PBIS 187: Great mathematical questions and ideas

Fall 2005, Sections 1, 3, 6

 

Instructor: Dr. G. Bullington, Office: Swart 121, bullingt@uwosh.edu, 424-7351

Office Hours:       Monday                 9:10-10:10

                                Wednesday          9:10-10:10

                                Friday                     12:40-1:40

Outside these times, please contact me to make an appointment.

 

The math that you know and can do is profound.   You possess a canon of our civilization.  Through the ages, humankind has formed mathematics; math in return has formed the way we view our world and our lives.  The great ideas that are present in math are comparable to works of Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Plato and Dogen, and they can enrich our lives with the same type of texture and beauty if we look.  The objective of this course is to revisit your knowledge with fresh eyes and see how it can render deep and amazing results.

 

Text: The heart of mathematics: an invitation to effective thinking, 2nd ed., E. Burger and M. Starbird, Key publishing.

 

Calculator: You will need a scientific calculator. (I suggest the TI-83 Plus.)  It is not okay to use a calculator on a mobile phone or laptop computer.

 

Connection to the liberal arts: According to Encyclopedia.com, one connotation of the term “liberal arts” is all studies that impart a general as opposed to a vocational or specialized education.   Every element of this course has been designed with the philosophy that mathematics is a liberal art. Math is not reserved for specialists; Math belongs to us all.

 

Question sets and in-class activities:

  • Daily questions will be assigned.
  • Often, in-class activities will be collected for a grade, so it is important that you attend each day.  Each in-class activity will count as ˝ a Question Set.
  • Each student will present solutions to two assigned questions from the daily questions in front of the class. These two solutions will count as a Question Set.
  • Four Question Sets composed mainly of questions from the daily questions will be collected.  It is important when writing these solutions to strive for clarity of exposition.  Well-written, polished solutions should be submitted.

 

Collaboration on question sets and in-class activities with other members of this class is allowed, although solutions must be individually written up and collaborators should be acknowledged.  It will be made clear when collaboration is not permitted.

 

Quizzes:  There will be three quizzes during the term. Quiz dates are as follows: Test 1: Oct. 7 (Friday); Test 2: Nov. 7 (Monday); Test 3: Dec. 14 (Wednesday). Quizzes will be administered outside of class time at Testing Services (basement of Polk, Hours: Monday-Thursday: 8:00AM-6:00PM, Friday: 8:00AM-4:30PM). Check www.tts.uwosh.edu/testing/  to check administration details and hours).  Collaboration on any part of an exam is not allowed and is academic dishonesty (cf. fine print about the student discipline code below).

 

There will be no make-ups for any form of assessment (e.g., problem sets, quizzes, in-class activities, etc).

 

Attendance and Participation are will affect your grade since this course is more an experience than a set of material to be learned.  A lot of what I hope will happen for you in Math 187 will take place inside the classroom, working in groups and talking with others.  It is in your interest to participate in the group problem solving sessions since active learning is better than passive learning. 

 

Grading Policy:

Quiz 1                                                     27%

Quiz 2                                                     27

Quiz 3                                                     27

Reports and Problem Sets                  19        

Total                                                       100

[90-100% is an A, 80-89% is a B, 70-79% is a C, 60-69% a D, and 0-59% an F.]

Intermediate grades (e.g., AB) will be assigned when a student is sufficiently close to the cutoff for the next highest grade.

 

Accommodations: The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Please contact Disability Services [Dean of Students Office 125 Dempsey Hall 424-3100 (voice) 424-1319 (TTY)] for the University's accommodation request form and documentation requirements. Information related to an individual's accommodation request and/or arrangements will be confidential and will be shared with relevant University personnel or offices on a 'need to know' basis."

 

Academic Integrity at UW-Oshkosh: The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is committed to a standard of academic integrity for all students.  The system guidelines state: “Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others’ academic endeavors.”  (UWS 14.01, Wisconsin Administrative Code)

 

Students are subject to disciplinary action for academic misconduct, which is defined in UWS 14.03, Wisconsin Administrative Code.  Students on the UW Oshkosh campus have been suspended from the University for academic misconduct.

 

Students are encouraged to review the procedures related to violations of academic honesty as outlined in Chapter UWS 14, Wisconsin Administrative Code.  The system guidelines and local procedures are printed in the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Student Discipline Code.  The student discipline code can be viewed on the web at http://www.uwosh.edu/dean/studentdisciplinecode.html

Specific questions regarding the provisions in Chapter UWS 14 (and institutional procedures approved to implement Chapter UWS 14) should be directed to the Dean of Students Office.

 

Here is a tentative list of the daily questions that can be found in your text. Most of the Question Sets will come from the underlined questions.

Section 2.1 # 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21

Section 2.2 # 2, 6, 7, 17, 28, 30, 37

Section 2.3 # 2, 7, 14, 15, 19, 24, 32, 35, 36

Section 2.4 # 4, 6, 7, 9, 13, 26, 32, 37

Section 2.6 # 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 30, 40

Section 2.7 # 2, 3, 7, 10, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 36

Section 3.1 # 2, 4, 8, 9, 14, 16, 17, 20

Section 3.2 # 2, 3, 14, 16, 19, 30, 32, 36

Section 3.3 # 2, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21

Section 4.3 # 3, 5, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20

Section 4.5 # 1, 2, 4, 9, 11, 18, 19

Section 5.1 # 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 31

Section 5.2 # 3, 8, 9, 14, 25, 36

Section 5.3 # 2, 7, 9, 13, 26, 40

Section 5.4 # 1, 6, 13, 14, 16, 27, 37

Section 7.1 # 4, 8

Section 7.2 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 31, 33, 40

Section 7.3 # 2, 5, 23, 26, 29, 32

Section 7.4 # 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 18, 28, 31

Section 8.1 # 1, 3, 7, 13, 15, 16, 22, 27, 34, 40

Section 8.2 # 3, 9, 11, 13

Section 8.4 # 2, 6