Math 448 Syllabus

Course: Modern Algebra I
Term: Fall 2002
Time: TR 2:30-3:45
Location: Room STT314
CRN: 10495

Instructor: Dr. Ken Monks
Office: STT163A
Phone: (570) 941-6101
Email: monks@scranton.edu
Office Hours: T-Th 5:15-6:00, 7:15-7:45 and by appointment or email
              [Note: Office hours may be held in either STT314 or STT163A.  Check both locations.]

Required Textbooks: Hungerford, T.; Abstract Algebra, 2nd edition, Saunders College Publishing ISBN:0-03-010559-5

Course Prerequisites: Math 351 (Linear Algebra) or permission of the instructor 

Course Objective: To provide the student with both an understanding of the major topics of modern algebra and also the ability to read and write mathematical proofs. This will be accomplished by covering the topics given in the Lecture Notes  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.

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 and meeting time (Math 448 - 2:30)
   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.
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.

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

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

The homework that you hand in may not be returned to you until the end of the semester, 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 ten minutes of class. There are NO exceptions.  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 ten 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 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).

Cheating: All assignments must be done individually. You may discuss the topics and problems with each other, but you may not discuss the actual solutions and proof write-ups. In other words you can help each other to learn the course material, but the actual write-ups of the assignments that you hand in must be entirely your own.  Simply changing the variable names or making other cosmetic changes on your friend's assignment is not allowed.  

If, in my opinion, a correct solution to a proof has been shared or copied by more than one student, I will not grade that problem for the entire class, even if it was selected by Maple to be graded (see below).  If I feel that an incorrect solution has been copied, I will grade it whether or not Maple has selected that problem to be graded.  Thus, it is never in your best interest to either copy a proof or to allow someone to copy your proof. 

In cases where the solution to a homework problem is in the back of the book 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.  If a solution is given in the course FAQ's, you should simply reference that FAQ (by year and message Subject). Do not copy the entire proof from the FAQ into your assignment (you can still receive full credit for a problem if it is in the FAQ and you reference it). 

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

Grading:  There will be no exams and no final exam unless I determine that it is in the best interests of your education to have them. However there will be a lot of homework which will not be graded, and a lot of quizzes which will be used to determine your entire course grade. Quizzes will consist of zero or more problems selected randomly by Maple from the homework assignments that you hand in. 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. 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.

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.
Let T be the total number of problems that were graded times 100.
Let A be the average number of problems graded per assignment times 100.
Let G(x) be the student's final grade.

Then G(x) is computed by:

    G(x) = p(x)/(T-A)

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

Thus you need 50% of your graded quiz problems correct to get an A, 27% correct to get a C, and 17% correct to pass the course (not counting the boosting effect of dropping one assignment). 

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

Schedule: We will attempt to follow the schedule below.  This schedule is not cast in stone.  We will adjust the pace of the course as we proceed. Thus you should use this schedule as a crude reference of roughly what we ought to be doing in the course.

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 you in-class exams if I feel you will benefit from it or if your performance on the homework is not satisfactory, and also the right to give letter grades which are not consistent with the numerical grades computed above.

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This page was last  updated on Tuesday, August 20, 2002 09:45:26 AM. © Ken Monks