Syllabus
Key information
- Instructor: Truong-Son Van
- Email: son.van+104@fulbright.edu.vn
- Class time: Mon & Wed 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
- Class Location: Classroom 1
- Office hours: Mon & Wed 9:00 am - 10:00 am or by email appointment
- Prerequisites: Calculus (MATH 101)
- Midterm: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
- Final: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Key dates
- Add/Drop end: Jan 17
- Tet: Jan 23 - Feb 7
- Pass/No pass: Feb 14
- Withdrawal: Mar 14
- Midterm break: Mar 17 - 21
- Hung King: Apr 7
- Independence & Labor Days: Apr 30 - May 1
- Spring Term end: May 16
Materials and references
Textbook: Calculus Early Transcendental by Stewart. \(8^{th}\) edition.
I have some brief notes online on this page for you to review some key points. However, reading the book is the best preparation.
Additional References
The following books are highly recommended. If you find the style of the videos doesn’t fit you and would love to have something concrete to read, they are your friends.
Active Calculus: Multivariable by Schlicker et al. 2018 edition. (https://activecalculus.org/multi/preface-2.html)
Thomas’ Calculus: Early Transcendentals by Hass, Heil, et al. \(14^{th}\) edition.
Anything you can find on Google would work. Calculus is a subject that people have written about so much. So, there’s no excuse for not having access to the knowledge.
3-D grapher: https://www.math3d.org/
Very good graphers: https://www.desmos.com/, https://www.geogebra.org/
Course description
How do we describe the trajectory of a space shuttle? How is the human body affected by scuba diving to different depths for different lengths of time? The mathematics required to describe most real life systems involves functions of more than one variable. The concepts of the derivative and integral from a first course in calculus must therefore be extended to higher dimensional settings. In this course students will be guided through the essential ideas of multivariable calculus, including partial derivatives, multiple integrals and vector calculus, and their applications. These mathematical tools are used extensively in the physical sciences and engineering, and in other areas including economics and computer graphics.
Learning objectives
After the course, students are expected to:
Be confident in handling functions of two or more variables and familiar with how they can be represented graphically
Understand the key concepts of multivariable calculus, including partial derivatives, the gradient vector, multiple integrals, line and surface integrals, the divergence and curl of a vector function
Know how such derivatives and integrals are calculated and some of their uses
Be able to apply these ideas to real world problems
Have improved analytic, computational and problem solving skills
Homework
Homework is optional. You can do it for your own good but are not required to turn them in. The reason I don’t collect homework anymore is because solutions are everywhere online (even ChatGPT can do them now) so checking your homework is no longer a good metric to know your learning effort.
However, I will be available to answer your questions related to the homework.
Assessment
During the course, students are expected to compute their own percentage points based on the following scheme. The instructor is not responsible for providing the running percentage.
| Form of assessment | Weight |
|---|---|
| Weekly quizzes (Wednesday) | 40% |
| Midterm | 30% |
| Final | 30% |
The following is the non-negotiable letter grade breakdown. It is based on common practice in the United States for standard courses such as Calculus.
| Letter Grade | Percentage |
|---|---|
| A | [93,100] |
| A- | [90,93) |
| B+ | [87,90) |
| B | [83,87) |
| B- | [80, 83) |
| C+ | [77,80) |
| C | [73,77) |
| C- | [70,73) |
| D+ | [67,70) |
| D | [60, 66) |
| F | [0,60) |
Core content
Chapters 12 - 16 of Stewart.
Vectors and Geometry of Space
Vector Functions
Partial Derivatives
Multiple Integrals
Vector Calculus
Time expectations
Some materials require time to be accustomed to. Some students are quicker than others. However, on average, you should expect 10-15 hours per week (including class time) on the materials in order to know the subject relatively well.
Collaboration & Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of submitting the intellectual property of another person as your own. It is one of the most serious of academic offenses. Acts of plagiarism include, but are not limited to:
Copying, or allowing someone to copy, all or a part of another person’s work and presenting it as your own, or not giving proper credit.
Purchasing a paper from someone (or a website) and presenting it as your own work.
Re-submitting your work from another course to fulfill a requirement in another course.
Further details can be found in the Code of Academic Integrity [link].
Learning Support
In addition to your course instructors, there are other resources available to support your academic work at Fulbright, including one-on-one consultations with learning support staff, supplementary workshops, and both individual and group tutoring and mentoring in course content, language learning, and academic skills. If you would like to request learning support, please contact Fulbright Learning Support (https://learning-support.notion.site).
Wellbeing
Mental health and wellbeing are essential for the success of your academic journey. The Fulbright Wellness Center provides various services including counseling, safer community, and accessibility services. If you are experiencing undue personal or academic stress, are feeling unsafe, or would like to know more about issues related to wellbeing, please contact the Wellness Center via wellness@fulbright.edu.vn or visit the Wellness Center office on Level 5 of the Crescent campus.
For more information, pleaes check https://onestop.fulbright.edu.vn/s/article/Health-and-Wellness-Introduction
Tentative Course Schedule
The following schedule will be updated as we go so that students will know what to watch/read before/after class.
| Week | Topcs | Read | Homework |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vectors and Geometry | Chapter 12 | 12.1: 11 - 37, 12.2: 1 - 28, 12.3: 1 - 24 |
| 2 | Projection and Cross Product | Chapter 12 | 12.3: 39 - 55, 12.4: 1 - 39 |
| 3 | Equations of lines and planes | Chapter 12 | 12.5: 6 - 31 |
| Cylinders and Quadratic Surfaces | Chapter 12 | 12.6: 1 - 38 | |
| 4 | Vector functions: limits, continuity, derivatives | Chapter 13 | 13.1: 1 - 32 , 13.2: 2 - 40 |