Math 299 Syllabus

Course: Introduction to Mathematical Proof
Term: Spring 2010
Time: TR 6:00-7:40
Location: Room STT314

Instructor: Dr. Ken Monks
Office: STT163A
Phone: (570) 941-6101
Email: monks@scranton.edu
Office Hours: Can be seen on my Schedule.

Textbook:  
Vandervelde, Bridge to Higher Mathematics

Course Prerequisites: Math 221 or permission of the instructor

Course Objective: To provide the student with the ability to read and write mathematical proofs. This will be accomplished by covering the topics in the catalog description of the course and the textbook along with any supplementary material provided by the instructor.  Students should strive to obtain a mastery of the subject matter by 1) developing both the technical skill necessary to solve problems and 2) demonstrate a deeper understanding of the underlying theory by learning and writing proofs. The assignments will attempt to ascertain if each of these objectives have been met.

Attendance Policy: Class attendance is highly encouraged. Should you miss a class for any reason, you are still responsible for all announcements made and all material presented during that class.   Missed quizzes or exams due to absence cannot be made up.

Email and the Web: All students in this course are required to have a university email account and are expected to check their email frequently for announcements and other information I may send to you. I will use email and the internet quite extensively in the course. If you prefer to check your home email instead of your university email you can forward your university email to you home account by following these instructions. I will not change your email address in my email address book from its default university account so you must either read your university email or forward it to your home account. Each student is also expected to be able to access any information that I post on the world wide web which is related to your course. You may access this information from the mathematics department computer lab in STT161. Contact the Help Desk in the computer center if you need assistance.

Homework: I will post your homework assignments here.  Due to the large volume of homework I assign and the large number of students in all of my courses, I must insist that all homework satisfies the following criteria:

1. All homework must be done on 8.5"x11" paper.  The paper must have straight smooth edges, not the jagged edges that are obtained when paper is removed from a "spiral bound" notebook. The paper should not be folded.
2. All homework that consists of more than a single sheet of paper must be stapled in the upper left hand corner. Corners should not be folded or "dog eared".
3. All homework must have the following information written legibly in the upper right hand corner of the first page:
   1. Name
   2. Course number (Math 299)
   3. Assignment number (this is the assignment number given on the homework assignment sheet, not the number of assignments you handed in).
4. All individual problems should be clearly labeled by writing the problem number and the problem itself at the top of the problem.  For proofs, write only one problem per sheet of paper, unless they are exceptionally tiny proofs.  Do not write the problem number so that the staple will obscure it.  Do not write on both sides of the paper.
5. Proofs must have only one statement per line (not word-wrapped paragraph form).
6. Problems must occur in the assignment in the same order that they are assigned, e.g. problem #3 must appear before problem #4 which must appear before problem #7, etc.
7. Some assignments must be typeset. For those assignments, in addition to meeting the criteria above, you must also use some form of LaTeX to typeset your work. This can be done with raw LaTeX code, or by using a program such as LyX or Scientific Workplace which produce LaTeX output. You cannot use Microsoft Word under any circumstance.

Thus, the first page of every homework assignment should look like this:

Any homework that does not conform to the above format may be discarded! 

The homework that you hand in may not be returned to you, so if you want to keep a copy for yourself you should make a photocopy before handing it in. If you are handing in more than one Assignment number on a single day, each assignment must be stapled and labeled separately!  Failure to follow these procedures may result in you not getting credit for all of your assignments.

Late Assignments: Don't even think about it.  I have yet to accept one and don't want to spoil my record.  You will receive no credit for late assignments.  I also will not accept EARLY assignments.  Assignments must be handed in, in class, on the day they are due, during the first three minutes of class.  You may not place a homework assignment under my office door or hand it to me in the hall or mail it to me or have an uncle deliver it to my house. You can have another student hand in your assignment for you during the first three minutes of class on the day it is due if you cannot make it to class for some reason.

Missed assignments: In order to allow for sickness, bad days, other exams, scheduling conflicts, etc. I will compute the average number of problems graded in each assignment and quiz at the end of the term and drop this number of points from the total possible points when computing your homework average (this is similar to "dropping" one homework assignment for everyone).

Collaboration: All questions on each assignment can be done either individually or collaboratively as teams of two or more. If you discuss a problem with another student, that student becomes your collaborator on that question and you must write their name at the top of your question like this:

#5 (Team: John Doe, Mary Smith)

This indicates that you spoke to John Doe, and Mary Smith about problem #5 (do not include your own name in the Team: list, since your name is on the front of the assignment).  Similarly, John and Mary would list you, and each other, on their problem #5 as team members.  Note that it does not matter how much or how little you discuss on a particular problem.  Whether you work out the solution entirely together and read each other's write ups, or simply ask for a small hint from another student, each of you must list the other as a collaborator on that problem.  When working on a problem as a team, each member of the team must still write up their own solution, even if the solutions of all team members are identical.  Credit for a correct problem that is selected to be graded will be shared equally among all team members (see grading policy below).

If, in my opinion, a solution to a question has been shared or copied or discussed by more than one student who do NOT list each other as team members on their question, I will lower the final grade in the course by one letter grade for each person involved and for each occurrence.

Thus, it is in your best interested to follow the following guidelines regarding doing your homework.  If you can get a question entirely correct on your own, you should do so without talking to anyone else, otherwise your credit for that question will be divided by the number of members on your team. However, if two or more students are really stuck on a question and are not going to be able to get it by themselves and want to team up to try to answer it together, then it would be in their best interest to do so since they would receive at least some partial credit instead of no credit at all.  So if you can get it by yourself, you should, and if you can't, find someone else who can't and work together.

The solutions to all homework problems in the textbook are in the back of the book, however you may not simply copy that solution, but should write your own solution in your own words and symbols, even if you need to look at the solution to see how it is done. (Note that in many cases only a hint is given in the back of the book, not a complete answer.)

Any acts of cheating on assignments or exams which come to my attention will be dealt with in the most severe manner possible under University guidelines. Plus I will be really upset!

Quizzes:  There will be unannounced quizzes in some classes which will consist of problems from the homework you are handing in on that day.  These quizzes will be graded the same way as the homework assignments, except that you cannot collaborate with other team members on the quizzes. I will also may have some short oral quizzes by appointment.  These appointments will be outside of normal class hours.

Grading:  There will be a midterm exam and a final exam unless I determine that it is in the best interests of your education to not have them. There will be a lot of homework which will not be graded, and a lot of quizzes. Quizzes will consist of zero or more problems selected randomly by Maple or intentionally by me from the homework assignments that you hand in, or a problem or two that I give you in class to work on. When selected at random, the selection process will be as follows: a random sequence of problem numbers will be selected (this sequence can contain duplicates) and graded in the order they appear on the list. If a problem has more than one part the part will then be selected by a second random sequence of part letters.  Which problems are are on the quiz will not be announced before you hand in the homework assignment, thus you should strive to get all of the homework problems correct. There will also be some bonus problems assigned which you can solve for extra credit. I will keep a tally of the number of these optional problems that you solve during the semester and take that into account when determining your final course grade. Each part of each quiz problem will be worth 100 points, with points awarded as follows:

There will be no partial credit for any solution, especially on proofs. Thus you should strive to get as many problems entirely correct as possible rather than wasting your time trying to get partial credit on a lot of problems but have them all be wrong.

This does not apply to the more extensive, typewritten proof assignments. Those problems will be graded and returned to you for corrections, and then handed in after the corrections are made.

At the end of the term I will compute your grade as follows:

Let x be a student.
Let p(x) be the total number of points earned by x on all exams, quizzes, and graded homework problems. Let T be the total number of points possible. Let D be the number of points I drop for everyone in order to account for sickness and excused absence. Let K be a constant (the curve) to be determined by me at the end of the semester.
Let G(x) be the student's final grade.

Then G(x) is computed by:

    G(x) = p(x)/(T-D)+K

and this number is converted to a letter grade in accordance with the following table:

Remember that the best way to learn mathematics by doing it yourself.  

I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand
                  - Chinese Proverb

Adaptability: I retain the right to modify or change any of the policies stated in this syllabus during the term if I feel it is in the best interests of the students and the course. That includes the right to give letter grades which are not consistent with the numerical grades computed above.