Math 0120: Business Calculus

Student Guidelines and Syllabus

About the Course

This course is designed for students in business, economics, and other social sciences. It introduces the basic concept of the limit and its applications to continuity, differentiation, integration, maximization, minimization, and partial derivatives. Applications to social sciences, especially business and economics, are stressed. The calculus of trigonometric functions is not covered.

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

·      Find limits of functions presented as graphs, tables, or algebraic expressions.

·      Use the concept of the limit to define the derivative of a function.

·      Differentiate functions involving powers, exponentials, and logarithms.

·      Apply the concepts of differentiation to solve optimization problems.

·      Use derivatives to hand sketch the graphs of functions.

·      Integrate functions involving powers, exponentials, and logarithms.

·      Use definite and indefinite integrals to solve problems.

·      Find partial derivatives of functions of two variables.

·      Apply the method of Lagrange multipliers to solve constrained optimization problems.

Course Prerequisite

Minimum math placement score of 61 or Math 0031 with a minimum grade of C.

Course Delivery

This course will be taught in-person unless the university health policy mandates that the course be moved online. This means that the default format will consist of your instructor presenting material in the classroom.

The course consists of lecture and recitation components. Each student must register for a recitation that is associated with the lecture that they are attending. Lectures are M, W, F. Recitations are scheduled on Tu and Th of each week. Recitations will be devoted to problem solving and/or quizzes. Each scheduled recitation will have an assigned TA. The student should read each section of the textbook before the lecture on that section. The default website for the course is the Canvas webpage. Please check it regularly for announcements and assignments.

Textbook

The textbook for this course is Brief Applied Calculus, Seventh Edition, by Geoffrey C. Berresford and Andrew M. Rockett; Brooks/Cole CENGAGE Learning. All students who register for this course are automatically enrolled in the RedShelf Inclusive Access program and will be charged on their Pitt student bill unless they opt out before the end of the add/drop period. This program provides students with discounted access to the digital version of the textbook and the publisher’s WebAssign content, but only the textbook itself will be required. If you already have a copy of the textbook or would prefer to purchase it from a different source, then you should opt out of Inclusive Access. You will be able to opt out by clicking on the “RedShelf Inclusive Access” link in your course on Canvas. If you do not opt out of Inclusive Access, then you will be able to access the digital textbook through a link to WebAssign in Canvas.

Recitations

You will meet with your TA twice per week to work on practice problems related to the course material.

Homework

Homework will be completed online through the WeBWork platform. Your TA will demonstrate how to use WeBWork at the beginning of the semester, but please also readh the WeBWork Instructions before getting started. You will need to select your course from the list on the WeBWork homepage http://webwork.math.pitt.edu/ and then log in with your Pitt username and password. Alternatively, you can navigate directly to your course’s log-in screen via the URL https://webwork3.math.pitt.edu/webwork2-xxxxx/, where XXXXX should be replaced with your section’s five digit class number.

Practice Problems

In addition to the graded homework (WeBWork), you are expected, but not required, to complete the practice problems listed for each textbook section on the course schedule provided by your instructor. Although these problems will not be graded, quiz and exam problems will sometimes be modeled after them.

Quizzes and Midterm Exams

The course usually includes three midterm exams, and their approximate dates are listed on the course schedule. Your instructor will let you know if the exams will be given at times that deviate from the course schedule. Your instructor may also assign quizzes to be completed during recitations. Exams and quizzes will be given in class.

Final Exam

All day sections must take a departmental final exam at a time to be scheduled by the registrar. Calculators will not be permitted on the departmental final exam. Evening sections will meet through final exam week, and the final exam will be given during the last one or two scheduled class periods. The final exam will be on Thursday April 29, 2:00 -3:50 PM. The exact location of the final exam will be available in PeopleSoft, 8 weeks into the term. Again, calculators will not be permitted on the departmental final exam.

Grades

Each student’s course grade will be determined solely by their performance on the graded assignments and will be calculated using a weighting scheme similar to the one listed below. Some sections may deviate from this recipe, but any deviations will be announced by your instructor at the beginning of the term.

Homework:        15%
Quizzes:             15%
Exam 1:              15%
Exam 2:              15%
Exam 3:              15%
Final Exam:        25%

Suggested grading scale:

A/A±: 90-100%,
B/B±: 80-89%,
C/C±: 70-79%,
D/D±: 60-69%,
F: 0-59%

Materials

In addition to the textbook, you may find it helpful to use a scientific or graphing calculator while completing homework and practice problems. Any calculator with logarithms, exponentials, and trigonometric functions will do. Maple or Mathematica may also be a helpful tool to have on your laptop.

Getting Help

Office Hours

Your instructor and TA will announce their office hours and list them on Canvas. Your instructor or TA may opt to hold office hours over Zoom.

Tutoring

The Math Assistance Center offers free tutoring by appointment, including same-day appointments for those who need immediate assistance, provided they are available. Appointments can be made within Pathways. The MAC offers assistance with all courses in the math department in the range 0010-0413, 1180, and 1270. For more information about scheduling appointments or visiting the MAC for walk-in hours, please visit the MAC website.

Disability Services

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 140 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890, drsrecep@pitt.edu, as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity

Cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students suspected of violating the University of Pittsburgh Policy on Academic Integrity may incur a zero score for the assessment in question. Additional sanctions may be imposed, depending on the severity of the infraction. If there is any doubt as to the originality of a student’s submission for an assessment, they may be asked to explain their work during a one-on-one meeting with their instructor. If the student’s explanations are unsatisfactory, they may receive a zero score for the assessment, or the instructor may choose to administer an alternative assessment in a different format.

Assignments and assessments are designed so that you learn by doing them, and only those resources authorized by the instructor may be used to complete them. Copying graded homework or exam answers from outside sources and other such violations of the academic integrity code will compromise your learning. Passing a course without adequately mastering the material may set you up to struggle in subsequent courses. Also, it is a violation of the academic integrity code to share any question from a graded assignment or an exam in any form. The instructor may choose to post a solution set after the assessment, but these materials written by the instructor are copyrighted, and you are not permitted to distribute them in any way. If you inadvertently have access to a shared exam or graded homework question, then you are obligated to inform the instructor. Academic integrity is not about what you can get away with; it is about personal accountability, honor, ethics, respect, trust, and fairness.

Diversity and Inclusion

The University of Pittsburgh does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on disability, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, marital status, familial status, sex, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or other factors as stated in the University’s Title IX policy. The University is committed to taking prompt action to end a hostile environment that interferes with the University’s mission. For more information about policies, procedures, and practices, visit here.

We ask that everyone in the class strive to help ensure that other members of this class can learn in a supportive and respectful environment. If there are instances of the aforementioned issues, please contact the Title IX Coordinator by calling (412) 628-7860, or emailing titleixcoordinator@pitt.edu. Reports can be filled out online. You may also choose to report this to a faculty/staff member; they are required to communicate this to the University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. If you wish to maintain complete confidentiality, you may also contact the University’s Counseling Center (412) 648-7930.

Email Communication

Each student is issued a University email address (username@pitt.edu) upon admittance. This email address may be used by your instructor and the University for official communication with students. Students are expected to read email sent to this account on a regular basis. Failure to read and react to University communications in a timely manner does not absolve a student from knowing and complying with the content of the communication.

Classroom Recording

To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom lectures, discussions, and/or activities not already recorded by the instructor without the advance written permission of the instructor. Any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student’s own private use.

Certain lectures may be recorded by the instructor, and this may include student participation. Students are not required to participate in recorded conversations. The recorded lecture may be used by the faculty member and the registered students only for internal class purposes and only during the term in which the course is being offered. Recorded lectures will be made available to all students in the class via Canvas and/or Panopto.

Copyright

Some of the materials in this course may be protected by copyright. United States copyright law, 17 USC section 101, et seq., in addition to University policies and procedures, prohibit unauthorized duplication or retransmission of course materials. See the Library of Congress Copyright Office for more information.