UNIVERSITY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 
 
MATHEMATICS 232 
CALCULUS FOR BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE MAJORS  
(4 credits) 
 
 
COURSE DESCRIPTION: 
Students will be introduced to calculus with emphasis on techniques, graphs and 
applications rather than theory.  Topics include functions; limits; continuity and 
rates of change; the derivative; exponential and logarithmic functions; anti-
differentiation; the definite integral; and functions of several variables.   
 
PREREQUISITES: 
MAT 140 or 143 
 
REQUIRED MATERIALS: 
 
 
TEXT: 
Calculus for Business, Economics, Life Sciences, and Social 
Sciences (11th edition) by Barnett, Ziegler, and Byleen. 
 
GRAPHING CALCULATOR:  
TI-83 or TI-83+ or TI-84+ (highly recommended) or equivalent 
 
 
BLACKBOARD ACCESS: 
http://blackboard.uvi.edu 
 
OBJECTIVES: 
 
By the end of the course students should be able to successfully: 
• 
Understand an algebraic approach to calculus concepts; 
• 
Apply, interpret and communicate the results of techniques in calculus; 
• 
Use technology, when appropriate, to analyze graphs and data. 
 
COURSE POLICIES: 
1. 
Students who attend regularly tend to do better in the course.  Therefore, 
students are advised and expected to attend all classes.  Please note that 
YOU are held responsible for all materials covered and all 
announcements made in class or posted on Blackboard.   A participation 
grade will depend in part on your presence. 
2. 
Cheating will not be tolerated.  See pp. 57-59 of the UVI catalog for 
University policy on Academic Integrity. 
3. 
Cell phones should be turned off prior to the start of class.   
 
 
 
 
HOMEWORK:  
• 
Homework will usually be assigned and posted on Blackboard, collected and 
given a grade. Late homework will be penalized. 
• 
Homework assignments will be the basis for exam and quiz questions. 
 
2
• 
Doing the homework well will be the best preparation for exams and will 
contribute up to 17% of your grade. 
 
 
 
QUIZZES: 
 
• 
Quiz problems will reflect the type and difficulty level of the homework 
problems.   
• 
Up to eight quizzes will be administered.  Details for each quiz will be given in 
class.  Each quiz is worth 10-25 points.   
• 
Quizzes will normally be given at the beginning of a class. No quiz can be 
made up.   
• 
Any take-home quizzes assigned must be done without any collaboration 
except with the instructor. 
 
      GROUP ACTIVITIES: 
 
• 
There will be up to 3 group activities assigned throughout the semester. 
• 
Each activity is worth up to 10 points, for a maximum of 30 points. 
• 
The group activities serve to emphasize the concepts presented in the 
previous chapter. 
 
       IN-CLASS EXAMS: 
 
• 
Four in-class exams will be administered during the semester. 
• 
These exams will constitute 44% of your grade. 
• 
If the lowest in-class exam score is lower (in percentage) than the final exam 
score, that low exam score will be replaced by the final exam score (scaled to 
match the in-class exam). 
• 
No make-up exams.  One missed exam can count as the “lowest” described 
above.  Any other missed exams will count as a zero unless the absence is 
appropriately documented. 
 
         FINAL EXAM:  
• 
A comprehensive final exam worth 120 points will be administered.  
• 
The final exam cannot be made up. It is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6, 
2009, from 10:15 am to 12:15 pm. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
         GRADING: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A summary of the grading scheme for this course is given in the table below. 
 
Source 
Points each 
Total points 
Percent of course 
Quizzes (8) 
10-25 
          200 
27% 
In-class exams (4) 
80 
270 
36% 
Group activities, homework, 
and participation 
5-10 
160 
21% 
Final exam (1) 
120 
120 
16% 
Total points possible 
 
750 
100% 
 
3
 
 
The University scoring schedule for course grades is the following: 
 
A 
93% - 100% 
 
 
C 
73% - 76% 
A - 
90% - 92% 
 
 
C - 
70% - 72% 
B+ 
87% - 89% 
 
 
D+ 
67% - 69% 
B 
83% - 86% 
 
 
D 
60% - 66% 
B - 
80% - 82% 
 
 
F 
0% - 59% 
C+ 
77% - 79% 
 
 
The final % will be determined by dividing the total points earned by the total points 
possible (750). 
 
 
 
PACING SCHEDULE 
 
 
Weeks
Sections to be 
covered 
Topics to be covered   
 
1 
1.1 to 1.4 
Elementary Functions:  Linear, quadratic, absolute 
value 
 
2 
2.1  
Polynomial, rational functions,  Exam 1 
 
3,4 
3.1 to 3.3 
Limits, continuity, and the derivative, Exam 2 
 
5,6 
3.4 to 3.7 
Product, Quotient, and Chain Rule; Marginal 
Analysis, Exam 3 
 
7-9 
4.1 to 4.4 
Graph sketching and Optimization, Exam 4 
 
10, 11 
5.1 to 5.5 
Derivatives of Exponential and Logarithmic 
Functions 
 
12 
6.1 to 6.4 
Integration 
 
13 
6.5 to 7.1 
Area Under a Curve 
 
14  
Review for final exam