| Mathematics 300C | Autumn 2009 |
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Main Old homework Contact info Info sheet Some links On-line grade book |
(For a PDF version of this document, click here.) Instructor: John Palmieri, Padelford C-538, 543-1785, palmieri@math.washington.edu. Office hours: Wednesdays 11:30-1:20, 2:30-3:20, drop in, and by appointment. I am often free at other times, and you can always send questions by email. Class time and place: MWF 1:30, BAG 108 Web page: http://www.math.washington.edu/~palmieri/Math300/ orhttp://faculty.washington.edu/jpalmier/Math300/ Text book: An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning by Peter J. Eccles Goals for the course. The most important things for you to learn in this course are: techniques of proof, how to (start to) think like a mathematician, and how to communicate your ideas effectively. This course is a prerequisite for several others, and as such it is expected to train you in these skills, not in any particular fields of mathematics. In other words, the mathematical subjects covered in this course are somewhat secondary. Roughly speaking, though, we will be covering parts I through III of the text book, and possibly some of the later material. Class structure. There will be a mix of lectures and discussion. Homework. I will assign homework regularly; see the course web page for the assignments. There will be two parts to the homework: (1) practice problems, often assigned daily - you do not turn these in, but you need to do them to learn the material - note that most of these have solutions in the back; and (2) homework problems to be turned in. These are due each Wednesday at 3:30 in my office (Padelford C-538). You may certainly turn in homework early, for example in class on Wednesday. I will drop your lowest homework score when computing your grade. Late homework will not be accepted. Struggling with a problem is perfectly normal; in fact, it's actually helpful, because it can force you to come to grips with the underlying mathematical concepts. Being able to follow someone else's reasoning on a problem is not at all the same as solving it yourself: you learn a lot more by solving it yourself. Therefore I recommend this approach: first try to do a problem on your own (outside of class), and then (in class) discuss it with your classmates. In a perfect world, everyone would solve all of the problems at home, and class time would be spent refining your solutions. In actuality, you may get stuck some of the time, and your classmates can help you out there, and of course, I am happy to provide suggestions and clarifications. Having said this, the homework policy for this class is: you may work with other people on your homework, but you must write your solutions yourself. If you find a solution in a book or on a web page or from some other source, please provide a reference. You must also use complete sentences and good grammar when writing your solutions; if you don't, you may get no credit. Portfolio. On December 7, you will turn in a portfolio of solutions for five of the homework exercises (your choice: any five of them). On October 26, you will turn in a first draft for one or two of these solutions, and on October 30, we will have a "workshop day," in which we discuss these. Another one or two drafts will be due on November 23, and we will have a workshop day on November 30. For these workshop days, you will get credit for turning in your drafts on time and for participating in the workshop days. When you turn in the portfolio on December 7, you will need to include a cover sheet (which I will describe later in the quarter), plus all drafts of your portfolio problems. I will grade your solutions on both the mathematics and the exposition; your total portfolio grade will be computed from this, combined with your participation grade for the workshop days. When choosing your portfolio problems, you can choose ones that you understand well mathematically, so you can focus on the writing, or you can choose ones that you don't understand as well, to force yourself to grapple with some difficult mathematical concepts. Probably a mix of these is a good idea. Quizzes and exams. Quizzes will be based on the current reading and practice problems. You will do them on-line, not during class. I will aim to make each quiz about 10 minutes long, and I will allow you to spend up to 30 minutes on it. There is no midterm. The final exam is held on Monday, December 14, 2:30-4:20pm. Grading. The various components of the course are weighted as follows:
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