Math as a Liberal Art - Mathematics 105 - Spring 2008

Class Meetings: FOWLER 309 TR 10:00am-11:25am

Textbook: Excursions in Modern Mathematics with Mini-Excursions, Sixth Edition, by Peter Tannenbaum. We will cover Chapters 1, 5, 8, and one or more other chapters, probably. Topics will include: The mathematics of voting; Euler circuits; The mathematics of scheduling; and other topics, probably. 

Goals: I have three main goals in this course: for you to (a) learn some mathematics you haven't seen before; (b) get an idea of how varied and wide-ranging mathematical topics and their applications are; and (c) improve your ability to think analytically.

Homework: HW will be assigned in every class meeting, due the next class meeting.   Doing HW is essential to learning mathematics -- there is no way around it. You must take it seriously, and should expect to spend at least two to three hours on each assignment.  I encourage you to work with your classmates and/or get help from me or the CAE on problems you can't do. But, to be honest with yourself, in the end write up your own work without looking at hints or solutions provided by others.

Quizzes: There will be a quiz roughly every other week in class, each approximately 30 minutes. Exact dates will be announced in advance.

Final : The final exam date and time is determined by the Registrar's Office (www.oxy.edu/Registrar.xml). Please check to make sure you do not have any time conflicts with this date and time (or any early travel plans); I do not give early or late finals.

Make-ups: No make-up exams will be given. If you miss a quiz with a valid excuse (e.g., a medical reason) and provide documentation for it, that quiz will simply not count for you -- instead, your other quizzes and final exam will count proportionally more. This policy does not apply to the final exam.

Grading: Your grade for the semester will be computed according to this table:

Homework 5% Quizzes 60% Final 35%

Attendance: You are responsible for everything that goes on in every class meeting, such as announcements, handouts, taught topics that are not in the book, etc.  This means even if you miss a class for a valid reason, it is your responsibility to contact me and find out what you missed.

E-mail: When necessary, I will make announcements via the class mailing list, instead of in the classroom. I expect you to check your email at least once a day. You are encouraged to use our class email list, math105-L at oxydot.edu, to send messages to everyone in the class.

Academic Honesty: I feel strongly about protecting honest and hard-working students against unfair and dishonest actions sometimes committed by a few. I don't give warnings; I refer all suspicious cases to the Judicial Examiner without hesitation.

Students with learning disability: Please see me and the CAE for any special arrangements.