Blog Post Number 1: Emma Wall

My name is Emma Wall and I am 65 inches vertically and 19 years old. I generally wake up at about 6:30 or 7 am every morning, unless its a weekend, in which case, all bets are off. I've recently really gotten into Kit Kats and my dietary weakness is Pretzels and Peanut Butter. I really enjoy listening to Otis Redding and Etta James because I'm super into Soul Music. I play the guitar and am interested in photography as well as hiking and binge watching Netflix. 

Some math classes I've taken (but not an expert in) is Basic math, algebra1, algebra2, statistics, trigonometry, and Precalculus

11.  What is your comfort level with any of the following calculus concepts?

Write one of the following next to each topic:

Very comfortable (V)    comfortable (C)                uncomfortable (U)    extremely uncomfortable (E)

Curve sketching U

Instantaneous rate of change U

Derivatives (of constant, linear, polynomial, power, rational, exponential, trigonometric, logarithmic functions) U

Difference quotient U

Limits U

Continuity U

Chain rule (an application of composition of functions) U

Product and quotient rules for derivatives U

Finding local and global maximums and minimums U

Determining inflection points U

Area under a curve U

Anti-derivatives U

Integration (of constant, linear, polynomial, power, rational, trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic functions) U

Integration by parts U

Integration by substitution U

12.  The following are concepts from algebra and precalculus that students taking applied calculus should be comfortable with.

What is your comfort level with any of the following algebraic and precalculus concepts? (please note that weakness in any of these areas may make most aspects of this class more challenging than others)

Write one of the following next to each topic:

Very comfortable (V)    comfortable (C)                uncomfortable (U)    extremely uncomfortable (E)

Equations C

Factoring C

Adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing fractions/rational expressions U

Simplifying expressions C

Simplifying rational expressions (fractions and fractional polynomials) U

Operations on roots and fractional exponent expressions U

Operations involving whole number exponent expressions U

Finding common denominators C

Inequalities U

Functions U

Absolute value C

Linear functions U

Systems of equations C

Domain and range U

Inverse functions U

Transformations (shifting, scaling, stretching, etc) U

Quadratic functions U

Completing the square C

Exponential functions U

Logarithmic functions U

Base e U

Graphing (trigonometric, quadratic, linear, exponential, and logarithmic functions) U

Trigonometric concepts U

13.  Have you taken American university’s math 160 (applied precalculus) class? If yes, was your grade a “b” or better? NO

14.  If you have not taken American university’s math 160 (applied precalculus) class, have you taken a college level (not a college equivalent high school class) equivalent?  If yes, was your grade a “b” or better? 

Yes, I took precalculus in High school and placed into Statistics as my math credit for American University's math requirement. 

15.  Which social media formats are you familiar with?

Texting, facebook, pinterest, flickr, twitter, and Instagram

16.  Which social media formats do you use most frequently?

Facebook and Twitter 

17.  What is your major? Business

18.  Why are you taking this math class? Requirment

19.  Will you take other math classes in the future at American University or will this be your only math class? If yes, which classes will you take? No, probably not

20.  What do you hope to learn in this class? 

To see how calculus can be applied to everyday life

21.  Is there anything else you would like me to know about you? 

I'm scared that I'll fall behind and get really confused in this class because I'm taking 2 other math- like classes this term.