MAST10005: Calculus 1

10 assignments worth 2% each (20% total)

I know there’s a few calc 1 reviews up here already, but the most recent one was from 3 years ago so I’d thought I’d give a little bit of an update.

Overview

You learn content in this subject in a “follow-as-I-do” manner. You buy a bound book of lecture slides with missing spaces, and you fill it in as the lecturer covers different topics. There are a few practise questions in there along with theory, and you can either do these questions at home or with the lecturer as he/she does it. Up to you really.

As others have said, this subject is for those who didn’t have the chance (or were too scared LOL) to do spesh in year 12 and wanted to try their hand at university mathematics. I did modestly well in year 12 math (43 in methods) and I didn’t find this subject to be too difficult when I applied consistent work.

Don’t be intimidated by the word “calculus”. Ironically enough, there’s hardly any of it in the subject. You start off doing trig functions, inverses etc. You move onto vectors, then an introduction to complex numbers. After this, you’ll spend the rest on calculus itself – basic differentiation, integration then differential equations.

The subject is very well taught. I had Alex Ghitza, and he was an excellent lecturer. Very funny guy and managed to explain things in easy to understand ways. He was the 11:00 stream, so try and get his if you can.

My one gripe with this subject is the time allocation to each topic. Not intending to come off as pretentious, but I sat through the first 3 weeks of this subject extremely bored. We did stuff that really should have been glossed over (trig functions, SOHCAHTOA, basic vectors etc). Then, we had to rush through integration and differential equations extremely quickly. I guess they want us to get the fundamentals right first, but still we spent the same amount of time revising SOHCAHTOA/those triangles as we did learning differential equations.

However, if you apply consistent work then you’ll be alright. If you did alright in Methods you’d recognise most of the stuff in the course anyways.

You can also buy a problem book with loads of questions. These are really helpful in consolidating knowledge, as with math subjects I’ve found the best way to learn is keep doing questions.

Tutes

My favourite part of this subject. Basically, you form groups with classmates and work through a question sheet together on the white board. It’s a great way of making friends and consolidating knowledge. Attendance is not compulsory, but it’s the only way to get assignments back so you’d want to go regardless.

Assignment

Calling these “assignments” is a bit of a stretch. Basically, they’re just one or two short answer questions. If you keep up with the work, you’ll have no problems whatsoever.

I’d recommend you make a group with your friends so you can check answers. You should be aiming for 10/10’s in these assignments.

One note - they can be very pedantic with their marking. Make sure you clearly state all working and assumptions so they don’t have an excuse to take marks off.

Exam

The exam’s usually have the same format – read through a couple and you’ll see the pattern. There are no tricks here, and no exceedingly difficult left-field questions like you saw in Methods. If you understood the concepts in class, did the homework and kept up to date, you will have no issues with the exam.

The hardest part is dealing with all the arithmetic. There are no calculators whatsoever in the exam, so you need to be able to perform manual calculations without the aid of any technology. It may seem easy, but in the pressure of the exam room it’s very easy not to include a minus sign or forget to divide etc.

You are given 3 hours, which I feel is plenty of time so there’s heaps of opportunity to check your answers.

TL;DR -
-Good introduction to uni maths
-If you’re looking for a science subject or a breadth (and liked math in high school) then choose this
-You WILL be rewarded, but make sure you do the work
-Very well taught and run

Yes, with screen capture

I had Alex Ghitza, but there are two other streams you could’ve gone too

Yes, loads. They give answers for 6 exams and there are many more in the library. More than enough exam preparation available.

5 Out of 5

There is a prescribed textbook for this subject, but I don’t know of anyone in the entire cohort who bought it. I’ll talk about this in the comments.

3 x 1 hr lectures, 1 x 1 hr tute (per week)

2016, semester 1

H1 (88)

(10 Assignments [20%], 3hr end of semester exam [80%])

As others have mentioned, this subject is pretty much specialist maths, minus a bit. I quite enjoyed methods in VCE, albeit I am no math whiz, and only scored a mid-30. So, if you’re like me, not particularly strong in maths, and a gold medallist in silly arithmetic mistakes, exercise extreme caution when doing the assignments and the exam.

Dr Ghitza was a great lecturer, and the lectures consisted of filling in the blanks in the lecture notes bought from Co-op. They were mostly worked examples, which I found really helpful, although some may find the format tedious and dry. The topics are covered fairly quickly, and revision before the tutes is definitely recommended, especially if you don’t really process the content in lectures while you’re copying.

The assignments are straightforward, with a few tricky questions here and there, but since it’s a take-home, you can seek help if you need to.

The exam, it isn’t easy, and it’s fairly long and requires precision.The questions they ask are all within the realms of whats taught in the lectures of course, but under pressure, simple becomes complex. There are some tricky questions that can really do your head in. For those who are maths inclined it would probably be fairly doable. For those who aren’t, like me, be prepared to work hard in this subject to succeed. Working under timed conditions was my biggest enemy, so practice, practice, practice! Don’t leave the exam revision till the last few days, learn to balance your time between the different subjects, and don’t spend it all on one harder subject like I did. This resulted in panic and mind blanks during the exam.

Overall, the subject was well run, and the content enjoyable to learn. This subject is no walk in the park, but if you work hard, and organise your time properly, there is no reason you wouldn’t excel!

Yes,with screen capture

Dr Alex Ghitza, Dr John Banks, and Dr Mark Fackrell

Yes, there are quite a few available, around 4 with full solutions.

4/5

There is a textbook, but DO NOT buy it.

(3 x one hr lectures, 1 x practical/tutorial per week. )

2015 Sem 1

H2B

10 x Weekly Assignments totalling 20%. Calling these "assignments" is a little over the top. They are basically just a couple of questions which you have to answer and submit each week. It is a relatively easy way to gain 20%. Then there is the exam which is worth 80%. It is held in the first few days of the examination period.

If you like maths and never had the chance to complete Specialist Maths 3/4 at VCE level then this is the subject for you. It is very similar to Specialist Maths 3/4, however a few things are left out and you are NOT permitted a calculator of any kind. The assessment was fair and with lots of practice, you will be well prepared for the exam. The lecturers/tutors are usually approachable, however sometimes they oversimplify/assume things because I suppose they expect you to know it from VCE.

No. You will have to go to lectures unless you are willing to self learn. Lecture slides are full of gaps where you copy the lecturers workings, so you will have to attend. There are lots of streams available which makes attending easier.

Dr. Deborah King (the other lecture streams were taken by Dr. Heng Soon Gan and Dr. Alex Ghitza)

Yes. Six past exams were available, and the lecturer posted up the answers/solutions.

5/5

Lecture notes are downloaded off the LMS. DO NOT buy the textbook (Calculus 1 & 2 (Hass, Weir, Thomas, Adams and Essex), Pearson, 2010)). You will never use it. If you need additional help, consult a Specialist Mathematics 3/4 textbook, or you can go and get help from one of the many lecturers/tutors during their office period. You are provided with everything you need to do well in this subject. (comprehensive lecture notes, tutorial worksheets + solutions, problem book + answers, past exams + assignments with solutions)

Weekly: 3 x 1 hour lectures, 1 x 1 hour practical (this is basically a tute where you work off a problem sheet, usually in small groups)

2011, Semester 1

94% H1