Professor: Jeff
Johannes
Section 1
MTWF 11:20a-12:20p Fraser 119
Office:
South 326A
Telephone: 5403 (245-5403)
Office Hours: Monday 10:30 - 11:20a in Fraser 104,
Tuesday 12:30 - 1:30p in Welles 123, Wednesday 3:30 - 4:30p in
Welles 128, Thursday 8:00 - 9:00p in South 336, Friday 12:30 - 1:20p
in South 336, and by appointment or visit.
Email Address: Johannes@Geneseo.edu
Web-page:
http://www.geneseo.edu/~johannes
Course Materials
Modeling the Dynamics of Life: Calculus
and Probability for Life Scientists by Frederick R.
Adler Here are the first six sections: 1.2, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 1.11
Additional handouts of reading, problems,
and activities will be provided
Purposes
- Study calculus topics beyond first semester calculus.
- Focus on their applications and uses in biological sciences.
Overview
This course is defined, in many ways, by
what it isn't. It isn't the easy way out of calculus II - in
fact, it will likely be more demanding than 222 would be. It
isn't merely the same topics from 222 with examples using
biology. It is a completely different experience than
222. Some 222 topics will not be included, most notably
infinite series. We will learn many topics not studied in 222
- including probability and statistics, and many topics not studied
in other mathematics courses - such as discrete dynamical
systems. You will be my experts on biology, and I will be the
mathematics expert. Along the way we will surely all learn
something we never knew before. Be prepared to work, to learn,
and to see some new and different things. Open your minds and
hold on for a biology flavoured adventure in mathematics.
Grading
Your grade in this course will be based upon your
performance on various aspects. The weight assigned to each is
designated below:
Exams:
Assignments: (5% each)
Exam 1
14%
Problem Sets (4)
20%
Exam 2
14%
Reports (2)
10%
Half Exam 3
9%
Final Exam
24%
Reading quizzes (?) 9%
Exercises
With each day of lecture, I will suggest several
exercises that are relevant for practising from that day's
lesson. I will not grade these exercises, but will gladly
discuss or look at them.
Reports
You will write two reports for this class.
They will be of two different types chosen from the following
three: After attending a mathematics department colloquium (or
other approved mathematics presentation) you may write a report.
In your report, please explain the main point of the
presentation and include a discussion of how this presentation
affected your views on mathematics. You may also interview
someone involved in the Geneseo Biomathematics Initiative, and you
may write a summary of a Science or Nature article involving biology
and mathematics. You may choose which report to complete for
each due date.
A – Well written, answers the
questions, and is interesting and insightful
B – Well written and answers
the questions
C – Well written
or answers the questions (convinces the reader that you
were there)
D – attempted
Papers are due on the assigned dates. I will gladly look at
papers before they are due to provide comments.
There will be four problem sets distributed
throughout the semester. You must complete each of
them. Problem sets are due on the scheduled dates.
You are encouraged to consult with me outside of class on any
questions toward completing the homework. You are also
encouraged to work together on homework assignments, but each must
write up their own well-written solutions. A good rule for
this is: it is encouraged to speak to each other about the
problem, but you should not read each other's solutions. Each
question will be counted in the following manner:
0 – missing question or plagiarised work
1 – question copied
2 – partial question
3 – completed question (with some solution)
4 – completed question correctly and
well-written
Each entire problem set will then be graded on a 90-80-70-60%
(decile) scale. Late items will not be accepted. Problem
sets will be returned on the following class day along with
solutions to the problems. Because solutions will be provided,
comments will be somewhat limited on individual papers. Please
feel free to discuss any homework with me outside of class or during
review.
Solutions
and Plagiarism
There are plenty of places that one can find all kinds of
solutions to problems in this class. Reading them and not
referencing them in your work is plagiarism, and will be reported
as an academic integrity violation. Reading them and
referencing them is not quite plagiarism, but does undermine the
intent of the problems. Therefore, if you reference
solutions you will receive 0 points, but you will *not* be
reported for an academic integrity. Simply - please do not
read any solutions for problems in this class. Any work
written, developed, or created, in whole or in part, by generative
artificial intelligence (AI) is considered plagiarism and will not
be tolerated. While the ever-changing developments with AI will
find their place in our workforces and personal lives, in the
realm of education and learning, this kind of technology does not
help us achieve our educational goals. The use of AI prevents the
opportunity to learn from our experiences and from each other, to
play with our creative freedoms, to problem-solve, and to
contribute our ideas in authentic ways. Geneseo is a place for
learning, and this class is specifically a space for learning how
to advance our thinking and professional practice. AI cannot do
that learning for us.
Opening
Meeting
Students
will earn two extra points on the first problem set by visiting
office hours during the first two weeks of classes, i.e. no later
than 5 February.
Reading Quizzes
You are responsible for reading the sections
before they are discussed in class. The schedule is given
below. Occasionally - as I see it necessary - we will have
short (five minute) reading quizzes to check that the reading is
being done. As the class shows this is not necessary, they
will become less frequent. The reading quizzes may be as
straight forward as - "Write enough to convince me you did the
reading." Points lost on quizzes may be reearned by finding
errors in the textbook (there are many - both mathematical and
writing) as follows: The first student who notifies me via
email of an error in the section for the next class period will
receive one lost point back on a previous reading quiz.
Exams
There will be two and a half exams during the
semester and a final exam during finals week. If you must miss
an exam, it is necessary that you contact me before the exam
begins. Exams require that you show ability to solve
unfamiliar problems and to understand and explain mathematical
concepts clearly. The bulk of the exam questions will involve
problem solving and written explanations of mathematical
ideas. The first two exams will be an hour's worth of material
that I will allow two hours to complete. There will be
multiple options of times of completing these exams.
Tentatively they are scheduled for Thursdays 7 – 9p, but this is not
fixed. The third exam will be shorter than the others and will
be completed in class. The final exam will be half an exam
focused on the final third of the course, and half a cumulative
exam. Exams will be graded on a scale approximately
(to be precisely determined by the content of each individual exam)
given by
100 – 80% A
79 – 60%
B
59 – 40% C
39 – 20%
D
below 20% E
For your interpretive convenience, I will also give you an exam
grade converted into the decile scale. The exams will be
challenging and will require thought and creativity (like the
problems). They will not include filler questions (like the
exercises) hence the full usage of the grading scale.
This center is located in South Hall 332 and is
open during the day and some evenings. Hours for the center will be
announced in class. The Math Learning Center provides free tutoring
on a walk-in basis.
Feedback
Occasionally you will be given anonymous feedback
forms. Please use them to share any thoughts or concerns for
how the course is running. Remember, the sooner you tell me
your concerns, the more I can do about them. I have also
created a web-site which accepts anonymous comments.
If we have not yet discussed this in class, please encourage me to
create a class code. This site may also be accessed via our course page on
a link entitled anonymous feedback. Of course,
you are always welcome to approach me outside of class to discuss
these issues as well.
Religious Holidays
It is my policy to give students who miss class
because of observance of religious holidays the opportunity to make
up missed work. You are responsible for notifying me by
February 5 of plans to observe a holiday.
Schedule (subject to change)
January
22 introductions
23 1.2
24 1.5
26 1.6
29 1.7
30 1.9
31 1.11
February
2 2.8
5 1.10
6 3.1
7 3.2
9 overrun
12
review PS1
due
13 review
14
15 XM1
(7-9p)
16 XM discuss
19 XM
discuss
20 canceled
21 4.1
23 4.2
26 4.3
27
Diversity Summit
28 5.1
March
1 5.2
4 5.3
5 5.4
6 5.5
8 5.6
Report1
due
18 5.7
19 review
PS2 due
20 review
21 XM2 (7-9p)
22 6.1
25 6.2
26 6.3
27 6.4
29 6.5
April
1 6.6
2 6.7
3 6.8
5
6.9
8 Solar Eclipse
9 review
PS3 due
10 review
12 half XM3
15 7.1
16 7.2
17 7.4
19 no class (compensation for 21
March evening exam)
22
7.5
23 7.6
24 GREAT
Day
26 7.7
29 7.8
30 7.9
May
1 8.1
Report2
due
3 8.3
6 8.4
7
review
PS4 due
8 review
Monday,
May 13 12-3:20p Final XM
Assignments at beginning of the semester for Calculus 228:
The most important topics to review from 221 for 228 are
differentiation and integration. While I will assume that you
know all of chapters 1-5, focus your review thoughts on Chapters 2
and 4.
Opening day exercises (remember exercises are not graded)
If you want a taste of things, here are some sample questions of
review nature to think about:
p. 215 11 - 34, 45, 51
p. 365 9 - 30