PREREQUISITES:
MATH 1610 or an equivalent course.
TEXT:
Kevin Houston, How to Think Like a Mathematician
ISBN-13: 9780521719780.
CALCULATORS:
All students are recommended to have a graphing calculator;
the TI-84 (TI-83) is recommended. If you own some other
graphing calculator, it is your responsibility to find out
how to perform the required operations on it. Please bring
the calculator to all class meetings and exams.
You may use the calculator for each test, but
you will be required to show all work for the tests and if
you rely on the calculator for solutions, you will get zero
credit. You are here to learn calculus and the calculator
will be used only as an aid. A calculator with CAS is
prohibited and using such a calculator will be considered as
cheating and may jeopardize your student status.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The major goal of this course will be to
prepare the undergraduate mathematics major for success in
the junior and senior level mathematics courses which
require
students to write mathematical proofs.
Therefore developing proof techniques and strategies and
writing a mathematically sound proof, with a focus on the
following topics, will constitute a large portion of the
class. In the meantime, reading is also an important
component of the course.
Topics to be covered are: basic logic, basic
set theory, functions and relations, Equivalence relations
and partitions, number systems, cardinality, well ordering
and the axiom of choice.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
-
Prepare the
undergraduate mathematics major for success in junior
and senior level mathematics courses;
-
prepare students for
mathematical writing in the general sense;
-
teach students the
steps involved in making a rigorous mathematical
argument;
-
educate students in
the use of the mathematical typesetting language Latex.
·
WAC Statement: This
writing-intensive course is in partial completion of AUM’s
5-course WAC program requirement.
Writing Across the Curriculum: This course is a
writing intensive course and will satisfy one of the two
required content writing intensive courses that mathematics
majors need to have in order to graduate. As such there will
be a great deal of writing in this course. Many short
writing homework assignments will be given where students
will be required to write a number of proofs.
In addition, all students will have a writing project where
a topic of significantly more depth than the standard
homework writing assignment is considered. It is expected
that the students will write a short paper over such a topic
agreed upon by the instructor and the student. It is
expected that this projects will go through multiple
drafts. There will be a peer-review component with feedback,
multiple drafts, and instructor feedback before a final
paper is turned in for assessment.
WThe
Typesetting system Latex: Latex is an open source
typesetting system that is mainly used by mathematicians and
engineers to write mathematics. Students will be introduced
to Latex and will be expected to complete all assignments
using Latex.

This course will use
Blackboard
http://bb9.aum.edu.
Syllabus, Class announcements, homework assignments, weekly
schedule and updated grades will be posted on Blackboard.
On-line quizzes within BlackBoard may be offered.
It is the students’ responsibility to check the information
posted on BlackBoard . I will also post from time to time
some studying resources such as old exams on BlackBoard .
HOMEWORK/QUIZZES/WORKSHEETS:
It is imperative that you do the homework. If you
have trouble with the assigned problems (or any others in
your book) then see me ASAP. Please work as many problems as
you can (even beyond the assigned list if possible). The
bottom line is that if you want to learn some mathematics,
the only way to do this is by “getting your hands dirty”
working problems. The collected
Homework/Quizzes/worksheets will be averaged for part of
your overall grade. Sometimes in-class Quiz will be given
without notice in advance.
LAST DAY TO
DROP/RESIGN CLASSES: Wed., Oct. 24, 2012.
EXAMS:
There will be two in-class tests and one final.
The final exam is comprehensive.
Being absent from the Final Exam results in a
grade of FA. You must prove to the instructor’s satisfaction
that your absence was unavoidable, in order to take a makeup
Final Exam.
GRADES:
Here is a breakdown of the
Homework/quizzes/worksheets/tests/final:
Homework writing assignments, (may include quizzes) ….30%
Journal...............10%
Test 1…………10%
Test 2…………10%
Final………..…20%
Topic paper.........20%
If you get the following percentage you will receive
>=90..................………A
>= 80 and <90………..B
>=70 and <80………...C
>=60 and <70….……..D
Grades in the
course will reflect students’ demonstrated attainment of
course objectives. I reserve
the right to adjust these ranges downward or make
appropriate scaling if necessary due to excessive difficulty
of assignments or tests. Borderline cases will be considered
according to the attendance, grades of all three mid-exams
and the grade of the final by the discretion of the
instructor.
STUDYING RESOURCES:
-
There are 30 class meetings (each of 100 minutes), plus
the final exam period .
-
FREE TUTORING HELP:
Students can go to the Learning Center, 325 Moore Hall,
244-3470, for free tutoring help for this course by
appointment. Additional tutoring services
are available in the Instructional Support Lab, 203
Goodwyn Hall, 244-3265.
-
Book Companion
Website:
http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~khouston/httlam.html
SOME IMPORTANT
POLICIES IN THIS CLASS:
-
ATTENDANCE
is critical for this class. I will take
attendance at every class. However no
grades will be given toward attendance.
You must be present to take all exams.
Leaving
the class earlier without the permission
of the instructor is considered as an
absence. The attendance record may be
used as one of the factors to determine
borderline grades.
-
There is absolutely no make-up
for the homework/quizzes/worksheets.
Late work passing the given deadline is
not accepted.
-
Missing test/exam:
No make-up test/exam
is allowed. A missing test/exam
receives a grade of zero. No exam
will be given earlier than the scheduled
time.
-
A
reasonable excuse commonly refers
to an institutional excuse, a
doctor-signed excuse, or an excuse
signed by some authorized people.
-
Exceptions only are
made at the sole decision of the
instructor.
|
HOW TO SUCCEED THIS
COURSE?
In addition to my
effort, your efforts are indispensable.
(1) Except extreme
cases, attending class only is far less sufficient to
succeed (pass? ) the course. Let alone occasionally
attending class.
(2) To get a grade
C, one is advised to spend at least 1 hour (depending
on your background in mathematics) for each lecture hour in
reviewing the lecture notes, doing the examples in the
lecture notes and in the book, and doing some
homework problems.
(3) To get a grade B,
one is advised to spend at least 1-2 hours for
each lecture hour in reviewing the lecture notes, doing the
examples in the lecture notes and in the book, and doing
most of the homework problems.
(4) To get a grade A,
one is advised to spend at least 1-3 hours for
each lecture hour in reviewing the lecture notes, doing the
examples in the lecture notes and in the book, and doing
almost all the homework problems.
I would suggest you to
write down your objective grade for this course, and commit
your effort to this milestone of your life goal. Again, I
wish you succeed.
My objective grade
for this course is
. I will commit
hours for each lecture hour to study the course
materials.
GUIDELINES OF HOW TO
CALCULATE YOUR FINAL GRADE:
- The overall score
is calculated according to the contributions from
quizzes/homework/worksheet (40%), two mid-exams (10%
each), final(20%) and topic paper (20%).
- All raw scores are
converted to percentage to participate in calculating
and comparison. The maximum percentage is 100% for any
given quiz or exam.
- A missed quiz is
scored as 0 for that quiz. Finally, the
average percentage of all the quizzes are calculated for
the points of the quiz part.
-
The grade of the
final can be used to replace the worst grade
of the two mid-exams if it’s higher.
The policy of this class is to encourage students who are
diligent in this course and therefore any one who is serious
about his/her study can take advantage of ONE
opportunity to improve their grades.
APPEALS:
After final course grades have been submitted, you may
appeal your final grade. As a first step, you would make a
written appeal to the instructor of the course.
CLASS ATTENDANCE AND ENVIRONMENT:
Perfect or
near-perfect class attendance is important for
students to gain and demonstrate competency in course
concepts and skills. Students are expected to accept
responsibility for class attendance and to complete in-class
work assignments and examinations as scheduled by the
instructor.
Please
be courteous to your fellow students and the instructor
at all times. For example, do not converse with other
students, read the newspaper, or sleep during the lecture.
Do not pack up earlier than scheduled dismissing time.
Cell phones
have to be set to silent (or preferably be turned off). If
you have to answer a cell phone call during class, please
quietly leave the classroom and move to a location where
your conversation does not disrupt any class in progress.
Children
should not be brought to class, except in emergency
circumstances and only with the permission of the
instructor.
Food, drinks, or
gum should not be brought into the classroom.
AUM prohibits
smoking in campus buildings. If you smoke, you may only
do so outside the buildings.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism or cheating of any kind will not
be tolerated. You can discuss solutions with classmates, but
cannot copy (totally or partially) someone else’s solution
or allow someone else to copy your solution. You will
receive an ”F” in the course if you are caught.
DISCIPLINE AND
ACADEMIC HONESTY.
The policies of the Student Discipline Code apply. You are
advised to familiarize yourself with these policies, which
can be found in the current edition of the AUMANAC.
Please,
adhere to the standards of academic integrity stated in the
AUM Catalog.
SPECIAL
SERVICES.
It is the policy of Auburn University Montgomery to
accommodate individuals with disabilities pursuant to
federal law and the University’s commitment to equal
educational opportunities. It is the responsibility of the
student to inform the instructor of any necessary
accommodations at the beginning of the course. If you
qualify for this service, please contact either the AUM’s
Center for Disability Services (CDS) located in Library
Tower, Room 706 (Phone: 334-244-3632, Fax:334-244-3907, TDD:
344-244-3754) or me for the corresponding referral.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Material presented in
this course may be protected by copyright law.
Disclaimer: The
right of interpretation of this syllabus solely belongs to
the instructor.