Preface

Preface Preface

These notes represent pre-class materials (brief introductions, if you will) for the MATH 136 lectures offered at the University of Alberta. These notes are not meant to be complete lectures notes. They are meant to be complemented by in-class materials (lecture notes, if you will), available on eClass, and the recommended textbook:

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Biocalculus: Calculus, Probability, and Statistics for the Life Sciences, by James Stewart and Troy Day, Cengage Learning

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Biocalculus: Calculus for the Life Sciences, by James Stewart and Troy Day, Cengage Learning

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(any edition of either of these books is fine).

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Each chapter in these notes corresponds to a week. Note that each chapter starts with a set of learning outcomes for the material covered that week, and finishes with references to (additional) learning resources for each learning outcome. The learning outcomes are really important:

they are statements that describe the knowledge or skills you should acquire,
they give you a way to reflect upon what you have learned, and
they provide a strong indication of what it is that you need to be able to demonstrate on assessments (term quizzes and the final exam).

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Each section in the notes corresponds to a lecture, and contains a brief introduction with key examples for a particular topic. You are expected to work through each section and complete the pre-class quiz (posted on eClass) before the corresponding lecture. The lecture will be devoted mostly to examples and problem-solving (annoted lectures notes will be posted on eClass after each lecture).

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Mastering the learning outcomes requires active engagement with the pre-class materials, pre-class quizzes, lecture activities, and homework assignments. You also may need to seek out additional study materials. A good place to start is to work through the examples and exercises in the recommended textbook (see above).

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I wish you a rewarding journey through the beauty and depth of integral calculus, and hope you will be inspired by the applications to the life sciences that we will encounter!