HOMEWORK NUMBER 1:  Do all of the following for next week.  Do not hand in on Feb 7.   We will answer any questions that you have on the odd ones.  You will be asked to put up the solutions on the board for the even ones for credit for class work.

Starting on page 22:  5,6,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,21,22,23,25,26

On Feb 14, Hand in HK #1:  16, 18,22,26.
For all homework assignments that you hand in,
write neatly,
On your header, put your name and write out the homework assignment,
include only the problems that I asked you to hand in,
put them in order, labeled clearly,
only write on one side of the paper,
and leave enough room for me to write comments.
 

HOMEWORK NUMBER 2:  Do all of the following for next week.  Do not hand all of these in.

Starting on page 57: 1,2,7,8,12,17,18,23,24,26,27,29,30,31,32,37,38,39,40,45,54

On Feb 22(tuesday), Hand in HK #2:  (12,26,32,40)
 

HOMEWORK NUMBER 3:  Do all of the following for next week.  Do not hand all of these in.

From Chapter 3:5,7,8,9,10,24-34,35,36,45,46,47,48

On March 20, Hand in HK #3:  8,10,24,34,36,46,48

HOMEWORK NUMBER 4:  Do all of the following for next week.  Do not hand all of these in.

From Chapter 9:  1-19, 27,28,40

Hand in HK #4:  (evens)
 

HOMEWORK NUMBER 5:  Do all of the following for next week.  Do not hand all of these in.

From Chapter 10:  1-11

Hand in HK #5:  evens
 
 

HOMEWORK NUMBER 6:  Do all of the following for next week.  Do not hand all of these in.

From Chapter 11:  5-10, 15,16,17,19,20

Hand in HK #6:  15,16,17,19,20  Due On April 24th
 
 

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. The content of the course varies from section to section and semester to semester.

In this section of this course, you will have the opportunity to review Basic Math Skills. To better appreciate the variety of subjects within mathematics, you will be introduced to some exciting ideas in mathematics that come from a wide variety of disciplines such as game theory, graph theory, probability, theory of numbers coding theory, and geometry. These topics will be presented along with real world applications such as street networks, planning and scheduling, voting schemes, etc. Also we will discuss aspects of the culture of mathematics, including its history in different cultures and its role in present day culture, particularly, in relationship to some gender issues. In this section we will also discuss math anxiety.

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.

Text:
The text for the course is:  For all Practical Purposes, by CoMap.  We will all or part of chapters:
1:  Street Networks, including graph theory and Euler Circuits
2:  Visiting vertices including Hamiltonian Circuits
3:  Planning and Sceduling
9:  Identification Numbers
10:  Transmitting Information including binary codes and cryptography
11:  Social Choice and decision making, including voting schemes
17:  Symmetry and Patterns including fibonacci numbers, the golden ratio
 

Note: There is much more material in our text, For All Practical Purposes, than we could possibly cover this semester, so I will let you know specific pages that you are responsible for and that will accompany what we cover in class. Read as much of the rest as you like.
 

Methods of learning:
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.
 
 

Readings:
In addition to the textbook, I will present excerpts from the following books.  These are also suggested for you to read on your own.
Fear No More, by Hilton and Pederson for learning general math skills at your own pace.
Conquering Math Anxiety by Arem and Forgotten Algebra by Bleau. You may find these two books helpful to Conguer your own math anxiety and refresh your basic math skills.
Multicultural Mathematics, by Nelson, Joseph and Williams
Women in Mathematics, by Osen

I will also pass out some articles from journals and magazines from time to time to cover a wide range of topics such as math anxiety, relevance of math to our lives, history and experiences of women in math, theory of teaching math.

Prerequisites and Math Skills addressed:
We may divide math levels into the following categories:
(1) basic arithmetic - through grammar school and junior high,
(2) basic and intermediate algebra and geometry - high school math,
(3) pre calculus and trigonometry,
(4) calculus,
(5) advanced college math,
(6) graduate level mathematics, and
(7) research level mathematics.

The topics that we cover are new to you but will be presented in a way that depend on skills from levels (1) and (2) above. You will have the opportunity to review and basic math skills from levels (1) and (2) above that are needed for this course.

Writing Assignment
There will be one research paper due toward the end of the semester.  It does not have to be long, 3-5 typed pages.  For this assignment, you may pick one of the suggestions given at the end of the chapters that we cover or you may choose a topic from the following list.
    multicultural mathematics
    history of math
    current level of math skills in American high schools
    gender and/or race issues in math education
    math anxiety
    math puzzles
    historical figures in math - personal histories
    professions and levels of math used for various professions.

Help With Your studies and homework:
Tutors are available at both the providence and kingston campuses.  Check with them for specific hours. Also, you can make individual appointments with me.  For this, contact me by phone, e-mail, or ask me during class.  You  can even e-mail some of your questions to me and I can answer by e-mail.

Schedule of Events:
Each week we will focus on a new math topic with classwork and homework problems given. Also each week we will consider topics relavent to the role mathematics plays in our lives and in history. For these topics, you will have reading and writing assignments and some discussions. I will set up appointments to work with you individually on your basic skills and answer any other questions you have.
 
 

Date	Chapter Covered	Homework Due	Exam
Mon. Jan 24	chapter 1
Mon. Jan 31	chapter 1
Mon. Feb 7	chapter 2	HK # 1 (on chapter 1)
Mon. Feb 14	chapter 2
Tues. Feb 22	chapter 3	HK # 2 (on chapter 2)
Mon. Feb 28	chapter 3		EXAM 1 (on 1 and 2))
Mon. March 6	chapter 9	HK # 3 (on chapter 3)
Mon. March 20	chapters 9 and 10
Mon. March 27	chapter 10	HK #4 (on chapter 9)
Mon. April 3	chapter 11	HK #5 (on chapter 10)
Mon. April 10	chapter 11		EXAM 2 (on 3,9 and 10)
Mon. April 17	chapter 17	HK # 6 (on 11)
Mon. April 24	chapter 17
Mon. May 1		HK #7 (on 17) written assignment
Mon. May 8			EXAM 3 (on 11 and 17)

Homework assignments:
Homework assignments will be given when we start a new topic and are due when the next topic begins. You will receive feedback from me on these homework assignments.

Reading Assignments:
Throughout the semester, I will pass out articles that you should read and write summaries of.  We will discuss these in class.

E-mail and a Weekly 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.  You are to visit this sites and respond to my e-mail with your comments. 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 learn to do. To start this process off, as soon as possible, send me e-mail just saying hello. Once I have e-mail from everyone, I will send out the first assignment.

Quizzes, Tests and Evaluation:
There are many activities that you will be involved in throughout this course which will count toward your grade: Identifying and improving math skills using exercises which I provide,  homework on the new math topics, reading and discussions on articles, visiting web sites and answering questions, and taking exams. I use the following percentages to evaluate your efforts and successes in learning this material.

10% (1) Class participation.

20% (2) Homework.

15% (4) Writing assignment..

10% (5) Readings:  web assignments and articles.

45% (6) Three 1 hr exams will be given throughout the semester.