Welcome to Math 32 (Precalculus)!

Syllabus | Schedule | Homework | Practice Exams

Time and place:
Lecture: MWF 8:10-9:00 in 105 Stanley

Section 101: MW 9:10-10:00 in 3105 Etcheverry
Section 102: MW 10:10-11:00 in 3107 Etcheverry
Section 103: MW 11:10-12:00 in 3109 Etcheverry
Section 104: MW 12:10-1:00 in 4 Evans
Section 105: MW 1:10-2:00 in 3107 Etcheverry
Section 106: MW 2:10-3:00 in 105 Latimer
Section 107: MW 9:10-10:00 in 289 Cory
Section 108: MWF 2:10-4:00 in 230C Stephens (this is a PDP section)
Section 109: MW 3:10-4:00 in 4 Evans

You need to be registered for lecture, plus one of these nine sections.

Instructor:
Alex Kruckman (That's me)
kruckman@math.berkeley.edu
Office hours: Mondays 10-12 in 747 Evans

GSIs: Piotr Achinger (Sections 104 and 105)
achinger@math.berkeley.edu
Office hours: Mondays 2-3 and Fridays 3-4 in 941 Evans

Ahmed Bakhaty (Section 108)
abakhaty@berkeley.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays 1-3 in 868 Evans

Adam Lesnikowski (Sections 103 and 107)
adam@math.berkeley.edu
Website: /~adam/fall2013.html
Office hours: See website

Eugenia Rosu (Sections 101 and 102)
rosu@math.berkeley.edu
Office hours: Mondays 11-12 and Tuesdays 2-3 in 787 Evans

Benjamin Tsou (Sections 106 and 109)
btsou@math.berkeley.edu
Office hours: Fridays 3-5 in 716 Evans

Textbook: Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus, Second Edition, by Sheldon Axler.
Note that we are using the second edition of Axler's text, not the first edition as in previous semesters. Berkeley has arranged a cheaper custom edition of the text, which is available at the Cal bookstore or directly from the publisher: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-811889.html. The content in the custom edition is identical to that in the second edition.

Enrollment: There is currently a waitlist for the course. It is very unlikely that additional discussion sections will be opened, but it is likely that students on the waitlist will get seats in their sections due to students dropping the class in the first week. If you are on the waitlist and are serious about taking the course, you should come to class on the first day, go to the section you are on the waitlist for, do the first homework, etc.

I do not have control over the course roster. If you are waitlisted or need to switch sections, you have to wait for something to open up and make the change yourself on Telebears. You may only switch into a section with free seats, and you must attend the section for which you are registered.

The Student Learning Center: The SLC offers drop-in tutoring Monday-Thursday 10-4 in Chavez 103. They also offer a 1-unit adjunct course, Math 98, designed to be taken simultaneously with Math 32. Many students find the adjunct course useful, but enrolling in it is entirely optional. Information is available at http://slc.berkeley.edu/math_stat/math32.htm.

Assignments and Grading: Your grade for the course will be based on homework and quizzes, two midterms, and a final.

10% - Homework
20% - Quizzes
20% - Midterm 1
20% - Midterm 2
30% - Final Exam

Homework: Homework is due most Wednesdays (see schedule). Hand it in to your GSI at the beginning of section self-graded (see below).
Your lowest two homework scores will be automatically dropped at the end of the semester. No late homework will be accepted.
Self-grading policy: When you hand in your homework, write a whole number (no half points) 1-3 clearly at the top of the first page.
0: You'll get a 0 if you don't turn the homework in.
1: I only did a small number of problems, or I put very little effort into the homework.
2: I put some effort into the homework, but I skipped some problems.
3: I made a serious attempt at all of the problems.
Please be honest. The difference between a 1, a 2, and a 3 will be quite clear to your GSI.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be given in section most Wednesdays (see schedule). Quizzes will be 10 minutes long, will be graded out of 6 points, and will consist of two questions taken directly from the homework.
Your single lowest quiz score will be automatically dropped at the end of the semester. No make-up quizzes will be given.

Exams: The midterm exams will be 50 minutes each, held in class on Friday 10/4 and Friday 11/1. The final exam will be 3 hours, held Monday 12/16 7-10pm in 230 Hearst Gym.
Please be sure you can attend the exams! No make-up exams will be given for any reason. However, if your (percentage) score on the final is better than your (percentage) score on one of the midterms, your lowest midterm score will be automatically replaced by your score on the final at the end of the semester.

A note on calculators: No calculators will be allowed (or necessary!) on quizzes or exams. I will avoid assigning homework problems which require a calculator, but you may sometimes find that a calculator is useful for checking your work or doing a decimal approximation. If you don't have a physical calculator, I recommend Wolfram|Alpha, which knows a surprising amount of math.

And a note on cheat sheets: In some courses, students are allowed to make "cheat sheets" of relevant formulas and techniques and bring them to the exam. No cheat sheets will be allowed in Math 32 - for most of the course, the formulas and techniques we use are fairly simple. You should be able to remember them by remembering why they're true! But we'll encounter some more complicated formulas when we study trigonometry, and I will provide a page of useful trigonometric identities on the final exam.

Special arrangements: