Information regarding the course in the course catalog
All up to date information can be found on the Course Webpage on Sakai.
Time and Place:
– Section 03 is on Tue/Fri, 10:20 – 11:40 AM at Allison Road Classroom 206, Busch Campus
– Section 04 is on Tue/Fri, 12:00 – 01:20 PM at Science & Engineering Resource Center 216, Busch Campus
Office hours: Tue, 9:00 – 10:00 AM, and Thu, 3:00 – 4:00 PM, and by appointment in Hill 226
Course description: This course is intended to help prepare students for high level mathematical reasoning and more generally, to help students transition from computational math courses to more abstract courses based on reading and writing mathematical proofs. Our objective is to learn the language of mathematics (symbols, quantifiers, logic), to learn to read and write structured mathematical proofs, to be able to judge if a proof is correct or incorrect and to defend a correct mathematical argument. The subject matter chosen for this task is basic number theory, set theory and some combinatorics. However, the subject matter is not the emphasis, it is more a vehicle to learning and practicing the techniques.
Textbook: Smith, Eggen and St. Andre, A transition to advanced mathematics, 8th edition.
Supplementary material will also be used, please take notes.
Homework: Homework problems will be assigned each weak, and are to be handed in at the beginning of the lecture a week later. The lowest score will be dropped, late homework will not be accepted (you may submit earlier in case of absence). Points are given for correctness and presentation.
Workshop: This course has a weekly workshop in class, conducted by the instructor and an additional learning assistant. During this time the students work collaboratively on problems and then communicate their findings. Workshops are an integral part of the course, on-time attendance and participation are mandatory.
Academic Integrity: You will work cooperatively on the workshop problems and are also encouraged to discuss the homework assignments with your fellow students and the instructor. The solutions, however, have to be written up independently by each student and must be expressed in her/his own words. Citations must be provided for external input such as books, web pages etc. All students in the course are expected to be familiar with and abide by Rutgers’ Academic Integrity Policy. Failure to observe these rules and reasonable suspicion that a student has plagiarized, cheated etc. will be reported.
Exams: There will be two mid-term exams in class on Tuesday, February 20 and Tuesday, April 3. The final exam will be held on May 9, 8 – 11 AM (Section 03) and May 3, 12 – 3 PM (Section 04). There will be no make-up for mid-term exams. Instead, in the case of a well-documented illness or emergency and in the case of a major outside commitment (with permission in advance only), the remaining two exams will count more proportionally. Unexcused and unjustified absence from a mid-term exam will lead to a score of 0 points. Make-up final exams are possible for justified absences only as per SAS Final Exam Policies.
Grading: The final grade will be based on the weighted average of homework, workshops and exams as follows:
- Homework ….. 20%
- Workshop ….. 5%
- Mid-Term exams (20% each) ….. 40%
- Final exam ….. 35%
Resources:
Syllabus
Further details and assignments are posted directly on Sakai.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Rutgers is fully committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Policies and procedures are indicated at the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Students who wish to request special accommodations must present a Letter of Accommodations to the instructor as early in the term as possible.
Annegret Burtscher 