Class Information

Course Title Math 242 (Sections 005&006): Calculus II

Instructor Kameryn Williams

Website http://kamerynjw.net/teaching/2019/math242/

Email kamerynw [ at ] hawaii ( period ) edu

Class Hours Tuesday/Thursday 9:00–10:15

Room Keller 302

Recitation Hours Wednesday (005) 9:30–10:20 (006) 12:30–1:20pm

Recitation Room Keller 404

Office Hours Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday 10:30–11:30

Office Physical Science Building 305

Teaching Assistant Lance Ferrer

TA Office Hours Wednesday 11:00–12:00, 1:50–2:50

TA Office Keller 412

Textbook Calculus, 8th ed., James Stewart.[1] (ISBN: 978-1285740621)

Course Description Integration techniques and applications, series and approximations, differential equations.

Prerequisite A grade of C or better in Math 241 or 251A or a grade of B or better in Math 215 or consent.

Grading Policy

Grades will be assigned based upon the following F to A scale. I reserve the right to make later adjustments to the scale.

  • [90,100] A;

  • [85,90) A-;

  • [80,85) B+;

  • [70,80) B;

  • [65,70) B-;

  • [60,65) C+;

  • [50,60) C;

  • [45,50) C-;

  • [40,45) D+;

  • [30,40) D;

  • [25,30) D-;

  • [0,25) F.

The breakdown for your grade is as follows:

  • 10% homework

  • 10% recitation

  • 15% quizzes

  • 20% midterm 1

  • 20% midterm 2

  • 25% final exam

Attendance Policy

You are expected to attend every class, for that is an important part of learning the material. I advise you to exchange contact info with classmates so that you can share notes in case you have to miss class.

Homework Policy

Assigned homework can be found on the course website. Homework will be collected once a week, on Thursdays. The work you turn in is expected to be your own.

Homework will be graded 20% on completion, and 80% based upon a selection of problems from the assignment. For each homework assignment I tell you a small subset of the assigned problems that I will choose from for grading. You must still do all the assignment for the 20% completion points!

Homework should be clearly written, so that I can follow the logical steps you take. Each problem should end with the final answer appropriately formulated and circled.

I do not accept late homework. If you will miss class, make arrangements to either submit your homework early to me or have another student turn it in for you.

That said, I understand that life gets in the way and sometimes homework doesn’t get done on time. To accommodate this, I will drop your lowest two homework scores from the final calculation for your grade. If there is something that will cause you to miss more than two weeks worth of homework, please get in contact with me as early as possible.

Recitation Policy

In addition to lecture, you are to attend a recitation session with a teaching assistant once per week where you will work on problem sets. These will be graded based upon participation, where up to two absences will be dropped from consideration for your final grade.

Quiz Policy

There will be weekly quizzes, in class on Tuesdays. No make-up quizzes will be given, but I will drop your lowest two quiz scores from the final calculation for your grade.

Exam Policy

There will be two midterms and one final, each common between all the sections of Math 242. To accommodate the common exams, they will not be held during the usual class time. They are scheduled for:

  • Exam 1: Thursday, October 3, 6:00–7:15pm in Webster Hall 203.

  • Exam 2: Thursday, November 7, 6:00–7:15pm in Webster Hall 203.

  • Final Exam: Wednesday, December 18, 12:00–2:00pm, room TBA.

Please make sure in advance that you will be able to be there for the exams. I am unable to offer rescheduled or make-up exams, with the exception of the retake allowed through the Early Access Program. See below.

No calculators nor other electronic devices are allowed on exams.

Skills quiz

A Calc II skills quiz will be given during the first recitation session of the semester. This quiz will not count toward your grade and will be used to help you determine whether you would benefit from the Early Action Program.

Early Action Program

Data from past semesters have shown that a common reason for students to do poorly in Calc II is because they didn’t fully master the material from previous classes. This can happen for many reasons—a bad instructor, getting sick and missing an important lecture, problems in one’s personal life, undiagnosed learning disabilities, or just not putting forth the time/effort. Unfortunately, we have a lot of material to cover in this class and cannot afford to spend class time reviewing material from previous courses. The Early Action Program is a means to help out those students who, for whatever reason, need extra time to master that material. The sessions in this program are led by peer Learning Assistants, one of whom will be present in your regular recitation session.

Following the skills quiz, you will be given the opportunity to participate in a three week session of additional recitations. These recitations will meet three times a week, later in the afternoon/evening. The purpose of this intensive recitation is to allow students to hone their precalculus and Calc I skills. These extra recitation are optional, but if you couldn’t answer most of the questions on the skills quiz then you are strongly encouraged to attend. (Note: this is separate from your recitations with your TA, which everyone is required to attend.)

After the first midterm the Early Action Program will switch focus from material from precalculus and Calc I to material that was covered on the first midterm. If you performed poorly on the first midterm then you are strongly encouraged to attend this second phase of the Early Action Program. The department is offering a carrot toward encouraging those of you who would benefit to take advantage of this opportunity: If you participate in this program you will be given the opportunity to retake the first midterm. This will replace your score, up to a certain maximum, which will be communicated to you after the first midterm. (The point of the maximum is to be fair to those students who did well on the first midterm and so don’t participate in this program.) Anyone may join the optional recitations but exam scores will not be increased above the specified threshold.

After this retake, optional recitations will continue for the remainder of the course, for extra help with the course content. These sessions will cover material from Calc II, giving you extra time to work problems.

Academic Honesty

Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.

KOKUA Program and Accessibility

Students with disabilities are legally entitled to reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to education. Any student who feels they may need accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the KOKUA Program, the UH Mānoa office for students with disabilities. I am committed to providing students with equal access to this class, and am happy to work with you and KOKUA to ensure reasonable accommodations in my course. Because the accommodations offered are usually forward-looking modifications rather than mitigating poor grades you may have already received due to your disability, it is important to get in touch with the KOKUA Program as soon as you can. Further information and contact details can be found on their website.

The ADA defines a disability as a medical condition that substantially limits one or more major life activities—including things like walking sleeping, taking care of yourself, learning, and regulating your emotions—or major bodily functions. If you have a medical condition—including mental health conditions—that significantly interferes with your schoolwork, you probably qualify. You do not need to disclose your condition to your instructors to receive accommodations.

Counseling and Student Development Center

The Counseling and Student Development Center offers confidential counseling services to support students with personal, academic, or career concerns.

Food Vault Hawaiʻi

Groups on campus have organized a food pantry, free to use for students at UH Mānoa. All registered students with a valid student ID may access the food pantry. Further information, including location and schedule, can be found here or on this facebook page.


[1] Stewart passed away in 2014, but that hasn’t stopped Cengage from continuing to publish new editions of his textbook, with slight tweaks and incompatibilities to force students to buy the latest edition. You may enjoy learning that the house he had built with money from textbook sales recently went on the market with an asking price of over twenty million Canadian dollars. [go back]