MATH 646 SYLLABUS - SPRING 2019
Course
Title: MATH 646 –
A Survey of Mathematical Problems II
Term:
Spring 2019
Meeting
times and location:
This is an online class. All references to times in this course are
in the Central Time Zone.
Course
Description and Prerequisites: A
survey of problems in various branches of mathematics such as
algebra, geometry, differential equations, real analysis, complex
analysis, calculus of variations. Prerequisite:
MATH 645 or approval of instructor.
Instructor
Information:
Textbook:
(Required) What
is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods
by Richard
Courant, Herbert
Robbins, Ian
Stewart (2nd Edition) ,
ISBN-13: 978-0195105193, ISBN-10: 0195105192.
Other
reading materials I will post in eCampus
throughout the semester.
Course Format and Time Frame: This course is a 15-week
asynchronous online course. Throughout the course, eCampus
will be used as the primary venue for lectures, discussions,
assignments, etc. You will need to participate in discussions and
submit all assignments and projects via eCampus.
Thus, it is necessary for you to be familiar with eCampus
(the learning management system supported by TAMU). Please visit
http://ecampus.tamu.edu/student-help
for helpful student tutorials. In addition to accessings
eCampus
through http://ecampus.tamu.edu/
you can find a link to eCampus
in the Howdy.
There
are no synchronous lectures for this course (The students in this
program are in different time zones and most have full-time jobs. So
trying to find a time where we can all meet on a regular basis nearly
impossible.)
The first day of the online course is Monday January 14 and the last
day is April 30. For the purposes of this class, the “online week”
will reset at 10am (CST) on Wednesdays. This means that one week of
assignments will end on Wednesday at 10am (CST) and, in turn, a new
week of assignments will begin. Your final grades will be posted in
Howdy
at the end of the course, but your individual grades on assignments
will be viewable in eCampus
on a regular basis. Students are expected to follow the course
outline and engage and participate in the activities outlined in each
weekly lesson. Students are required to keep pace with class, follow
the course outline, and complete necessary reading and assignments by
the posted due dates. Due dates are expressed in day and hour CST
(Central Standard Time). Students are responsible for adjusting due
dates to their time zone.
Communication
Strategy: There are
several ways you can communicate with your fellow classmates and
myself.
-
Email:
Email is the best
way to contact me on an individual bass. I am easily accessible via
shatalov@math.tamu.edu
I
will do my best to respond to you within 24 hours of you email. I
hope that I can respond quicker than 24 hours, but I can’t
guarantee a quick response all of the time, especially on the
weekends. When emailing please BE SURE to put Math 646 in the
subject
line.
-
“Hello
classmates, I need help!” Discussion Forum: In
eCampus
there is a discussion forum titled “Hello classmates, I need
help”. Use this forum to ask your classmates questions about work
in the class or to clear up any confusion regarding class material
or assignments. The discussion forum does not accept math syntax,
but it does accept uploaded files. So if there are math symbols, you
can upload a picture or file containing the mathematical
notation. You
can subscribe to this forum so that you can receive email
notifications when someone posts to the discussion board. Also
note that I
will moderate our class forum.
-
Web
Conference You
can schedule a time with the instructor for a web conference
session (via Skype).
Netiquette: Be sure to participate in a responsible and
respectful way that is consistent with good academic practice. To
learn about polite online behavior, or “netiquette”, check the
following link: http://albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html.
Violation of netiquette will result in your withdrawal form the
class.
Guidelines for Online Class Participation: Regular interaction
online is strongly encouraged. Learning what other classmates know
about mathematics and how they think about mathematics is a very
valuable aspect in the learning process.
Course Description: This course is intended to provide
students with problem-solving skills, as well as an historical
understanding of the role that formulating mathematical problems has
had in the development of Mathematics.
Grading Policy:
Grades
Your final grade will
be determined by your performance on the homework and term paper.
Since some of the work is doing problems and writing essays, I think
this course does not lend itself to numerical grades only. So some
grades may be numerical and others may be letter grades. The final
grade will be determined counting the term paper as half the homework
(200 points homework, 100 points term paper, if we were working in
points). The grading scheme is:
-
A: Did all or almost all of the work and
did it well.
-
B: Did a large proportion of the work well
or did almost all of the work but did some of it wrong or
incompletely.
-
C: Did almost all the work but did it
poorly or didn't do a lot of the required work.
-
F: Did very little or nothing.
-
Weekly
Homework
Assignments:
Each week throughout the course there will be individual
assignments whereby each student will turn in their own solutions
to a give problem set. When working on the individual assignments,
you may email me, discuss with classmates via the discussion board
(Hello classmates, I need help), or look things up on the web or in
a book, but you may not copy answers. You must write up your
solutions in your own words, notation, and/or symbols; copying a
solution from a source and referencing the source is still
considered a violation of academic integrity because you are
submitting work for a grade that is not your own work. If you use
resources
to complete
your assignments, you must cite the source. For more information on
plagiarism and Aggie Code of Honor, see the section on Academic
Integrity below.
Turning
in Weekly Assignments:
When turning in your
assignments please follow the guidelines below:
-
On
each assignment you turn in, the submitted document must have
your name, the due date of the assignment, and the assignment
number.
-
Save
the file as
LastName_Assignment#_Math646_sp19.
-
You
may choose one of two ways to turn-in your
assignments:
-
Type
your solutions to the assignment in an electronic format of
your choosing (Latex, Word, etc.), convert to a PDF, and then
submit the PDF via
eCampus.
-
Write
your assignment on paper and then scan the paper(s) as a
merged PDF document. Then submit the merged PDF document via
eCampus.
After submitting each assignment, be sure you check the submitted
document to make sure the format in which you are turning in your
assignment is readable (i.e. resolution is good, scan quality is
clear, etc.). If it is not easily readable, your assignment will
not be accepted. It is the responsibility of the student to
turn in work that is readable by the grader.
Note that most of the time your assignments will be graded by the
math department’s graduate students. If you have questions on the
grading of the assignments, please let me know and I'll help you or I
will get you in contact with the grader.
-
Term
Paper:
Each student is responsible for writing a paper. Instructions
and list of topics
will be provided in
eCampus.
The
term paper should be a thoughtful discussion of your topic
including the appropriate mathematics and history. A superficial
discussion is not sufficient. I want to know by reading the paper
that you learned some things and thought seriously about the topic.
The paper should be at least 3000 words long, double-spaced, with 12-point
font, and have one-inch margins on all sides. The
paper should be fully referenced and any reasonable style of
referencing is acceptable. Also, please have a running head with
your name on each page and page numbers. It
is expected that you will use proper English grammar, punctuation,
and spelling. Papers and other forms of communication that do not
use proper English grammar, punctuation, and spelling will not be
accepted. Use the services of the University Writing Center (UWC)
if you have questions about grammar or writing style. More
information about UWC may be found by clicking on the following
link: http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/.
Technical Requirements and Support: The online portion of this
course will be held via ecampus.tamu.edu. Help with eCampus
is available at http://ecampus.tamu.edu/Help/Student-Help.
To access the system you will use your TAMU netid and password.
Please contact me immediately if you are unable to access the course
website. If you require more technical assistance, try Help Desk
Central (http://hdc.tamu.edu/
or 979-845-8300). Help Desk Central is open 24-hours each
day, 7 days a week, 365 days a
year.
Attendance
Policy: This is an asynchronous online course, so attendance will
not be figured into your grade. University rules related to excused
and unexcused absences are located on-line at
http://student-rules.tamu.edu/rule07.
Late
Work Policy: No late work is accepted for unexcused absences per
Section 7.4 of the University Student Rules Policy.
Make-up Policy: Students may be excused from turning in an
assignment for the reasons stated in Section 7.1 (http://student-
rules.tamu.edu/rule7.htm) or other reason deemed appropriate by me
(the instructor). To be excused you (the student) must notify me in
writing (acknowledged e-mail message is acceptable) prior to the date
of absence if such notification is feasible. In cases where advance
notification is not feasible (e.g. accident, or emergency) the
student must provide notification by the end of the second working
day after the absence. This notification should include an
explanation of why notice could not be sent prior to the class. For
approved excuses for missed assignments, an appropriate modified due
date will be set by me (the instructor).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy
Statement:
The
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal
anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights
protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be
guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable
accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a
disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability
Services, currently located in the Disability Services building at
the Student Services at White Creek complex on west campus or call
979-845-1637. For additional information, visit
http://disability.tamu.edu.
Academic
Integrity Statement: AGGIE HONOR CODE “An Aggie does not
lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do”. Upon accepting
admission to Texas A&M University, a student immediately assumes
a commitment to uphold the Honor Code, to accept responsibility for
learning, and to follow the philosophy and rules of the Honor System.
Students will be required to state their commitment on examinations,
research papers, and other academic work. Ignorance of the rules does
not exclude any member of the TAMU community from the requirements or
the processes of the Honor System. For additional information please
visit: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/.
Scholastic Dishonesty: Copying work done by others, either in
class or out of class, looking on other students papers during exams
or quizzes, having possession of unapproved information in your
calculator, and/or having someone else do your work for you are all
acts of scholastic dishonesty. These acts, and other acts that can be
classified as scholastic dishonesty, will be prosecuted to the full
extent allowed by University policy. Punishment can range from a zero
on the assignment/quiz/exam to expulsion from the university. In any
case of scholastic dishonesty, the student forfeits their right to
Q-drop the class. In this class, collaboration on assignments, either
in class or out of class, is forbidden unless permission to do so is
granted by the instructor.
Copyright
Policy: All printed materials disseminated in class or on the web
are protected by Copyright laws. One copy (or download from the web)
is allowed for personal use. Multiple copies or sale of any of these
materials is strictly prohibited.