lots of intro calc is bookkeeping, not math
(e.g., long integration by parts; long chain rule)

IE, much of doing elementary math is laying out your calculations carefully
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Use lots of space! Lay out your calculations carefully!
Work from one line to the next, and leave space between lines,
and mark things carefully.
If you drop something between two lines, I'll call that
"algebraic littering"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
This is a basic skill, but not deep.

The key trick for such involved calculations is to work -methodically-:
when doing the chain rule, do it methodically! (peel one layer at a time)
When doing integration by parts, always lay it out the -same- way.
etc.

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lots of things that are assigned are assigned because they are calculations
that -can- be carried out -- not because you actually care.
(e.g., integrating rational functions using polynomial long division and
partial fraction decomposition:
 studying $K(x)$ is good, but this isn't studying it: it's just doing some
 silly computations;
 also, partial fractions over the reals are far too delicate and silly, as you
 can't factor completely, and hence have hideousness w/r/t quadratics in the
 denominator.
 Once you know more math, you can follow what's going on easily, but for these
 students it's sheer torture.)

Similarly, these are often assigned b/c they're easy to grade, and it's easy
to write $3000$ questions that involve them.
