646Syllabus_S19

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:

Name: Oksana Shatalov
Email address: shatalov@math.tamu.edu
Web page: /~shatalov/
Grader: Quing Zhang (email: zhangqing@mail.math.tamu.edu)

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 e Campus 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 e Campus 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.

will not be accepted

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.