Math 100
Elements of Modern Mathematics
Spring 2003

Course Home Page

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[Course Participation]

Instructor

Randall Pruim
office: North Hall 284
phone: (616) 957-7113
E-mail: rpruim@calvin.edu

Time & Location

12:30-1:20pm MWF in North Hall B64

Office hours

Regular office hours are currently scheduled for

Tuesdays	1:30-2:20
Thursdays	2:30-3:20

If these times do not work for you, other times can be arranged by appointment. Alternatively, you can simply stop by my office and see if I am available. (You might like to consult my current schedule before proposing a time.)

Course Description

This is a course in mathematics designed to meet the needs of students in the humanities and liberal arts. The course will focus on some of the major ideas of mathematics and the impact of these ideas on culture. The course has three major goals:

To provide a better understanding of some rich mathematical ideas,
To build thinking skills that can be used to analyze issues even in "non-mathemtaical" areas of life,
To develop a new perspective on mathematics, the way it is used, and its connections to the cultures in which is has been practiced.

I hope you will come to see mathematics as a human activity that requires creativity and imagination and can result in beauty as well as applications. Our goal is to learn to appreciate mathematics and to discover the power of mathematical thinking and to have some fun doing it.

In many ways this course will be different from other mathematics courses you may have had in the past. It is not intended to develop a specific set of computation skills. I will ask you to think, to analyze, and to "figure out" rather than to work many routine exercises. We will focus our attention on ideas rather than on computations.

Prerequisites

The only prerequisites are an open mind and a willingness to engage it while putting aside any preconceived prejudices or expectations about mathematics or mathematics courses.

Internet Resources

Email

I will maintain an email list of all students registered in this class and will occasionally use it to distribute information and reminders of various things pertaining to this course. If you do not know how to access your email, please talk to someone at the IT help desk. If you prefer to read your email from an account other than your calvin student account, send me email with the email address you prefer. You can also send email to the class list or particular students in the class via KnightVision.

Web Pages

In addition to this home page, I will also maintain a list of web resources pertaining to this course. You are responsible for any information appearing on the course web pages. Items I have prepared and maintain online include

a customizable calendar of daily readings, lecture topics, exams, homework etc. (Last modification: Wednesday, 14-May-2003 10:38:23 EDT.)
a list of homework assignments. Due dates will be maintained on the calendar above. (I may also distribute these via email.)
information about tests and exams.
handouts and overheads used in class.

KnightVision

I am also making partial use of KnightVision. You can go to KnightVision to check your grades, or to send email to individuals or groups in the class. All other information pertaining to the class will be maintained on standard web pages that may be viewed with or without KnightVision.

Other Important Information

See me

If you are having difficulty with any portion of the course, do not hesitate to see me. Do this as soon as possible, certainly well in advance of any deadlines (like tests) so that we can work to fix the problem.

Textbook

The required text for this course is The Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking, by Burger and Starbird.

Additional readings may also be assigned from time to time.

Grading

Grading will be based on the following approximate weighting:

        Tests         60%	
        Final Exam    20%	
        Other         20%

Other includes homework, course participation, and any other assignments made.

The final exam will cover material from the entire semester. If your final exam is better than your worst test, then your final exam score will replace your worst test score, (making the final worth 40%).

Homework

Homework will be assigned nearly every class period. Its primary purpose is to get you thinking about the material and to give you feedback on your learning progress. A calendar and a list problem sets will be maintained online. Late work will not be accepted for any reason. Instead, I will drop the three lowest homework scores for each student. That gives everyone three times to be forgetful, sick, busy, or whatever, without requiring me to judge excuses.

Prior to each assignment, make sure you have read the corresponding material from the textbook. Read slowly and think carefully about the ideas being presented. You may find the assignments in this class to be somewhat different from what you have had in other mathematics classes in that they will not all be routine repetitions of skills. There may be fewer problems that you are expecting, but each one will require more thought.

Joint Work

You may find it pleasant and useful to work together on many portions of this course. I encourage you to do so. BUT you must write up your own solutions to each exercise (unless your have been instructed to work in groups).

Attendance

Attendance is required. If you miss class, you are missing an important part of this course, and it is your responsibility to find out what has happened in class. In class we will be doing activities that reinforce the ideas covered in the textbook, discussing readings and ideas, and answering questions. These are difficult things to replace in any other way.

Although I will not "take attendance" every day, failure to participate in in-class activities will hurt your participation grade.

Preparing for class

You should bring with you each day:

any homework due that day or that you have questions about,
your textbook (and any of the "extra stuff" that may be needed),
any additional readings that have been handed out (put them in a folder so that you can locate them easily),
and any other materials I announce ahead of time.

Of course, you should have read (and thought about) any assigned readings prior to coming to class. You may want to have your notes handy, especially if you have questions regarding the readings or homework.

Special Circumstances

Occasionally there are special circumstances that require that the rules and guidelines above be adjusted for a particular student. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the student to inform me of the situation as soon as possible, so that the appropriate arrangements can be made. This includes, but is not limited to, students with documented disabilities.

This page maintained by:
Randall Pruim
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Calvin College
rpruim@calvin.edu