Subject: [mat2705] the official welcome message from your instructor

 

Dear MAT2705 Jantzen section of DEwLinAlg
 (as of this date),
 
 Hi. This is a welcome message from your math instructor, bob jantzen.
 I look forward to working with you during the coming semester here at Villanova.

 

You should immediately enter BlackBoard and register
with our  e-textbook portal before the first day of class
following these instructions (now is better than later!):

Nearly all  of our homework will be managed there, together with access to our e-textbook.
You have two weeks to pay for access after joining the class.
[The cheapest purchase option is direct from the publisher for $74.95, see this explanation.]

 

You can learn about me from my homepage:
  http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/  [or directly: dr bob, who is this guy?]
 
 and about our class this semester from its homepage
where all of our online class activities will be directed
  http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen/courses/mat2705/

                     >>>   direct homework page link <<<<
  

 This includes some of my scanned old tests and quizzes and all their answer
 keys [and expanded maple worksheet answer keys to show additional
 features]  to give you an idea of what I expect, the syllabus, an on-line class
 and homework log, which will be added to daily as assignments are given out for each class,
 and general advice about the course.


Quizzes  will be scanned using the super easy and automated
FREE cell phone scanning app Adobe Scan (install it now from wherever
 you download apps!) and uploaded into BlackBoard.  You can upload corrected
complete versions if you need to up to 3 times. The grader will grade the final version.
 
 During the entire semester I encourage you to communicate with me
     ---in class or by email or during in-person office hours or via Zoom office hour---
 about what you find difficult or confusing so that I can better help you
 in your learning process. I am not your adversary but your facilitator for
 learning the course materials.
 
 You have been doing calculus until now, with different
 degrees of success and stopping points. Now we are moving on to use
 knowledge of derivatives and integrals in the calculus of a single variable
 in understanding how differential  equations work. We would like to understand
 the underlying concepts,  not just be able to follow some recipes. Whenever you
 forget the meaning of a technical term, you are encouraged to ask me (please interrupt!);

 you will be doing the class a service since others may also need reminding.
 
 Some of you will like me and others will not. This is a fact of life.
 Remember that teaching is my number one priority here at Villanova and I want
 to help you. Let me do that by communicating to me when you feel I am not
 helping you, in class or after class.

 

By the end of the week, reply to this welcome e-mail from your OFFICIAL Villanova e-mail account (which identifies you with your full name), telling about your last math courses, your comfort level with graphing calculators and computers and math itself,  how much experience you have with Maple if any (and Mathcad if appropriate) so far, why you chose your major, etc, anything you want to let me know about yourself that will give me more of an idea about you as a person. [For example, I like to do humorous sketching. and cooking.] Tell me what your previous math course was named (if at VU: Mat1500 = Calc 1, Mat1505 = Calc 2, Mat2500 = Calc3).  Please attach (not include as an image) your class schedule grid from MyNova saved to PDF, or as an image file, or perhaps a screen shot saved to JPG, and name the file LastName-FirstName.<fileextension> so I can easily extract them to a folder on my laptop for future reference.

 

If you have an extra moment  before our first class, 
watch this 9 minute YouTube video linked here: massdampers.htm
that shows a physical problem using the mathematics we will work up to by the end
of the semester, two coupled damped oscillators, which is a simple model for
realistic damping of the swaying motion of tall skyscrapers and many other physical systems.


 thanks,
 bob
 [You can call me "bob", "dr bob", or "dr jantzen" depending on how
 formal you wish to be. See the "bob teaching FAQ" for the "dr bob" story.
 I will try to learn your first name or preferred nickname if you help me by not
 being an "invisible student" (one who seeks minimal interaction with the instructor).]

 

bob jantzen

http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/robert.jantzen

http://www.drbobenterprises.com

 

PS did you make it all the way to the bottom?

good thing hardly any of your professors send such long welcome

messages, eh?