Math 449 Syllabus

Course: Modern Algebra II
Term: Spring 2003
Time: T-Th 2:30-3:45pm
Location: Room STT314

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 448 (Modern Algebra I) or equivalent 

Course Objective: To provide the student with an understanding of the major topics of modern algebra beyond those covered in Modern Algebra I. This will accomplished primarily by covering the sections of the book listed below 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) demonstrating 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 but not required. 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 your 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 various courses, I must insist that all written assignments satisfy 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 449 - 2:30)
   3. Assignment number (this is the assignment number given on the assignment sheet, not the number of assignments you handed in).
4. All individual problems should be clearly labeled.
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 will 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 halls or mail it to me or have an uncle deliver it to my house.

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 can be done in collaboration with others but must be written up individually unless you are specifically told otherwise. In other words you can help each other figure things out and discuss the relevant mathematics, but the actual write-ups 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.  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. 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. For each assignment I will grade zero or more problems which are randomly selected by Maple. Which problems are graded will not be announced before you hand in the homework assignment. Each part of each graded homework problem will be worth 100 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:

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 a 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 in extreme cases.

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This page was last  updated on Monday, January 20, 2003 10:50:18 AM. © Ken Monks