Mth108 Topics in Mathematics – Spring 2005
Section 01 meets T,R: 11:00-12:15
Whales
Hall 223
Instructor: Dr. Nancy Eaton, 874-4439, eaton@math.uri.edu
Office: Tyler Hall,
Rm. 222, Kingston
Office hours:
Thursday 2:30-5:30
Students who require accommodations and who have documentation
from
Disability Services
(874-2098) should make arrangements with me as soon as possible.
Course Description and goals: Math 108 is a special topics course that satisfies the general education requirement for math at the University of Rhode Island. It introduces the non-mathematics student to the spirit of mathematics and its applications. The content of the course varies from section to section and semester to semester.
In this section of this course, you will be introduced to some exciting ideas in mathematics that come from a wide variety of disciplines such as voting theory, graph theory, game theory, scheduling, counting, algebra, and fractal geometry. These topics will be presented along with real world applications such as voting schemes, fair division schemes, street networks, planning and scheduling, pattern recognition, and fractals in nature. Three skill areas are addressed, namely, reading of complex texts, use of quantitative data, and writing.
I hope that you will have a better understanding and appreciation for mathematics by the time you finish this course, that you will no longer think that math is only about balancing a check book and designing rockets, and that you will be proud to say that you LIKE math. You may be surprised to find that taking further math courses is both possible and desirable.
We will use reading, writing, discussion, and world-wide-web assignments as methods of learning the topics covered in this course. You will discuss and work in groups in class as well as do some short presentations. Because of the high level of knowledge that will be imparted and assessed during class time, attendance will be mandatory. During class time, topics will be presented, examples given and then you will be given the opportunity to work examples on your own.
Text: The text for the
course is: Excursions In Modern Mathematics, 5th edition, by Peter
Tannenbaum and Robert Arnold. We will cover the following chapters.
1: The Mathematics of Voting
3: Fair Division, The Mathematics of Sharing
5: Euler Circuits
6: The Traveling Salesman Problem
7: The Mathematics of Networks
8: The Mathematics of Scheduling
11: Symmetry
12: Fractal Geometry
Note: There is much more material in our text than we could possibly cover this semester. Read these entire chapters. We will cover most of the material in these chapters.
Class work: Examples and exercises will be worked on in class. There will be some class discussion and working in groups. This is a very important time to absorb the information and begin to understand how to apply it to problems. This work will count as 10% of your grade.
World wide web assignments: I will use e-mail to send you world-wide-web assignments. These will consist of the names of web sites and questions for you to answer about each site. You are to visit these sites and respond to my e-mail with your answers to my questions. If you are unfamiliar with "surfing the web", visit a computer lab and ask for help. Once you get started, you will find that it is a very easy thing to do. To start this process off, as soon as possible, send me an e-mail just saying hello with "MTH108" followed by your full name as the subject. Once I have e-mail from everyone, I will send out the first assignment. This work will count as 10% of your grade.
Writing Assignments: Short
writing assignments will be given throughout the course. These are writing intensive and will
take quite a bit of time to complete. Under Homework
Assignments below, you will see the specific problems, selected from the
text, for each writing assignment.
Follow these instructions carefully:
1)
(10pts) Your header should
include your name, writing assignment number, list of problems
in this assignment (including the problem numbers and chapter).
2)
(10pts) Put the problems in
the proper order. Label them and
all parts clearly. Do not include
any other exercises.
3)
(10pts) Only use one side
of the paper. Leave room for me to
write comments. Staple together
all pages.
4) (10pts) Write out the entire question and copy any charts
or diagrams.
5) (20pts) Give your solution in paragraph format,
explaining clearly, exactly how you calculated every answer. Explain it as if you are explaining it
to someone who doesn’t know the theory.
You may break from paragraph format to give tables, diagrams, or
equations.
6) (20pts) Write neatly and follow rules of proper
grammar. Use of a word processor
is recommended.
7) (20pts) Emphasis will be placed on correct work and
proper use of logic in your explanation.
The point values out of 100 points are given so that you know how your grade for these assignments will be determined. This work will count as 15% of the final grade for the course.
Homework: Problems are assigned from the book. You are responsible to do all problems that are assigned. We will work on some in class and you will hand some in as writing assignments. It is best if you collect all of your homework in a loose-leaf notebook. This is so that you can keep it in order and add corrections from class. Often, one individual problem will take many passes before it is worked up completely correctly. You must take the responsibility of seeing to it that you know how to correctly answer each homework problem. Many problems will be presented in class. Take notes and compare it to what you wrote. The quizzes will be based on the homework. If you understand every homework problem then you should have no trouble on the quizzes.
Tutors are available at the Academic Enhancement Center (AEC) in Roosevelt Hall. AEC tutors can answer questions, clarify concepts, check your understanding, and help you to study. You can make an appointment or walk in anytime Monday through Thursday 10 AM to 10 PM, Fri 10 AM to 1 PM and Sunday 4 PM - 8 PM. For a complete schedule go to www.uri.edu/aec, call (401) 874-2367, or stop by the fourth floor in Roosevelt Hall.
Homework assignments: Begin working on the exercises from each chapter when it is first introduced in class. There will be some class time allowed for going over some questions on the homework.
Exercises from chapter
1: starting on page 28:
1,9,17,19,20,27,31,33,34,35,37,41,43,45,49,51
Writing Assignment
#1: 20, 34
Exercises from chapter
3: starting on page 112. 1-17
(Odd), 39, 41, 43 47, 51
Writing Assignment
#2: 10, 42 - Be sure to give reasons.
Exercises from chapter
5: starting on page 203. 1,
5-11 (Odd), 15-19 (Odd) 23-29(Odd), 41,43, 63
Writing Assignment
#3: 54 - Be sure to draw the picture and
the graph models.
Exercises from chapter 6: starting on page 247. 1,3,7,9,11, 19, 23-29 (Odd), 37-41 (Odd)
Exercises from chapter 7: starting on page 293. 1-7 (Odd), 11-15 (Odd), 19, 21, 25
Exercises from chapter
8: starting on page 342. 7-11
(Odd), 17-21 (Odd), 25-29 (Odd) 35, 36, 39, 47, 50
Writing Assignment
#4: 36 - Do 35 first to check your
understanding
and 50
- Do 47 first to check your understanding
Exercises from chapter 11: starting on page 453. 1, 3,13,15,29-39 (Odd), 45,47
Exercises from chapter
12: starting on page 500. 1, 2a,
3a, 5(a, b), 9, 10a, 11a, 15
Writing Assignment
#5: 9, 10a,
11a - Use
graph paper and start with a very large square - Do not trace solution
Quizzes: Quizzes will be given based on the homework. Problems will be selected at random from the homework to demonstrate your understanding of the material. If you miss a quiz, no makeup will be given, instead, the two lowest quiz grades will be dropped and the rest will be averaged to give 15% of the grade for the course. You are responsible to get from me a copy of the quizzes that you miss.
Exams: Three exams will be given on the material from the chapters indicated. The exam questions will be based on the homework questions. To prepare, make sure you understand homework and quiz solutions. Solution keys will be given.
Final exam: The final will be cumulative. It will cover chapters that were covered on the previous 3 exams, namely, Chapters 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Course schedule: The following
is the schedule of events. When a
chapter is listed, we begin to cover the material in that chapter. After introducing a chapter, we will
used class periods to finish covering the chapter and going over examples and
exercises.
|
Week of |
Introduce Chapter |
Thursday - Homework Due |
Thursday - Exams |
|
Tues Jan 18 |
Chapter 1 |
|
|
|
Tues Jan 25 |
Chapter 3 |
WA#1 (on Chapt1) |
|
|
Tues Feb 1 |
|
|
Quiz 1 (on Chapt1) |
|
Tues Feb 8 |
Chapter 5 |
WA#2 (on Chapt3) |
Quiz 2 (on Chapt3) |
|
Tues Feb 15 |
|
|
EXAM 1 (on 1 & 3) |
|
Tues Feb 22 |
Chapter 6 (No class Tuesday) |
|
|
|
Tues Mar 1 |
|
WA#3 (on Chapt5) |
Quiz 3 (on Chapt5) |
|
Tues Mar 8 |
Chapter 7 |
WWW#1 |
Quiz 4 (on Chapt6) |
|
Tues Mar 22 |
|
|
EXAM 2 (on 5 & 6) |
|
Tues Mar 29 |
Chapter 8 |
|
Quiz 5 (on Chapt7) |
|
Tues Apr 5 |
|
WA#4 (on Chapt8) |
Quiz 6 (on Chapt8) |
|
Tues Apr 12 |
Chapter 11 |
WWW#2 |
|
|
Tues Apr 19 |
|
|
EXAM 3 (on 7 & 8) |
|
Tues Apr 26 |
Chapter 12 |
|
Quiz 7 (on Chapt11) |
|
Tues May 3 |
|
WA#5 (on Chapt12) |
|
|
Tues May 10 |
Last class |
|
|
|
Tues May 17 |
|
|
Final Exam 8:00-11:00 AM |
Evaluation: The following percentages are given to compute your grade for the course. Each category is described above.
10% - Class participation
10% - World-wide-web assignments
15% - Writing assignments
15% - Quizzes
30% - Three 1 hr exams (10% each)
20% - Final
Exam
Practice for Exam 3
(including solution)
URI Civility Policy
The University of Rhode Island is committed to developing and actively protecting a class environment in which respect must be shown to everyone in order to facilitate the expression, testing, understanding, and creation of a variety of ideas and opinions. Rude, sarcastic, obscene or disrespectful speech and disruptive behavior have a negative impact on everyone's learning and are unacceptable. The course instructor will have disruptive persons removed from the class.