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Instructor: Ramin Naimi Office: Fowler 403 Office Hours: officeHours |
Phone: (323) 259-2550 Fax: (323) 259-2704 Email: click here Web: www.rnaimi.oxy.edu |
Class Meetings: MWF 3:30-4:25, Fowler 401.
Text: There is no required textbook. I will hand out class notes, as well as post them on the class website at www.rnaimi.oxy.edu/topology/classnotes/index.htm. I will also occasionally assign homework problems from the book by V. Prasolov, Intuitive Topology. This is a good book, and I encourage you to purchase it, but you don't have to; I will give handouts containing the assigned problems. If you do end up buying the book, make sure to resist the temptation to look at the solutions before turning in homework (I'll just trust you on this).
Homework: HW will be assigned in every class meeting, due two class meetings later (but you should pretend it's due the next class meeting, so that you can ask questions on it). You are strongly encouraged to work with your classmates or get help from me or the CTL on HW; but you must write it up alone, in your own words. Copying is cheating, and I have zero tolerance for it. 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 every other day on it!
Quizzes: I am not at this point planning on giving quizzes, but if I see the need for it, I will start giving quizzes about once every other week. They would count as up to 20% of the grade, and we would have only two instead of three midterms.
Midterms: There will be three midterms, on the following tentative dates: Wednesday 2/14/01, Wednesday 3/14/01, Monday 4/16/01. Changes to these dates, if any, will be announced one to two weeks in advance.
Final : The final exam will be on Monday 5/14/01, 1:00-4:00pm. Please make sure you do not have any time conflicts with this date and time (or any early travel plans), as I do not give early or late finals!
Make-ups:
| Grading: Grades will be assigned on a curve. In a small class such as ours, the curve will necessarily be somewhat subjective: I will determine it according to the overall performance of the class, the material covered, exams, homework, etc. But you are guaranteed an A for a total of 93% or higher, A- for 90% or higher, B+ for 87% or higher, and so on (every ten points). Your total number of points for the semester will be computed according to the table to the right. |
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Attendance: It counts towards the grade: two points per class meeting, one point if you are late, zero if absent. You are responsible for everything that goes on in every class meeting, such as announcements, handouts, taught topics that are not in the classnotes, etc. This means even if you miss a class for say a medical 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. You are expected to check your email at least once a day. You are encouraged to use our class email list, math460-L@oxy.edu, to send messages to everyone in the class.