Math 241: Calculus IV

There are no current assignments.

Ben's suggested reading: A trashy novel.

Homework is due promptly before 4 PM Mondays. Turn in homework either

1. to me personally in recitation or during office hours;
2. under my personal office door if nobody's in my office;
3. front and center on my personal office desk if somebody's in my office; or
4. by special arrangement approved in advance by me (for example, you might need to email me a homework if you are detained in another city).

Late or improperly submitted homework will never be accepted. Late or improperly submitted homework will never be accepted. Late or improperly submitted homework will never be accepted. If you know in advance you will be unable to turn in homework when it's due, you should plan to turn it in ahead of time. If you are unavoidably prevented from submitting homework for a good reason, you still may not turn it in late. I will drop your lowest two homework scores to allow for missed assignments or for assignments that pose especial difficulty.

Homework must be neat, well-organized, and legible. (Your name need be legible only if you want credit for the assignment.) Ragged margins, multi-column and otherwise over-dense formats, and unstapled sheets are unacceptable. If your handwriting is difficult to read (as mine can be), type your homework (as I do). If you tend to scratch out or erase incorrect parts of solutions (as I do), do a rough draft or type your homework (as I do). Write in paragraphs, sentences, and English words. Use punctuation and conjunctions to indicate your flow of thought rather than arrows or telepathy. Shoot for lucidity rather than terseness. Make the paragraph your unit of composition. I suggest reading The Elements of Style.

I will grade a few problems from each homework, and will give each homework a grade out of three points. Late homework, unstapled homework, homework with ragged edges, and illegible homework will merit a frowny-face. A timely, stapled, non-raggedy, legible submission without ragged edges that represents at least a sincere effort will merit a neutral-face no matter how incorrect or poorly written. A submission that is generally clear and correct will merit a smily-face. A submission that is perfectly clear and correct will merit a smily-face-with-the-teeth-showing. These four grades translate into 0, 1, 2, and 3 out of 3 points.

There are no graded quizzes in this course. There will be brief ungraded "attendance quizzes" in lectures, but I have no plans for quizzes in recitation, at least for the time being.

Major premise: Exam policy is generally the province of faculty. Minor premises: I am not faculty and the professor is. Conclusions: You should ask questions about exam policy to the professor, not to me. Also, make arrangements for alternate exam times through the professor, not through me.

On a less snarky note, I'll do my best to know about exams, but the professors are in charge, and oftentimes you'll just have to go to the horse's mouth. Right now, we know that there'll be two exams, one on the partial differential equations part of the course, the other on the complex analysis part of the course. (The first of these is over. The next will be at 3 on Friday, December 16th, at a location to be announced.) In any case, if the professor and I say different things about exams, he's right.

The professor will be allowed a certain number of A, B, C, and D/F grades to give based on the distribution of grades of his students on the exams, which you will take along with othe students taking Math 241. To rank his students for the final grade, Professor Clee will use 40% from each exam, and 20% from the homework. Direct any requests for clarification to the professor. If the professor and I say different things about final course grades, he's right.

If you don't like your final grade, don't expect me to do anything about it, because the professor is the only one able to consider grade adjustments. (Also, even if I could change your grade, I almost certainly wouldn't; I'm a real hard-ass about such things.) Likewise, talk to the professor about taking an incomplete. (My advice: Avoid incompletes at all cost.)

I will tolerate no cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty. I will report cheating to the professor and, if we deem appropriate, to the Office of Student Conduct. See the Pennbook for the relevant University policy, and consult with me or the professor to clarify any ambiguities.

You may certainly discuss the course material with other students (I encourage you to do so), but when you sit down to write up your homework, do so alone.