Syllabus for Mathematics 280 Spring 2005

Professor: Dr. Maria Fung	Phone: 503-838-8871
Office: AA 304	Email: fungm@wou.edu

CLASS MEETS

10-10:50 p.m. MWF Arnold Arms 101

Dr. Fung’s OFFICE HOURS & SCHEDULE

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9-10	Prep	Prep	Prep	Prep	Prep
10 – 11	Math 280	Math 407H	Math 280	Math 407H	Math 280
11 – 12	Office Hour	Math 407H	Office Hour	Math 407H	Office Hour
12 – 1	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch		Lunch
1 – 2	Math 345	Prep	Math 345		Math 345
2 – 3	Office Hour	Office Hour	Office Hour		Office Hour
3 – 4	Meeting/Grade	Meetings			Grade
4:30-6:30	Math 495/595	Meetings			Math 495/595

Office hours are for you, so please do come to introduce yourself in more detail to me and feel free to drop by for help. At times other than my listed office hours you are welcome and encouraged to call or email me with questions about the course. If you have direct scheduling conflicts with my office hours and would like further help, please let me know.  

PREREQUISITES

Mathematics 252 with a grade of C- or better.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

Text: “Reading, Writing, and Proving,” Springer 2003, by Ulrich Daepp and Pamela Gorkin.

COURSE STRUCTURE: Class will be a mix of lecture, exploration and reflection activities and presentations.

Please bring your text to class every day.

COURSE CONTENT

This course is designed for students planning to be mathematics majors and minors. It is a "bridge" course, bridging the foundational calculus sequence with more advanced proof-intensive mathematics courses.

The goals for this course are for you to:

• examine some of the logic and set theoretic foundations of mathematics
• look at a variety of concepts acquired in pre-calculus and calculus courses from a more advanced viewpoint
• learn how to read, analyze, and write simple mathematical proofs
• get comfortable with the idea of doing mathematics in a rigorous way
• do an independent project involving learning and presenting new mathematical material

ATTENDANCE

Daily attendance is required for your success in this course. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to ask a classmate for notes on the material that you have missed. I will not have discussion notes available if you have missed class, nor will I repeat my discussion during office hours

READING THE TEXT

You will be expected to carefully and completely read each (assigned) chapter in your textbook. It is a good idea to briefly read the assigned section before class and then to carefully read the section before you start your homework. You need to take careful and detailed notes on each of the assigned sections in the textbook. You are encouraged to record all your questions as an integral part of your notes. Bring these questions for discussion in class. These notes will be collected two times during the term, and once during the final exam.

HOMEWORK: There will be a variety of homework assignments given in this course. There will be five main categories of homework assignments:

Text Problems Homework

Writing Assignments

In-class Activities (completion of)

Final Project

TEXT PROBLEMS HOMEWORK

• Homework (problems) from our textbook will be assigned daily. These homework assignments will be due the day after they are assigned.
• Completing your homework in a timely fashion will be integral to your success in this course. Exams will be based on homework problems and in-class activities.
• You will find that if you do not do all of your homework, you will not succeed in learning the material covered in this course.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

• These assignments will be assigned at various times throughout the term. 
• You will be writing for three different audiences: a person who has no training in mathematics, a peer, an undergraduate mathematics journal.
• Your writing will help you understand the concepts we study better.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

There will be several such activities per week and it is your responsibility to stay on task and to participate in presenting your ideas to the class. You need to complete the parts of the activities we not get to outside of class.

FINAL PROJECT

There will be a final outside of class project. You will be asked to learn about a new mathematical topic and develop some of the results that stem from it. More details will be provided later in the term.

COURSE GRADING 

• Attendance and in-class participation are required. Each day your participation in class will be noted.
• Documented (written) excuses for illness, etc. will be accepted for missed classes and/or late work. Notification must be prompt and in advance.
• All of your class, homework activities and exams will count as part of your grade with the following breakdown:

Class Attendance and Participation	5%
Text Problems Homework	25%
Final Project	15%
Exams	40%
Writing Assignments	15%

EXAMS

There will be two term exams, three quizzes and a final exam. The final exam will be cumulative. The term exams and quizzes will test recently covered material. All tests will be closed book and without any notes. Additional time will be provided if necessary.

APPROPRIATE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR

You are ultimately responsible for your own attendance and performance. Disruptive classroom behavior of any kind, such as talking during lecture or consistently coming to class late etc., is not appropriate. Proscribed Conduct for all students is described in the University Catalog. In particular for this course any student found cheating on an exam or copying from another student's exam paper will receive a zero score on that exam.

LATE WORK POLICY

Your work is due by 4 p.m. on the due date. All due items may be turned in, unexcused, 1 class day late (by 12 noon) for 75% credit or 2 class days (by 12 noon) late for 50% credit. There will be NO credit for assignments more than 2 class days late. Any item turned in after 4 p.m. on a due date will be considered late. There are no exceptions, except official excuses (see note above)!

LEARNING DISABILITIES

If you have a documented learning disability, please talk to me during the few days of class, I will be more than happy to accommodate you in any way that I can. 

INCOMPLETE POLICY

If you are passing this course and have a documented reason for not being able to complete the course, I may be able to grant you an incomplete. You must obtain my agreement if you wish to have a grade of incomplete recorded.  

STANDARD GRADING SCALE FOR THIS COURSE

(Total % for the course, usual rounding rules apply)

%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade
93 – 100	A	90 – 92	A-	87 – 89	B+	83 – 86	B	80 – 82	B-
%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade
77 – 79	C+	73 – 76	C	70 – 72	C-	60 – 69	D	Below 60	F