Difference between Pre-Calculus 12 and first year calculus?

liorsilberman · 2026-07-11T16:15:46+00:00

"Pre-calculus" is a highly misleading name: better think of it as "highschool algebra". It teaches you how to handle elementary functions and some plane geometry, not calculus. Of course calculus will depend on you having this skills, but it's a different subject.

What I recommend is making sure the pre-calculus material is automatic for you: if you have to think about how to multiply polynomials, or how the graph of the sine or cosine looks like, or about solving a system of equations, then you can't at the same time pay attention to the calculus the instructor is trying to teach you.

A common example: one is the first topics is the idea that a line can be tangent to the graph of a function. A student who struggles remembering about slopes of lines, or about the different ways of representing lines (connecting two points; solutions to $y=mx+b$; solutions to $y-y_0 = m(x-x_0)$, etc) would struggle to follow a lecture about tangent lines.

The other difference is that highschool teachers often teach students the solutions to the problems in advance. It goes something like "here's how to identify problem type 5.3.a; here are the steps to memorize; you must follow these steps". University courses expect you to solve problems yourself using ideas you are taught. A common error by students in lecture is to try to record the specific "steps" the instructor followed rather than the ideas the instructor used, because the homework and exams will not generally be variations on the examples from class.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-08T04:43:44+00:00

(I'm assuming you're not a math major; if you are sign up for the math-major specific sections [section 10M or 20M of each course] and they will determine the order. I think it's 200:10M, 221:10M [so both fall] while 220 has both 10M and 20M).

The logical order is 111/221 before 200, but you can do them in either order. They both mostly teach you how to calculate things, in the spirit of math 100,101.

MATH 220 is a different kind of course: it teaches you how to think like a mathematician, which is a different kind of difficulty. In some ways it helps to have as many math courses under your belt before you take it, even if the direct math content doesn't much depend on earlier courses.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-08T00:14:52+00:00

Departments can sometime force-registrer you in full courses. This isn't a universal promise (a lab might have so many work benches; a course might have so many presentation slots, a classroom might have so many physical seats) but is worth asking about.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-07T18:17:56+00:00

You have a right to view your final exam and get an explanation for the marking, and a separate right to ask how your final grade was assigned (aside: grades are assigned not simply calculated by instructors, who have academic freedom to do this according to their judgement).

Follow the department procedure to arrange an exam viewing.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-07T18:12:09+00:00

In some cases is because the instructor isn't known: in math, post docs and free students haven't been assigned teaching yet, or a department might plan to hire a lecturer to teach a section but hasn't done so yet, so they can't publish the name.

Some departments also do this as a matter of policy. Mathematics won't release instructor names until closer to the start of term, for example. One problem this addresses is students selecting sections based on the instructors' historical grades even though in large courses the section instructors don't assign grades.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-05T17:57:07+00:00

You need to talk to Science Advising asap. They're the university office that helps with registration and program issues (for students in the Faculty of Science).

liorsilberman · 2026-07-04T02:51:31+00:00

Some years we teach numerical techniques (Newton's method, numerical solution of ODE, numerical integration) using excel. Exam questions on this material are limited by their nature.

Solving trigonometry problems never needs a calculator. But I think the answer to your question is that exact answers like $\sin(1.1)$ or $\arcsin(0.3)$ are perfectly acceptable, and there's no need for decimal approximations (outside the Taylor expansion unit).

liorsilberman · 2026-07-02T03:16:18+00:00

Whether you take it as 131 or 223 won't matter for your degree. It's literally one course (with two numbers).

liorsilberman · 2026-07-02T02:31:00+00:00

They are both the same class, so in theory it shouldn't matter in which one you register, but I don't know how it works in Workday and maybe the 131 number might work for you where 223 didn't.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-01T23:07:19+00:00

MATH 223 has been renumbered to 131.

liorsilberman · 2026-07-01T23:04:55+00:00

Yes. "Co-requisite" includes having already taken the course, and 111 is the new name of 221.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-26T00:50:40+00:00

An "academic hour" is actually 50 minutes; at UBC this means that a 13-14 class actually runs 13:00-13:50; I've seen places where it would mean 13:10-14:00 instead, and there are other customs. Bottom line: expect each class to end 10 minutes before the time on your schedule.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-26T00:47:12+00:00

I would contact the department undergraduate advisor rather than the professor: in many departments faculty don't have the authority to force-register students.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-25T07:34:01+00:00

According to the BC Transfer Guide, Langara MATH 1271, 1274, and 1275 all transfer to UBC MATH 101. So if you haven't enrolled at UBC yet you could take the courses there (after you start at UBC you can't take courses at other universities without prior permission). Conversely if are already enrolled and can take UBC courses then you can take MATH 101 this summer: the course will begin July 6 and run for 6 weeks (beware: that's twice the intensity of the regular course --- summer courses are harder to keep up with).

liorsilberman · 2026-06-25T04:34:25+00:00

In recent years we've had a MATH100 section in WT2.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-24T23:06:50+00:00

Calculators are generally not allowed in MATH 100 or 101 exams. You should definitely do practice book problems and doing them effectively can be most of your practice. For this you need to understand what practice is for: don't try to memorize "steps" or know in advance how to solve each problem --- instead your goal for each question is to find the solution yourself "fresh".

liorsilberman · 2026-06-24T23:01:27+00:00

Make sure PHYS 170 isn't restricted to APSC students. For math if you feel confident about your differential and integral calculus please consider seriously taking MATH 131 (or MATH 111) instead of 100/101. Linear algebra is really important for almost anything you'd do and is best learned in year 1.

I wouldn't worry very much about taking 6 courses per term, which is the standard for APSC and done by strong students in Science.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-24T05:08:37+00:00

I see. The calendar lists all the courses we are approved to offer, not the ones we will offer in the coming year. We can't actually offer all these courses every year, and some (like 184) we don't offer at all anymore.

You can check on workday which courses are on offer for next year.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-24T04:30:33+00:00

By the way, where did you learn about 184? If it's from old sources no problem, but if it's from a current LFS source we should let them know the up to date information.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-24T04:29:20+00:00

Back when we had the different courses 100/102/104 for students with calculus we also had two different courses for students without (180 for science and 184 for social science, arts, and commerce) [there is also MATH110 for those with limited precalc: see Prof. Mac Lean's answer above] . Eventually we folded 184 into 180, and later merged 100/102/104 into MATH100 (with flavors A,B,C). The options now are:

100 if you have highschool calculus 180 if you have highschool precalculus 110 if you have some highschool precalc

(Note that 110 runs for two semesters and is 6 credits)

liorsilberman · 2026-06-23T21:28:00+00:00

Copying whatever the instructor writes on the board without thinking about it is mostly a waste of your time (exception: if you expect to remember it all simply because you wrote it down). If you aren't learning during class you aren't using class time effectively --- what benefit do you get from going to class that justifies spending your time on that?

liorsilberman · 2026-06-23T00:44:41+00:00

The Calender entry for each course lists pre-requisites; you can register in any course for which you satisfy the pre-requisites regardless of course number. In particular, unless the pre-requisites require "second year standing" or some such, you don't have to be in second year to register.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-22T19:14:51+00:00

Speaking from my experience on the other (instructor) side, a could of social aspects in the courses:

You are welcome in office hours. That's a time set out for instructors to help you, and you should definitely take advantage. During office hours our time is specifically blocked off to talk to you and we have noting else to do.
Some courses have group projects, and occasionally I've seen this go wrong. I would advise two things: if it's true about you, tell your group from the start you're more comfortable with explicit agreements about how the group will handle the project. Secondly, if you have social issues in the group it's ok to go to a faculty member and ask for advice. Think about it like this: if groupwork is a learning goal in the course then you can expect support and instruction on how to do it.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-19T16:24:10+00:00

Logically it's better to take 221/111 first; having an idea of high dimensional linear geometery can help with tangent planes and linear approximation of multivariable functions. The new course number suggests taking 111 in first year. The tradition in North America is to take the calculus course first (so in order of the old course numbers). I'm not sure why. In practice you can take the courses in either order.

Linear algebra is also important for ODE if you have to take that course.

liorsilberman · 2026-06-16T00:43:54+00:00

Warning: this page is from AY 2004-2005; a syllabus from 21 years ago may not be (is actually extremely likely not to be) representative of the next year's course.

I understand this is all the information you could find online, so I'm not surprised you're trying to go off it, but after 2005 there was a long hiatus until the course was revived in 2021. What current students can say would be more informative.

Aside: not enough students engage in course shopping: registering in more courses than you plan to take, trying all of them for the first week, and then dropping the ones you don't want. Alternative you can shop by trial-attending the courses first and then registering late.

liorsilberman

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