Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
       MTH251/252/253 - Calculus
Distance Education Class Procedures and Information     

Calculus Distance Education Information

These courses are being offered as distance education courses. You are probably viewing this page because you are either registered as a distance education student or you are considering taking these courses through distance education. The purpose of this page is to provide distance education students with the information they need in order to complete these course by this method (i.e. you can consider this page as your first virtual day of class). You are expected to and therefore should check this page periodically to see if there is anything new posted here. You are responsible for any notices or other information that may be posted on this page at any time during the term. The schedule of due dates for distance education students is given below.

First ..........

Send an email to your instructor. Yes, you must have a reliable email account. Please do NOT change accounts during the term. The return address on the email account you use to send this email will be used for all correspondence for this class. The content of this email is to include:

Your instructor's email address is: rwallace@bluecc.edu

Face-to-Face and Elluminate Live Recordings

These courses are also being taught as traditional face-to-face courses and via Elluminate Live (synchronous students at remote locations). Most classes will be recorded and therefore distance education students may, at any time, view the class recordings. To get to the recordings, go to the Elluminate Live page of the course web site. The links there will launch the recordings.

Basic Distance Education Course Procedures

During this course, you will primarily be doing three things. They are ...

  1. Virtual Lectures - Virtual class sessions are available in two forms. It is recommend that you view both. Note that trying to do the homework without first studying these materials is like not attending class. These materials ARE your classes.
  2. Homework Problems on MyMathLab/CourseCompass - After viewing the Virtual Lectures and reading the textbook, you are to complete the assign problems for each section found on the MyMathLab/Course Compass web site. Access to MyMathLab/CourseCompass is included with your textbook. When registering, use the access code included with the textbook and the instructor code wallace04542. The first time you login to your account, you will need to run the Browser Check (last button at the left) to make sure that you have all necessary add-ons installed on your computer.
  3. Tests - After each chapter, you will be taking a proctored test at the BMCC testing center nearest you. If you do not live near a BMCC testing center, please contact Bruce Kauss (bkauss@bluecc.edu or 1-888-297-2622) to setup a proctor (do this immediately ... do NOT wait until just before the first test).

Questions and Getting Help? There are several ways to get questions answered and get help with problems.

  1. MyMathLab/CourseCompass - When doing problems online, there are buttons (Help Me Solve This & View an Example) that will give you help with each problem (it is recommended that you try a problem first before using these helps). If these online aids do not help, there is a button that requests help from your instructor (Ask My Instructor). This will create an email to your instructor that will specify the problem you are having trouble with and also space for you to ask a question (please be as specific as possible ... "I don't know what to do!" is not very useful ... if possible, explain what you have tried to do).
  2. Email Directly to your Instructor - You may email your instructor (rwallace@bluecc.edu) with any questions about course topics, homework problems, or course procedures.
  3. Call Your Instructor on the Phone - You may call your instructor (1-541-278-5808) any time. If you prefer, your instructor can call you (just send and email with your phone number and a time/date that you would like your instructor to call).
  4. Drop by the Office - If you are in Pendleton, you are welcome to come by your instructor's office (E-107) any time. If your instructor is not available (yes, I do have other classes and required meetings to attend), other instructors in the department will be happy to help and answer questions.

Due Dates ...

ALL assignments and tests in this class have due dates. Due dates for this class are every Friday (regardless of any holidays) by 11:59:59 PM. However, in order to be successful in a math class, especially via distance education, it is vital that you do some work EVERY day (okay, you can have weekends off). The following is the schedule for the current course (yes, you can always complete work early and take tests early).

MTH251 - (Differential) Calculus
Week Sections Tests
1: Jan 3 - 7
2.1-3
 
2: Jan 10 - 14
2.4-6
 
3: Jan 17 - 21  
Chapter 2
4: Jan 24 - 28
3.1-3
 
5: Jan 31 - Feb 4
3.4-6
 
6: Feb 7 - 11
3.7-9 & 11
 
7: Feb 14 - 18  
Chapter 3
8: Feb 21 - 25
4.1-3
 
9: Feb 28 - Mar 4 4.4-6  
10: Mar 7 - 11
Chapter 4
Final: Tues, Mar 15   Final Exam