Mathematics 190 Sample Syllabus

Prepared by Chi Wang, Revised: 12/16/97

(Note: This is NOT for your students. Please do not distribute it directly to your class.)

Textbook: Precalculus, mathematics for calculus by James Stewart, Lothar Redlin, and Saleem Watson (3rd edition) (solution manual available).

Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra or Mathematics 102, and one year of high school geometry.

General Description: This course prepares students for Mathematics 205, the first course in college level calculus sequence. It covers real valued functions and their graphs and transformations, polynomial and rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, analytic geometry, trigonometry, series and sequences.

This course does not count toward mathematics major. Credit is not allowed for both MATH 190 and either Mathematics 111 or Mathematics 112.

Content to cover:

Notes:

1. New Textbook: This is the new edition of the same book we used for the last several semesters. Besides the omission of sections on using calculators, there isn't much major change in content and organization. Neverthells, some sections are expanded, such as in Chapter 4, and such sections are reduced, such as in Chapter 10.
   
2. Omission of Chapter 1: Chapter 1 is not covered by this syllabus. But as we often find, we may need to review material, such as exponents and radicals in Section 1.2, completing squares in Section 1.5, equations of circles in Section 1.8, that are used in later chapters.
   
   Be careful about changes in Chapter 10. Series is mostly tied to the notion of partial sum of a sequence. The definition of series is only introduced until the end of Section 10.3.
   
3. Using Calculator in Class: A scientific calculator is useful, but not required for this class. We will not pose restriction on use of calculator in this course any more. But extra caution should be taken on this aspect.
   
   It is important for students to grasp basic techniques of graphing functions and equations. We hope students will get better understanding of course material with help of calculators. For example, students should be able to do most of the graphing problems in this book without using graphing calculators.
   
   Also please make clear to students the difference between an approximation by a calculator and the accurate value of a fraction or an irrational number. To strengthen the concept, we shall not accept any substitutions of accurate answers unless an approximation is clearly asked.
   
4. Pretest: To better understand our students and measure the extent that our students progress in our class, we would like to experiment a pre-test in this course. It is upon the discretion of individual faculty whether or not to give such test at the beginning of the semester. A copy of such test will be distributed. If you let your students take this test, please shall the result with the coordinator. Result of such test shall not be counted against students' performance in the class.
   
5. Combined Final: Math 190 is one of the courses usually required by the department to have a combined final exam. This applies also to evening and Shelby sections. Please make this clear to your students the first day of class and on your syllabus. Enclosed is a copy of past exam for your reference. I will let you know the exact date of the combined final as soon as it is set.
   
6. Paced Syllabus: There are about fourteen weeks of classes in a semester. Suppose you give four tests, one for every two chapters, before the final. In average, you are about to cover one section a class if you meet your class three days a week or one and a half section a class if you meet your class twice a week. The following paced syllabus is for your reference.

   Week	Sections/Tests	Week	Sections/Tests
   1	2.1 - 2.4	8	6.2 - 6.4
   2	2.5 - 2.7	9	6.5 - 7.2
   3	3,1 - 3.5	10	7.3 - 7.5
   4	4.1, Test 1, 4.2	11	9.1, Test 3, 9.2
   5	4.3 - 4.6	12	9.3 - 9.5
   6	5.1 - 5.3	13	10.1-10.3.
   7	5.4, Test 2, 6.1	14	Test 4, Review

   Homework Assignment: You may distribute the following homework assignment to you students or you may choose your own selection.

   Mathematics 190 Homework Assignment

   Study all worked examples and work the following exercises. If you are stuck on a problem, don't quit. Skip it and come back later. When use your calculator, be aware of that calculators often give you an approximation other than the accurate number you are looking for.

   Section	Exercises
   2.1	3,4,5,79,11,13,17,21,23,33,37,45,49,53
   2.2	1,3,5,7,9-12,13,15,19,23,29,41,43,61,67,71
   2.3	3,9,13,15,19,23,33,35,39,43
   2.4	1,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,27,33,35
   2.5	3,9,13,15,23,25,31,33,35,37,41,43
   2.6	1,3,5,9,15,17,21,29,39,43,45
   2.7	1-6,7,9,10,15,17,25,29,33
   3.1	1,9,11,19,25,27-30,63
   3.2	3,7,13,17,23,25,27,33,39,45,47,55,57,63
   3.5	1,3,5,7,17,31,41
   4.1	3,5,9,11,13,15-20,23,29
   4.2	1,3,5,9,1517,23,27
   4.3	1,3,7,13,15,17,19,23,25,31,33,37-42,45
   4.4	7,9,15,17,27,31,37,41,45
   4.5	5,17,21,25,27,37,41,47
   4.6	1,3,7,9,11,15,21,25,41,43
   5.1	1,5,9,11,13,17,19,25,27,29,37,41
   5.2	Odd 1-19,25,35,43,45,46,49,51,53,59,61,69
   5.3	1,5,9,11,15,21,23,33,35,37
   5.4	3,5,11,15,19,31
   6.1	5,7,11,15,19,21,25,27,31,37,43,47,53,59,61
   6.2	1,5,9,11,15,17,23,27,33,35,39,53
   6.3	3,5,7,11,15,19,23,27,31,33,37,39,41,43,51
   6.4	5,9,13,17,21,23,25,31
   6.5	1,5,7,11,23,25,27,33
   7.1	3,5,11,13,23,31,45,61,73,79,83,85,91
   7.2	1,5,7,9,11,15,23,35
   7.3	5,7,15,19,21,25,31,35,49,65
   7.4	1,3,7,11,17,21,23,25,29,35,39,41
   7.5	1,3,5,11,13,17,29,31,47,49,51
   9.1	3,7,9,13,19,25,27,29,35
   9.2	1,7,13,17,19,23,27
   9.3	3,5,7,13,15,19
   9.4	1,5,9,13,15,19,21,27
   9.5	1,3,7,9,13,17,21
   10.1	5,7,13,17,18,21,31,33,35,37,39,49,51,53
   10.2	1,3,11,17,19,23,27,29,31,33,37,39
   10.3	1,3,5,7,13,17,19,21,23,25,27,29,31,37,39,45