Course Information

Texts

Official Textbook

• C. Neuhauser, Calculus for Biology and Medicine, 3rd Ed., Prentice Hall.
  

• Instructor - Oren Louidor
  Please note 1: All email inquiries concerning this course must have their subject line contain the word "Math 3B". Otherwise, they will not be caught by the email forwarding system and not reach the instructor.
  Please note 2: Oren Louidor will not respond to inquiries made via Virtual Office Hours. However, you are welcome to use it as an intercommunication arena among you.
• TAs - David Roberts, Michael Hall, Jacques Benatar

Evaluation Policy
Homework

• In general - There will be weekly homework assignments. Problems will be taken from the book or other sources. It is vital that you do the homework as, in general in mathematical courses, understanding is achieved via practicing. Moreover, many problems in the midterms and the final will be similar to homework problems.
• Justify your solution - The final answers to most problems will be provided so that you could verify that your answer is correct. This is yet another reason for you to thoroughly justify your solution. Correct final answers with wrong or not enough justification will be scored poorly.
• Group work - Group work is allowed, but is limited to 4 people per group and you must explicitly write on the first page of the homework, the names of the people in your group. Identical works of students who are not explicitly stated to belong to the same work group will all be disqualified and receive a grade of 0.
• Homework cycle - Homework will be handed in at the end of the lecture on Monday and returned graded in recitation in the following week. Homework due on Monday will cover the material taught in the 3 lectures ending in the one on the Monday a week before and the recitation following this Monday (i.e. you will have a week between the last lecture which is covered by the homework and the time you have to submit it).
• Submission guidelines - Attach this cover page as the first page of each submitted homework assignment. Please staple.

Examinations

• In general - All examinations in this course are closed book. No notes and accessories (e.g. calculators) will be allowed.
• Midterms - There will be two midterms. See course schedule for precise times. Midterms will take place during the time of the lecture and will last for one full hour.
• Final - The final examination will cover all material in the course. See course schedule for the precise time of the final.

Grades

• Ranges - Homework grades will be between 0 and 10. All exam grades will be between 0 and 100.
• Dropping of lowest grades - The lowest 2 homework grades will be dropped when calculating the average homework grade.
• Final numeric grade - Your final numeric grade is calculated as the maximum between your final exam grade and the weighted average of your final exam grade, the midterm grades and the average homework grade (scaled to 0 to 100). That is, your final numeric grade is determined as:
  max {F, 0.5F + 0.2M1 + 0.2M2 + 0.1H}
  where F=Final exam, M1=Midterm1, M2=Midterm2, H=Average HW grade.
• Final letter grade - The numeric cut-offs for determining the final letter grade from the final numeric grade will be defined according to the performance of the class. The general policy is that the top 25% will get an A grade (A+/A/A-),the next 30% will get a B grade (B+/B/B-). The remaining students who will have above 50 as their final numeric grade will be given a C grade (C+/C/C-). All the rest will get a D or an F. Note that this is just a guideline and the final conversion policy may be modified to make sure that the grades accurately portray the performance of the students relative to what is expected in the course. Also note that for the same reason, there are no posted guidelines as to the division to X+/X/X- in each grade group X.
• Posting - Grades will be accessible via MyUCLA.

Makeup\alternate exams and late homework submission

• Homework - No late homework submission will be allowed. This is why the 2 lowest homework grades are dropped.
• Midterms - In the case of a fully justified nonattendence of a midterm (e.g. sickness with a physician's note), an alternate oral midterm will be administrated.
• Final - Alternate time will be given only in cases were religious circumstances prevent the student from taking the exam in its original date. Contact the lecturer during the first week of classes if this is the case. Not showing up for the final exam results in an automatic F, unless under well justified and unpredictable circumstances (e.g. sickness) and only if student has completed with passing grades all homework assignments and the midterms - all in accordance with university and departmental policy. In the latter case, an I (incomplete) will be given.

Appeals

• In general - You may only appeal on correctness, not on the amount of partial credit you think you deserve.
• Midterm - The Midterm will be returned in recitations. A randomly chosen sample of the works will be photocopied and kept with the staff of the course (to make sure no sudden changes mysteriously appear). Appeals must be submitted to the instructor within one week after the midterm is returned, in person during office hours.
• Final - The final exams are not returned. To request a copy of your exam, you must fill out a form (to be posted later) and (physically) submit it. A copy of your work will then be sent to you via email. Appeals must be submitted to the instructor within two weeks of receiving your grade, in writing, i.e. via email.

• Student Math Center (SMC) - Departmental tutoring service. Group study and tutorials for lower division math courses on a drop-in bases.
• Covell Math/Science Tutorials - University tutoring service. Weekly tutorial group meetings and drop-in service. Note: Online registration is required for weekly sessions and seem to get full very quickly.
• Private Tutors - The math department maintains a list of graduate students who are available for hire as students.