Here is the review guide for the first exam. It comes to you in the form of a test. It is important to note that the test you will be getting is 50 minutes long. Here’s how to go about preparing for the test:

Step 1: Go over the items you will be expected to be able to do on the test. These are:

Simplifying different sorts of functions, including ratios of functions, logarithmic and exponential functions.
Finding the average rate of change of a function over some interval.
Be able to solve exponential equations and log equations.
Computing limits.
Finding the derivative of a function via the definition of the derivative and using this to find a tangent line.
For bonus problems, study Linear Approximation, Exponential Growth and Decay, or L’Hopital’s rule.

WARNING: Don’t spend too much time reviewing the above! A couple hours tops. You already put in the time and effort into these topics by doing homework and studying for quizzes, you just want to hone your skills a bit and brush up. Anything more is wasting time. You want to assess how you will do on a long form test as soon as possible, so don’t wait too long to start step 2.

Step 2: After doing your quick brush-up of the topics, complete the test below under timed conditions. Give yourself 50 minutes, no distractions, and take by yourself under test conditions.

Mock Test 1

Step 3: After doing the test, take a break. Then come back and assess for yourself how you did.

You can find the solutions here. Do NOT look at these unless you’ve taken the test under test conditions first.

You may also consult your classmates or see someone in the math help room to go over items you feel sketchy on. I highly recommend that you do this step with other people–either a small group of your classmates or one experienced tutor–it is not very efficient otherwise.

Step 4: Brush up again on the topics that you assessed gave you trouble in step 3.

Step 5: Try similar problems to the test, and be sure to always time yourself. If you were OK on time, you may practice topic by topic on anything you were shaky on. If timing is also an issue, create another mock test of the same format (or better, have someone make one for you) and retake that test. Assess how well you did again.

Step 6: You may ask someone to swap problems out for similar problems in the homework and quizzes. Practicing problems you’re familiar with will not help anything but your ego. So doing the same test over and over will have diminishing returns. Getting familiar problems correct is more a matter of memory than it is of proficiency and understanding. So practice similar problems, but not the same problems.

Step 7: Ask Jhevon for advice at any point after step 2.

Review for test 2

Here is the review guide for the first exam. It comes to you in the form of a test. It is important to note that the test you will be getting is 50 minutes long. You should spend about 1 hour on the mock test. Here’s how to go about preparing for the test:

Step 1: Go over the items you will be expected to be able to do on the test. These are:

Evaluating integrals, including using substitution.
Finding the average rate of change of a function over some interval.
Solving marginal function problem.
Solving exponential growth/decay problems.
Solving related rates problems.
Solving optimization problems.
Know how to sketch curves and find all the important features to do so.
Know how to use the closed interval method to find absolute extrema.

Step 2: After doing your quick brush-up of the topics, complete the test below under timed conditions. Give yourself 60 minutes, no distractions, and take by yourself under test conditions.

Mock Test 2

Step 3: After doing the test, take a break. Then come back and assess for yourself how you did.

Step 4: Brush up again on the topics that you assessed gave you trouble in step 3.

Step 7: Ask Jhevon for advice at any point after step 2.

Review for the Final Exam

Hey guys,
So your final exams are next week (yay!). I’m sure you’re all ready to be done with all this. I don’t know about you guys, but for me this online transition was tough. Here are some details about the final. I don’t normally give mock finals for 1203, but under the circumstances, I think this semester warrants one.

Date/Time of the final:

Section R03 (10:30am class) has its final on Tuesday, May 5 @ 9:30am.

Section R04 (11:30am class) has its final on Tuesday, May 12 @ 1:30pm.

Do NOT mix up the date of your final! You’re also not allowed to take the final of a section that you’re not in.

If you’re in the R03 section, and have commitments (such as another final) on Monday May 4th, you should reach out to me ASAP and let me know when those commitments are. If there is demand, I can hold a review session on Monday that must end by 4:30pm, but I’d like to choose a good time slot.

Online mock final

We’ll be taking our final online, as we did test 2. The final will last 2 hours and 15 minutes and you will have an additional 15 minutes to upload your answers (in the right format to the right location, you forfeit credit otherwise). It will be essentially a combination of tests 1 and 2 (more details later).

I am currently working on getting that online mock final up on Top Hat. It should be up within 2 hours after receipt of this email. The online mock final will be live until Monday, May 4th at 3pm. You will need to have taken it by then which should give you enough time to fix issues. At the very least, you will need to have taken it before any potential review session. A review before you’ve taken a mock exam will be almost useless.

Review guide for the final
While waiting for the online mock, and before taking it: reviewing the old reviews, tests and quizzes is a good place to *start* reviewing for the final. Extra practice problems can be found in the handouts given in class and lastly the homework. As mentioned, the final will be about 2 hours and 15 minutes long and will require students to do nine problems total. There will be 11 problems split among two sections, with options for the second section.

The breakdown is as follows:

Part I: Four compulsory problems. Topics: Finding derivatives, computing integrals, exponential growth/decay, and using the limit definition to find a derivative and then compute a tangent line. Compulsory problems will be indicated. MAKE SURE THAT AT THE END OF THE FINAL YOU HAVE COMPLETED NINE TOTAL PROBLEMS INCLUDING ALL COMPULSORY PROBLEMS. In a paper test this is easy to see, it’s harder to designate such parts in an electronic test, but I want to give you guys the benefit of being able to skip certain problems.

Part II: Seven problems will be given from which students must complete five. There is no extra credit for doing more than the required number of problems, but I’ll give you credit for the best five problems completed if you complete more. Topics include: finding limits, related rates, optimization, curve sketching (including finding all the elements involved), approximating integrals, finding areas under curves, finding areas between curves, absolute extrema, and marginal analysis.

Review the above topics BEFORE taking the practice online final. When taking the online final, take it for real, as a test. Take it by yourself with no help, time yourself and be strict! STOP writing after 2 hours and 15 minutes and then scan and upload your answers to the mock final solutions submission HW within another 15 minutes. You need to practice how you want to perform.

You are not doing yourself any favors by taking extra time on the test or taking more than 15 minutes to upload your answers. The mock final will not kick you out if you complete it before the due date, but the real final will kick you out after 2 hours and 15 minutes, and then the submission link will disappear 15 minutes after that.

Take care and good luck. Let’s finish this semester strong and show 2020 that we will NOT be defeated!

Best,
Jhevon