College Algebra and Analytic Geometry
Mathematics W1003
Fall 2006 Section 002

The class is held Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 AM to 10:55 AM in the Mathematics Building room 520.

Links:

• Course Information
  
• Grading and Submitting Work
  
• Schedule of Lectures and Homework
  
• My homepage

Course Information

Instructor: Shaffiq Welji
My campus telephone number is x45881 (212-854-5881), and my office is in Mathematics Building room 408. You can also reach me via e-mail at welji@math.columbia.edu.

Office Hours and Additional Help: Shaffiq's office hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 AM to 12 PM in 408 Mathematics (tentatively). I can be available at additional times by request or appointment. As always, help is available (for free!) in the math department's Milbank Help Room, which is open pretty much all day, every day in room 333 of Milbank Hall on the Barnard College campus (across Broadway from Columbia). A more detailed schedule is available here. There is also paid tutoring available.

Text: The text for this course is J. Stewart, L. Redlin, and S. Watson. Precalculus: Mathematics for Calculus. Fifth edition. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2006. (ISBN 0-534-49277-0). The cheapest place I can find the book is on AddAll (http://www.addall.com).

Course Description: This course is intended for students who wish to continue their mathematical studies through calculus. Although the course is not exclusively for such students, preparation for calculus is the primary goal of this course. The secondary goal is to develop problem solving skills which will be useful in any further mathematics course. The focus of the course will be on functions and important examples of functions such as polynomials, rational functions, exponentials, and trigonometric functions.

Most of the material we will cover in class is also covered in the book. We will begin with a (somewhat brief) review of preliminary algebraic and geometric concepts (chapter one). We will spend the majority of the course studying functions (chapters two through seven). We will wrap up the course with a few miscellaneous and useful topics (parts of chapters eight through ten). And we will end the course with an introduction to ideas leading to calculus (chapters eleven and twelve).

Important Course Details:

• Most of the homework problems you will submit will be those for which you will have answers. Therefore, just writing an answer does not constitute a correct solution. All solutions must be clear, coherent, organized, and thoroughly considered explanations for your solution.
• Because you will have solutions for the majority of problems that you submit, you need to check your answers. If you do a problem and get it correct, make sure you understand why it is correct, and if you get a problem wrong, understand why you missed the problem.
• You will receive some additional problems to consider, which you are not required to submit in your homework. You should still consider these problems, and I highly recommend that you write them up as you would a regular homework problem, but they will not be graded. However, students will be randomly required to complete problems at the board, and as a class, we will discuss the solutions presented. These additional problems will be the problems that students will be presenting at the board. These presentations will be a minor part of your final grade, and the grade will be based on correctness, how thoroughly thought out the ideas are, clarity, and coherence.
• Because students will be randomly selected to complete problems at the board, attendance is required. And not being present when you are randomly selected to present a problem will result in a zero grade for that presentation. Absences will only be excused if followed with a note from a doctor or a dean.
• Calculators are not to be used in any way during this course.
• Decimal solutions (like 2.5 or 3.45) are not to be used in any solutions you submit. Rather, you must write all of your solutions using fractions.

Warning:

• I expect you all to work two to three hours per week at home for every one hour you spend in class (as I have seen written on the Columbia web page). So, you will find that you will have lots of homework to complete. However, by my calculation, the homework will take you far less time than the eight to twelve hours this rule would imply.
• I do expect you to read the book, so if there is a concept you should know, I will not necessarily discuss it in class. I reserve class time for discussing topics that need discussion--difficult topics, topics not explained well in the book, frequently missed topics, and things like that. However, if there is a topic you must know, it will appear in two of following three places: in the book, in class, in the homework.

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Grading and Submitting Work

Grading: The following grading scheme is tentative.

• Homework: 10%
• Quizzes: 20%
• First Midterm: 20%
• Second Midterm: 20%
• Final: 30%

Homework: Homework will be assigned for every class, and assignments are due just before every class. Submit your assignments by 9:00 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays outside of room 407 Mathematics Building to the box labeled "Shaffiq Welji / Precalculus In". Homework will be returned to the box labeled "Shaffiq Welji / Precalculus Out". Late homework will not be accepted under any circumstances. Although homework does not contribute to a large fraction of your grade, it is an essential component of learning the subject. Make sure your homework is stapled with clear, coherent, and organized solutions. No solution will be considered fully correct if it is not clear, coherent, and organized.

Presentation of Problems: This will be discussed in detail in class, but for some preliminary information, see the section labeled Important Course Details above.

Tests: We will have two midterms and one final, which will All test will be announced well ahead of time in the Schedule of Lectures and Homework. No calculators are allowed on any of these tests. In fact, make sure all electronic devices are completely put away during all tests. The final exam will be given according to the registrar's schedule. If you let me know about any test conflicts well ahead of time (at least a week or two), I might be able to make arrangements. However, there will be no make-up tests without a note from a dean.

Collaboration: Although collaboration is encouraged on homework and any more informal circumstances, any work you submit for homework must be your own write-up (which means taking the ideas and notes from the collaborative effort and turning those notes and ideas into coherent, clear explanations). Copying homework will not be tolerated. Any cheating on exams or quizzes will be handled severely.

Notes: The course will be moving quickly. This means that you will have to keep up. In order to help you do this, I have a number of suggestions for how to study. Active participation is encouraged. Please ask me any questions that you have. Mathematics is not a spectator sport, and you cannot learn without questioning and doing exercises. Your work for every class should consist of:

1. Read the relevant section(s) before class.
2. Come to class.
3. Review and reread the same section(s) after class.
4. Do the homework (even the problems that don't have to be turned in).
5. Come to the help room or office hours to answer any remaining questions.

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Schedule of Lectures and Homework

This schedule is tentative. It might change as the class progresses. Please check regularly for changes and updated homework information.

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