Precalculus - MATH 1113/2804 - Spring 2007

Course Information

MATH 1113/2840, Precalculus, is taught in the lecture-recitation format here at Georgia Tech. This means that for three hours per week you'll learn new concepts during the lead instructor's lectures and for two hours per week you'll review and practice those concepts with your teaching assistant. Attendance of both lecture and recitation is vital to your success in this course, so be sure to show up. Keeping up on homework will be essential. I will assign a lot of problems, and you really need to do all of them in order to succeed in this course. Don't wait until just before the test to do the homework, either, as that's a recipe for disaster. You should expect to spend at least two hours working on this class outside of class for every hour you spend in the classroom. Since you have five hours of lecture and recitation per week, that means you should be spending (at least) 10 hours per week studying outside class.

When emailing the instructor or TA for this course, be sure to include "Precalc" in your subject. Some of Tech's spam filters are really harsh, and messages with unspecific subjects (or worse, no subject at all) tend to get eaten by them. I have a filter set to salvage anything with Precalc in the subject, so if you do that, it should get through. If I don't respond to your email within 24 hours, don't hesitate to send again, just in case your first one got eaten.

Announcements

Announcements will be placed here, with the newest announcements at the top of the list. (Announcements are also available on their own page.)

Links

Specific to this course

• Course policies and expectations for this section
• Homework problems
• Practice Test I ~ Practice Test II ~ Practice Test III ~ Practice Test IV ~ Practice Questions for Final
• This semester's quiz solutions: Quiz 1 ~ Quiz 2 ~ Quiz 3
• This semester's test solutions: Test I ~ Test II ~ Test III ~ Test IV
• Blank copies of this semester's tests: Test I ~ Test II ~ Test III ~ Test IV
• Trig identities for MATH 1113. First page is the ones you need to know for the tests, second one is what you'll be given on the test in case you need to use it. Information on how much of the unit circle you'll have to know will be provided soon.
• I will use WebCT for posting grades this semester. I will not present other course information via WebCT unless announced here, but your TA may choose to. Ask her if you should be watching for more than grades in WebCT. If you find a grade recorded incorrectly in WebCT, please bring the graded item in question to me for correction.
• My schedule - My office hours are MWR 0930-1030 in Skiles 138A. You are welcome to schedule an appointment (recommended) or drop by outside office hours, but please check my schedule first to save a trip if I've got something else scheduled. (These office hours are tentative for the first couple of weeks until my schedule settles down.)

General links

• Mathworld
• GT SoM's Core Curriculum Course Materials - Includes sample tests for MATH 1501, 1502, 1711, 1712, 2401, 2403, and 2605, as well as web notes for MATH 2602. Be forewarned that these tests may differ greatly from what you will take in this course, but the more problems you solve, the more prepared you'll be.
• GT SoM's Math Lab drop-in tutoring facility. Includes a link to other tutoring resources at Tech.
• Tutoring services at Georgia Tech
• The Most Common Errors in Undergraduate Mathematics by Prof. Eric Schechter of Vanderbilt University. This is a very well-thought-out (and thus lengthy) essay on common mathematical mistakes, the deeper reasons behind them, and ways to avoid them. I encourage you all to read it. Be aware that on some computer systems (including my Mac) his integral signs and some other symbols show up as other characters. If you're reading this and can't figure out what he means, drop me an email.

Common questions

Q: What should I call you?

A: I'm not a professor, nor do I (yet) have a doctorate, so "Professor" and "Doctor" are not correct titles. "Mitch" will be just fine, but if you insist, I will try to respond to "Mr. Keller" as well.

Q: Will topic X be on the test?

A: Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Many students, particularly first-year students, love to ask this question. I can virtually guarantee you that the answer you will get any time you ask it will be "yes". If something weren't important enough to qualify for the test, it likely wouldn't be talked about in class. Unless told otherwise, you can safely assume that you will be responsible for everything covered in class when test time arrives.

Q: Will you post answers/solutions to the Supplementary Problems?

A: No. Students are less inclined to actually solve problems for themselves if they are given the solutions; instead, they just read them and say "Oh, yeah, I get it" without actually understanding. Your TAs and I are happy to go over problems with you, and if you email me and ask if you got the correct answer to a problem, I'll answer, but I will not be posting the solutions.

Q: What should I do if I think I witnessed an act of academic misconduct?

A: According to the honor code, if you see a violation, you must do something about it. Your options are to confront the student(s) involved, report it to the course instructor and/or teaching assistant, or report it to the Office of Student Integrity. All of these are good options, and you need to decide what's right for you and the situation. If you're unsure what to do, I strongly encourage you to consult a member of the Honor Advisory Council.

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Disclaimer: This page and the associated web site is not a publication of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology has not edited or examined the content. The author of the page is solely responsible for the content.