Harrell's 1501 Pep Talk

Fall, 2001 (MWF 12:00) in Physics Lecture Room 1, in the Howey Building

Many, probably a majority of you, have had calculus before. Of course some topics will be familiar to you, but you will also find that because we have tailored the syllabus to the needs of this special campus, even some parts of the material you have already encountered will be different. And of course we prevent boredom by moving two or three times as fast - literally - and by a sophisticated approach to the concepts. We take technology into account. For instance, when your Uncle Zack took calculus from our beloved, recently retired Prof. Cain, back in 1960, he was given killer test problems like integrating the exponential of x³ and then finding the Taylor series of the result. Today, with software, that is as easy as squaring on your calculator. Scientists and Engineers today do mathematics differently than in the past. Complicated calculations can be done with software such as Maple, and there are many powerful items on the World Wide Web to help you both to learn mathematics and to do it effectively. Georgia Tech is one of the leaders in incorporating these developments into our calculus classes, with Maple, Mathematica, Java, and other software. We hope that you will use software and the Internet to help with calculations and learning, but will always remember that real understanding requires you to exercise your mind as well as your fingers.

The learning environment here will be different as well. You may have calculus in a large theater setting with 170 other intimidatingly bright students. The large lectures will meet three times a week and will teach you the theory of calculus, and you will go twice a week to recitations , where you have the chance to practice and get individualized help from teaching assistants. Syllabuses, assignments, etc., will be distributed through the Web. Some of you, and not just a few, will need extra help. This is nothing to be ashamed of, and Tech has multiple resources available to give you on the spot tutoring and individualized help. Most notable of these is the Math Lab, which is a walk-in service available four afternoons a week where graduate students help you with your assignments. There are also excellent programs run by OMED, which are open to all, not just minorities, and evening help sessions at the library. But - and this is important - you now an adult, and it is your responsibility to make use of the tutoring programs, form a study group, and come to the professor's office periods. It is even your responsibility to choose to come to class. Nobody will police you. By the way, office periods are great for the rapport between students and profs, and we are always happy when students show up for them. We too, like the individual contact. But it will be up to you to choose to come.

Many of you who have not had calculus before, it is natural to be intimidated by the heightened competition here and to worry that some students who went to, perhaps, big high schools with more resources than yours might have had. My advice to you is to let your fear work for you. In Calculus I, my experience is that many of the very top students at the end are ones who are new to calculus. They took is seriously, and they were not deceived into coasting because many of the terms and calculations early in the course were familiar. Some of the others, actually, wake up too late to get the grade they are capable of.

To sum up, calculus at Georgia Tech is a challenging and central part of the freshman experience. It will be up to you to make the most of it with good study habits, taking the initiative to get the help you need. You have the ability,or you wouldn't have been admitted. Make the most of it!