Math 133, Section 001, Fall 2020

Primary instructor:  R. Schultz  (rschultz AT ucr DOT edu)

Information before the first course meeting

There is no required text.  Everything for the course is available in the following online folder:
http://math.ucr.edu/~res/math133-2020
Files will be added to this folder during the quarter.  A folder for a previous version of the course
http://math.ucr.edu/~res/math133-2018
may be useful for students who wish to read ahead.  The current folder is organized into subfolders corresponding to each week of the course. 
Course content.  Information on the course content is given in the following documents:
http://math.ucr.edu/~res/math133-2020/math133-scheduleF20.pdf
http://math.ucr.edu/~res/math133-2020/math133-topicsF20.pdf
All files except a few ordinary text files are pdf files which can be opened, downloaded, and they can be read or printed with the free Acrobat readers that are available or easily downloadable on most if not all electronic communications devices.   Please contact me or the teaching assistant promptly if you have problems viewing or printing out any of the files in the course directory.  Finally, these files are only intended for classroom purposes and are not meant for widespread public circulation.

Grading.  A tentative schedule of quizzes and exams is given in the schedule.  The three quizzes will count for 30 per cent of the grade, and percentages for the midterm and final examination will be annouced later.  A subfolder of the course directory contains quizzes and exams (with solutions) from earlier versions of this course.
Students are responsible for knowing how to do all the exercises enumerated in the current course assignments files; these will be listed online and taken from exercise files posted in the course directory.  Solutions for all exercises will be posted in the course directory.

Contact information.   My University email address is given above.  If and when you send electronic messages to me, please add something like Math 133 or geometry to the subject matter so that your message does not get lost in the middle of a batch of spam messages.  I shall attempt to answer electronic messages regarding the course in a reasonably timely
manner, especially during regular working hours, and in some instances outside of such hours (but there are no guarantees).  Complete answers to more complicated questions may require additional time.

Interaction during lectures.  Student questions are encouraged; my experience is that classes go better when students ask me questions.  Since classes this quarter are taking place with Zoom, some adjustments from the usual face to face method are needed.  Questions can always be asked using the chat feature and usually by speaking after unmuting your microphone.  As a courtesy to everyone else, you should mute yourself unless you are going to speak; even sounds which seem harmless can be distracting to others.   I am able to mute individuals if absolutely necessary, but I would rather not do so.  Brief communications with other students can be done using the private message option in the chat feature.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions, especially if you do not understand something or if something in the lecture seems wrong — even if everyone else seems to understand (you probably are not alone).   Questions on homework or review are generally best answered at the beginning of class and should be asked at that time.  In general such questions are encouraged, but in some cases it might be necessary to limit such question periods or to post the answers online after class.  
Interaction with other students.  Discussions with fellow students are often extremely useful for absorbing course material.  Since face to face discussion are not possible this quarter, use of an application like http://groupme.com  is recommended.  Last quarter the students in another upper level undergrduate class were able to manage this on their own, but if problems arise please contact the teaching assistant (Mr. A. Martin, email amart136 AT ucr DOT edu) or me.  
Statement for students with disabilities:   Students who have been certified by the University as eligible for academic adjustments should
go to the Special Services office and request the information on how to proceed this term to get these adjustments made in their courses. This should be done during the first week of classes. Information regarding this office is available at https://sdrc.ucr.edu/ .  Only students who have been certified by the University and who have requested the University to
send their certification letter to their instructor are legally eligible for academic adjustments.  

Students who are currently undergoing an evaluation process to determine whether they are eligible for academic adjustments are encouraged to find out now what procedures they will have to follow
when they are certified by requesting the information mentioned above.