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Original syllabus (pdf); overview of topics covered (pdf)

Office hours are Tuesdays 1:00–2:30, and Fridays 11:30–1:00. My office is Chase Building 252; it's on a funny half-floor, and can only be reached via the little stairs at the south end of the building (map).

Exams

There will be one in-class midterm exam, on (provisionally) Friday 18 February (just before spring break). This will be worth 20% of the overall grade. The final exam will be scheduled by the Registrar’s office, and will be worth 50% of the overall grade.

Homework assignments

Homework will be due bi-weekly, on Wednesdays in class, and will consist of a mixture of reading assignments, essays, and mathematical problems. The assignments will be posted here at least two weeks in advance.

Assignment 1:
Essay: describe your previous experience(s) with mathematics—in school, at university, in the workplace, online, in social life, anywhere! What does mathematics mean (or, what has it meant) in your life? In society as a whole? What do you hope or expect to gain from this course? (Recommended length: 250–1000 words, i.e. roughly 1–4 pages if handwritten.)
Reading/problems: write up a solution to one of the problems of Section 1.1. (Reading other parts of Chapter 1 may be helpful.)

Assignment 2:
Problems from textbook, Section 1.4: 4, 7, 12, 13, (14), (15), 16, 17, (19); section 2.3: (1), 2, 3, (4), (6), 9, 11, (26), 28, 35, (36).  PDF version.
Problems in brackets are optional: I recommend that you at least look at them, but they won't be graded for credit.
Model solutions.

Assignment 3:
Problems from textbook, Section 2.2: (1), (7), 8, (10), 14, (26), (28), 30; section 4.3: (1), 3, (8), 9, 12, (18).  PDF version.
Essay: choose one of three options—see PDF.
Model solutions.

Midterm review notes:
Notes on generalised Fibonacci sequences and Binet’s formula.

Midterm exam: pdf

Statistics etc. practice questions:
Problems from textbook, Section 7.1: 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12. Section 8.1: 2, 5, 8, 9, 14, 16, 20. Section 8.2: 2, 4, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29.

Notes of lectures on history of proof: part I

Review questions; overview of topics covered.

Homework grade weightings

Each assignment has the same total weight towards your overall final grade, except that I'll drop your lowest homework score in calculating the total. Overall, the written assignments will count for 20% of your final grade.

Model solutions.

Late homework policies

  • If an assignment is late for reasons genuinely beyond your control (eg serious illness), there will of course be no penalty.
  • If the assignment is going to be late without such a reason, and you let me know at least 24 hours in advance of the deadline, then we can work out an extension and I'll give at least half credit.
  • Assignments up to a week late without notice will be graded at 1/3 credit - so still better late than never!
  • Credit won't normally be given for assignments more than a week late.

Projects

In the second half of the semester, there will be group projects; more details will be announced in late January.