Math 4050 Home Page

Office:

My office is 5524 Everett Tower. I will be in my office for students MF at 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. and TuTh from 9:25 to 10:15. No appointment is necessary during those times. I will usually have my Webex room open during those times, https://wmich.webex.com/meet/jay.treiman. You can also make an appointment at another time.

Textbook:

Mathematical Interest Theory: Third Edition, by Leslie Jane Federer Vaaler, Shinko Kojima Harper, and James W. Daniel.

You will need a business analyst calculator. The text uses the TI BA II Plus calculator. I highly recommend that you get a TI BA II Plus calculator. It is what I will be using for some calculations. Otherwise, I will be using Maple, it is what I use most often.

General:

This class is an in-person class from from 8:00 to 9:15 AM on TuTh in 2271 Rood Hall. Even though roll will not be taken, all students should be in class every day.

The prerequisite for this class is Math 2720. You are responsible for all material in the text and all material presented in class. This includes any material not in the text and all material in the text that was not presented in class. A list of topics may be available.

It is expected that you will spend enough time outside of class to learn the material in the lectures, text, and homework problems. A list of expectations is available.

The sessions will be recorded and the recordings should be linked to the content section in elearning. The written work done in class sessions will also be posted to the content section of e-learning. The files containing the writing will be in the format for Xournal++.

You are expected to follow all university conduct policies. This includes giving credit on any assignment you turn in for any help you receive and referencing any resources you use that are not from the text or the lectures.

There are some other university policies. you should be aware of.

The last day to withdraw is October 30, 2023.

Electronic Devices:

All cameras, cell phones, wireless devices, mp3/mp4 type media players, and similar devices are to be turned off and put away while you are in the classroom. If you ask, you may get an exception for note taking. This means taking written notes, not recording the class. Since the lectures will be posted, you should not be taking a picture of the screen during class. Use of one of these devices during a quiz/exam will be considered cheating.

Homework:

A portion of your grade will come from homework and quizzes. A list of problems to work will be on this web site. Not all of this homework will be collected, but you are responsible for all of the problems on the list. If you have any questions about homework problems, please ask them in class, in office hours, via e-mail, or by making an appointment for a personal session.

Assignments to be turned in will be posted as announcementa on the elearning homepage for this course. There it will be noted if the assignment is to be turned in on paper during class or as a PDF through the dropbox section of elearning.

All written homework to be submitted as a PDF file through a dropbox in e-learning. will be submitted as a single PDF file containing the solutions to all of the assigned problems. The problems must be legible with a white background and in order of section and the numerical order, e.g. section 2.1 problem 1, section 2.1 problem 5, section 2.2 problem 2,... If I cannot read the assignment or there are other problems with it, I reserve the right to not grade the assignment. For those using a cell phone to scan your assignments, I recommend using either Adobe Scan or Microsoft Lens.

All pages in your PDF must be the same size. If a signed statement is required for the assignment, it is to be the first page of your submission with a written, not typed, signature. Do not submit a zip file. Your name must be in the name of the file. Make certain that you have clicked the submit button for the dropbox in e-learning.

If you get help from a tutor or someone else on a written assignment, that must be noted on your submission. You will not lose points for getting help, but I want to know if a tutor is using methods or notation that are not appropriate.

Exams:

Three exams will be given during the term. The dates are on the tentative schedule. Information about the format of the exams will come later.

Final Exam:

A final exam will be given. The final exam will be given on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the regular classroom. It will be comprehensive.

Grading policy:

All exams will follow the following outline: 50% of the questions are things you must be able to do, 25-30% of the problems are things you should be able to do, and 20-25% of the questions are more difficult. It is not uncommon for averages to be around 60% or lower.

To pass this class with a "C" you must demonstrate that you can do all the required material. A starting scale is: A 85%+; BA 78+; B 72+; CB 66+; C 58+; DC 52+; and D 46+. This scale will probably change as the term progresses.

The distribution of points for calculating grades is as follows. The final exam is worth 30%, each of the other exams is worth 15%, and the homework and other assignments are worth 25% of your grade.