COURSE NAME AND NUMBER Business Calculus I  MAT 1513

CATALOG DESCRIPTION The basics of differential calculus with emphasis on business applications

CREDIT/CONTACT HOURS 3 semester hours/ 3 hours per week

TEXTBOOK Calculus for the Managerial, Life, and Social Sciences, 7th edition

by S. T. Tan,  Brooks/Cole, 2006

SUPPORTING MATERIALS (lab manual, website, student manual, art/drawing supplies, etc.) Student's Solution Manual

TEACHING METHODS Lectures presented primarily involve working examples on the overhead projector and explaining definitions and the applications of  problems.  This is supplemented by class participation, practice, and assigned homework.  Comments and corrections are made on tests papers and a structured walk through of  selected problems is presented.

ATTENDANCE  Attendance Policy:   Absence from class should be the result of unavoidable circumstances such as sickness, family deaths, hazardous road conditions, and so forth.  Students who are absent from class more than 14% of the scheduled class meetings will be reported to the Records Office for excessive absences.  Students who are removed from class (cut-out) for non-attendance will have a grade of F recorded for the course. 

COURSE OUTCOMES (general objectives) To provide an introduction to calculus for students who are studying  in the fields of  business, management, economics, and the social and life sciences.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLO’s) (specific objectives)

1.           To visualize the derivative as the rate of change of a function.

2.           To use derivative formulas separately and in combination with each other.

3.           To apply derivatives to find minima and maxima points and points of inflection.

4.           To use derivatives as an aid in curve sketching.

5.           To apply the procedures for finding maxima and minima to solve problems from   

            management, life, and social sciences.

6.           To find derivatives of exponential and logarithmic functions.

ASSESSMENT (projects, papers, tests, activities, etc. that will be evaluated)        There will be five unit tests and a comprehensive final examination.  Unit test I will measure objective 1.  Unit tests 2 and 3 will measure objectives 2.  Unit test 4 will measure objectives 3 and  4.  Unit test 5 will measure objectives 5. Objective 6 will be measured on the final exam. 

The unit tests will account for 80% of the final grade  and the final examination , which will be comprehensive, will account for 20% of the final grade.

EVALUATION (grading scale, rubric, checklists, etc.) :     The following grading scale will be used:

                 A                93 - 100

                 B                85 -   92

                 C                75 -   84

                 D                70 -   74

                 F                 Below 70

ACADEMIC HONESTY Academic honesty is a fundamental attribute of higher learning.  Students who violate the principle of honesty deny themselves an opportunity to master the skills that they are credited to possess, cheat their classmates of deserved recognition, and demean the college and its degrees.  It is a matter of great concern that all members of the college community strive for high standards of personal integrity.

              Evaluation of each student’s level of knowledge and understanding is a vital part of the teaching process, and requires tangible measures such as reports, examinations, and homework.  Any act that interferes with the process of evaluation by misrepresenting the relationship between the work being evaluated and the student’s actual state of knowledge is an act of academic dishonesty.  These acts of dishonesty include but are not limited to:  fraud, cheating, plagiarism, forgery, and facilitating dishonesty.  (Definitions found in Northeast Procedures Manual).