Mathematics 103

Elementary Discrete Mathematics

Summer Session 2004
Instructor: Alan Stein


Class Photo

  • Meeting Times
  • Textbook
  • Student Information Form
  • Class Mailing List
  • Course Outline
  • Expectations
  • Notes
  • Group Projects
  • Exams and Grading
  • Solutions to Exams
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    Meeting Times

     MW 6:00-9:30 pm in Room 327.
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    Textbook

    Math Beyond the Numbers By Gilbert/Hatcher
    Wiley Custom Edition, ISBN 0-471-44962-8
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    Student Information Form

     Please fill out the online Student Information Form to help your instructor learn more about you. There is a bonus for filling out the form expeditiously and a penalty for delay. See the form for specifics.
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    Class Mailing List

     An Internet listserv mailing list has been set up for the use of this class. The name of the list is WMA103-L@LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU. You will automatically be signed up for the list when you complete the Student Information Form. If you don't receive confirmation of your subscription within a day, please check with your instructor or fill out the form again.

    It is expected that everyone in the class will participate in the mailing list. Messages may be sent to everyone on the mailing list in the same way any other email message is sent; just address such messages to WMA103-L@LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU.

    It is recommended that students check their email regularly. Your instructor will use email to communicate with the entire class between meetings as well as to communicate with individual students.
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    Expectations: You should expect to do a majority of your learning outside the classroom, generally spending between two and three hours of studying outside of class for each hour in class. Mathematics, like most subjects, is learned by doing it, and we won't have time for you to do a lot of mathematics in class. On the other hand, you are expected to come to class and you are responsible for everything that happens in class whether you are there or not. If you miss a class, you are expected to immediately find out what happened either from me (email is wonderful for that) or from your classmates. Most of all, it is expected that you will get excited about what you are learning and to delight in your own, perhaps unexpected, ability to solve intriguing problems.

    Notes: These notes may be edited as the semester progresses.

    1. Chapter 1 -- Voting Methods
    2. Chapter 2 -- Apportionment Methods
    3. Chapter 3 -- Financial Mathematics
    4. Chapter 4 -- Probability
    5. Chapter 6 -- Paths, Networks and Graphs
    6. Chapter 8 -- Number Theory

    Group Projects: You may be assigned several projects during the semester to be worked on in groups. Projects will be graded on accuracy, creativity and presentation. We will begin the projects in class, but additional time outside of class will be required to complete them.

    Documentation for Group Projects


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    Exams and Grading
    There will be exams on the second and fourth Wednesdays and a final examination at the last class. The exams will count for 100 points and the final will count for 150 points. There will be group projects, the value of each will be announced at the time of the assignment. At the end of the semester, the total number of points earned will be divided by the maximum number of possible points to determine the average for each student.

    Remember that no make-ups for either the first or second exam will be given.

    The general principle for earning a grade for this particular course is the following.

    1. To pass, a student must at least pretend to be fascinated by the course.
    2. To earn a C, a student must actually appear to be fascinated by the course.
    3. To earn a B, a student must exhibit a modicum of success in solving problems.
    4. To earn an A, a student must exhibit a significant amount of success in solving problems.
    Students demonstrate at least a pretense of fascination in a variety of ways, including: coming to every class on time and staying awake through the entire class; actively participating; asking and answering questions; bringing in problems they have run across outside of class; asking about problems on the various handouts even when they haven't been assigned; taking advantage of the various extra credit opportunities offered during the course of the semester; handing in all assignments on time; making the effort to expeditiously collect any assignment if not in class when it was returned.

    In order to quantify the fascination exhibited, a number of extra credit opportunities will be afforded during the course of the semester, in addition to the up to ten point bonus available for simply filling out the Student Information Form quickly at the start of the semester.

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