Math 221 - Calculus I

Winter 2021

Contact information: Course information:

Danielle Champney Synchronous on Thursdays, as you are able
Email: dchampne@calpoly.edu January 4 - March 12
Office Hours: will be announced on Canvas

Course Objectives: This course builds on topics introduced in Precalculus. Without a good basis in precalculus,
wherever/however you took it, this course will be very difficult. We will review those topics very minimally in Math
221, but extra review problems are always available if you ask!
In addition to learning the basics of Math 221, Calculus I is an opportunity to build good habits for success, and to
challenge yourself to continual learning, in mathematics and beyond. My goals for you this quarter are not just
mathematics learning:

• Understand the basics of Math 221, and prepare to use them in your career,
• Understand the why behind the concepts and procedures in Math 221,
• Develop a view of calculus as a coherent, consistent system,
• Develop skills for understanding the appropriate time and utility for the tools that we will explore in class

• View calculus as an opportunity to problem solve and put together lots of powerful tools and ideas to solve a
variety of consequential problems
• Use calculus as a context to prove to yourself that you can persevere in mathematics, you can continue to
improve your own learning, and you can challenge yourself to do something difficult (and have personal success!)

A quote to get us in the right mindset for this class:

“Most of what we believe, we believe because it was told to us by someone we trusted. What I would like to suggest,
however, is that if we rely too much on that kind of education, we could find in the end that we have never really
learned anything.”
– Paul Wallace

Text and Materials: Tan’s Calculus, 9th edition. This book is REQUIRED for our course. Please start the quarter
off with the mindset that the book is for more than assigned homework exercises. It should be read before and after
lectures, referenced while doing assigned problems, and used for targeted review and extra problems on topics with
which you are less confident.
The importance of careful, thoughtful, written communication of mathematical ideas: During this
quarter, while working on calculus content, we will also be working on our mathematical communication. We will
work on carefully constructing mathematical arguments, clearly explaining our thinking, focusing on what our
written explanations communicate to others (and what they don’t), and being complete in our documentation.
Sample solutions will be available to you, so please take care to look them over and attempt to model your own
solutions after them. Ask questions about them if you have them. Remember that the point is not to write more,
but to write enough. Quality matters, far more than quantity.

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Grading Breakdown: The grade system is spread out so there are many opportunities for you to do well in this
class. By spreading things out, and providing multiple opportunities to master our calculus content, I hope that
every type of learner or test-taker can succeed!

• Show Me What You Know (9 of them, each 5% – total 45%)

• Groupworthy Problems (15%)
• Weekly Submissions (20%)
• Final Exam: (20%)

SMWYK: Each week we will have a big idea, listed below. At the end of the week, I will post some problems titled
Show Me What You Know, meant to be done independently. These will offer the opportunity to show me three
types of mastery of the week’s topics: (1) procedures, (2) concepts, and (3) problem solving. You will have two days
to complete and submit these problems, and as I ‘grade’ them, I will be looking for mastery in each of the three
types, for each topic. If you achieve mastery in 1 way, but not the other 2, that would be considered ‘C’-level work; 2
ways but not the third, ‘B’- level work; and all 3 ways, ‘A’-level work. I will then return your work, with feedback.
Please use that feedback to improve, and not just store away the work without studying your errors and successes.
SMWYK problems are basically a little more than quizzes, but a little less than tests.

• Functions, including Exponentials and Logarithms • Optimization

• Limits
• Integration Basics
• Derivative Rules and Properties
• Definite Integrals
• Curve Sketching
• Related Rates and Implicit Differentiation • Area Between Curves

Weekly Submissions: Each week you will be uploading a sample of the practice that you did on the week’s topics.
It will go something like this: I post a very large list of appropriate practice problems from your text (and sometimes
from other sources). These problems are not meant to suggest that you should do every single one of them, from
start to finish. Rather, I suggest that you look at the listed problems and then attempt at least a few in each
‘section’ in the book. If those problems are difficult for you, or you are feeling less than confident, do more. If you’re
feeling good, move on. I suggest starting with odds, where you can access the answers, but then also challenging
yourself to not doing *only* odds. Also, don’t limit yourself to just the first few problems in a section either, as they
are often ordered with somewhat increasing difficulty. It’s all your call, but these are some suggestions. But at the
end of the week you will submit (at least) three problems from your week’s work: (1) One problem that you feel
great about, (2) one problem that you are still struggling with (or struggled with before you could resolve it), and (3)
one problem that taught you an important lesson about the week’s topics (and tell me what that lesson was!).
Groupworthy Problems: There will be 2 sets of ‘groupworthy problems’ that need submitted during the quarter.
These can be done at any time, but I have suggested due dates that reflect when we will have completed the
associated topics. These differ from the weekly submissions in that you will be working on them and conferencing
with a peer/classmate before they are seen by me/the grader. You should use this peer feedback to revise, as needed,
and then resubmit for grading. These problems are a little more involved than the textbook exercises, and as such
the problem sets are shorter. But they are excellent practice for the final exam. You will be graded both on your
submission and on your giving feedback to your classmate. These problem sets are essentially in place of midterm
exams.
Final Exam: We will have a somewhat standard final exam, and you’ll have 48 hours to complete it, once posted.
This is meant to be the culmination of your learning for the quarter, and also because we have to give some kind of
final exam, but the format of procedures, concepts, and problem solving will be reflected in this exam, just as in the
SMWYK problems. You will be able to use whatever notes, book, resources, etc... that you want.

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Basics: For general success in this course, please observe the following:
• Attendance in these virtual courses is tricky - the goal is that we will be synchronous on Thursdays, to answer
questions, provide closure on topics before moving on, and post the SMWYK problems. If you are able, please
plan to join class on Thursdays. I understand if you have family commitments that will pull you away at this
time, but especially in a 10 week course, at a distance, the personal connection we can make, even if only
during 10 class meetings, is very important.
• PLEASE ask questions if you are confused - if there are no questions, I will assume you understand everything
we have covered to that point and move on (and this is very dangerous).
• I will follow strictly all Cal Poly and Math Department academic honesty policies for this course. Less than
original work will always result in a grade of zero, and may be subject to further disciplinary action. I will be
placing in you a lot of trust; virtual courses are hard, and ‘cheating’ is tempting. But you got this far because
you’re great Cal Poly students, so I would as you to be responsible for your own learning, and put trust in you
to act with academic honesty. Please know that I will provide as many opportunities as I can for you to learn,
so please use these opportunities as a catalyst to take charge of your own learning.
Additional Information:
• Adding/Dropping: It is YOUR responsibility to drop the course if you choose not to complete it. See the
schedule of classes for appropriate deadlines. I reserve the right to drop any student who does not attend the
first week.
• Religious Holidays: Reasonable accommodations will be made for you to observe religious holidays when such
observances require you to be absent from class activities. It is your responsibility to inform the instructor
during the first week of class, in writing (preferably email), about such holidays.
• I will be using Canvas to post course materials – please visit it regularly! There will also often be supplemental
materials uploaded, and I will upload review problems if they are requested! All work will also be submitted
via Canvas. I have paced out the course in Canvas as if we were in-person, so if you struggle with time
management, you can just follow the day-to-day schedule there so you don’t have to come up with your own
schedule!
• Disabilities: Students with documented learning and/or physical disabilities may receive reasonable classroom
and/or testing accommodations. These arrangements need to be made through the official University channels,
and communicated to me during the first day or two of class (or as soon as the documentation has been
determined). I unfortunately cannot accommodate last minute or undocumented/informal requests. I WILL
gladly work with you, though, if we run into technology limitations, as long as you let me know asap.
• Studying and Time Management: The College of Science and Mathematics at Cal Poly maintains that
“Nationally college students are advised to study at least two hours per week per unit of coursework. At Cal
Poly we endorse using this as a minimum estimate for planning your time and suggest you allocate more for
science and math courses.” Thus, as Math 221 is a 4-unit course, you should plan to study a minimum of
8-12 hours per week for this class during a regular quarter.
A statement on the importance of diversity and inclusivity in education
Hate, racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination are immoral and have no place on our campus or in our
society. Our class is one community. We learn together. We work together. And we will respect one another. I teach
all students, regardless of background or beliefs. All students are equally welcome and valued. Growth mindset
includes our ability to grow together, respect and value one another’s opinions, and become more compassionate
people. Education is an inherently political enterprise, and one with which you will be engaging for your entire
future career - learning to navigate this, with compassion and understanding, and to honor everyone’s role in our
community, will be a lifelong pursuit. No one is being asked to leave the table. Everyone is being asked to make
room at the table, so that everyone has a seat and a fair chance. Remember, we engage with people and are critical
about the ideas and mathematics. This philosophy of mutual respect is central to our time together, and if you are
not able to participate in our class in this way, you may wish to take this course elsewhere.