always grant my permission. Following the eighth week, students may drop only with permission of the instructor and the dean of the appropriate school (Dean Bruns in this case), and only for extraordinary reasons (e.g. an illness which makes it impossible to catch up on the work). A failing average is not considered sufficient reason. Once again I will always grant my permission.

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Math/CS 363 COURSE SYLLABUS


1. Objectives:

This course is called "Operations Research". It is a major elective course for Math, Computer Science, and Computer Information Systems. Operations Research is a catchall term for a collection of techniques used to apply scientific methods to problem solving and decision making. The overall objective of the course is to survey several of those techniques in the setting of solving problems. The specific goals of the course are as follows:
  • Define the concept of operations research in general.
  • Provide the necessary background in probability theory that will be needed for several of the models, including Bayes' Theorem.
  • Describe several well known distributions including the Binomial, Poisson, Normal, and Exponential distributions.
  • Introduce Decision Analysis and decision trees for sequential decision problems.
  • Provide a brief introduction to game theory, in particular two person, zero sum games.
  • Discuss the PERT/CPM method of project scheduling.
  • Solve deterministic and probabilistic inventory problems.
  • Solve problems related to waiting line models.
  • Solve problems related to Markov Processes.

2. Exams:

There will be 3 exams, each worth 16% of the final grade. The final exam will be cumulative, and will be worth 32% of the final grade. The tentative dates for the hour exams are Feb. 9, March 18, and April 22. If an hour exam is scheduled for a day when there is a canceled class or a compressed schedule, the exam will be given at the next regularly scheduled class. Exams will be curved if necessary. Students will be permitted to bring one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper with notes to each hour exam, and two sheets to the final exam.

3. Projects and problem sets:

There will be several problem sets, which should be individual efforts. The problems sets will be worth 10% of the final grade. There will be also be two projects which may involve programming. Each project will be worth 5% of your grade. The projects will be team projects.
NO PROJECT OR PROBLEM SET WILL BE ACCEPTED LATE!

4. Text:

QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR BUSINESS, tenth edition, by Anderson, Sweeney, and Williams. We will cover chapters 1 - 4, parts of 5, 12 - 14, and 16. We will not necessarily cover every section in every chapter. We will also cover some material not in the text. The text is written for students with a limited mathematical background. The course will assume that students have had a calculus course at the level of Math 105. The use of a calculator which does symbolic manipulation in calculus (e.g. a TI 89) may be desirable.

5. Office:

My office is room 415. My formal office hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 - 10:00 AM, 2:00 - 3:00 PM on Monday, and 2:00 - 3:00 PM on Thursday. During office hours I will see students on a first come, first served basis. Students are welcome (encouraged actually) to drop in at (or make a specific appointment for) any time that I do not have a previous commitment, whether or not it is a formal office hour. You are also welcome to call me (408-4834) or to send me email (tillman@mathcs.wilkes.edu). I can also be reached via our department fax machine (408-7883). Some students have used the fax to submit homework assignments. My schedule is posted on my office door and can also be found at http://course.wilkes.edu/tillman/stories/storyReader$163.

6. Attendance:

Attendance will be taken daily. Students are responsible for all material covered or assigned whether or not they are in class. Attendance may be used as a deciding factor in determining borderline grades.

7. Drops:

During the first three weeks of the semester students may drop for any reason, at their own whim. Following the third week, and up through the eighth week, students may drop with permission of the instructor and their advisor. I will always grant my permission. Following the eighth week, students may drop only with permission of the instructor and the dean of the appropriate school (Dean Bruns in this case), and only for extraordinary reasons (e.g. an illness which makes it impossible to catch up on the work). A failing average is not considered sufficient reason. Once again I will always grant my permission.

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Last update: Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 1:22:56 PM.