Math 5310
Intr. to Modern Algebra I

Instructor: Daniele Arcara, JWB 330, 581-6131, arcara@math.utah.edu

Home page for the class: http://www.math.utah.edu/~arcara/teaching/0408/5310.html

Office hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays 10-11am, and anytime by appointment.

Text: "Abstract Algebra" by I.N. Herstein, third edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

We shall cover chapters 1 and 2, and possibly chapter 3.

Prerequisite: Math 2250 or 2270 and Math 3210 or 2900.

Attendance Policy: You are expected to come to class regularly and to participate actively. You are responsible for all the material covered in class, and for any announcement made.

Grading Policy:

Homework. Homework shall be assigned at the end of (almost) every class, and shall be due at the beginning of the next class. I shall only grade randomly selected homework problems, usually out of 10 points each. The problems that I do not grade shall count 5 points each, and you receive the 5 points if you have at least a partial solution to the problem. Solutions to all the homework shall be available on the web site. Only your best 20 homework assignments shall count for your homework grade.

Extra Credit. Extra credit is available (up to a maximum of 5% of your grade) for people that do more than the 20 required homework assignments.

Tests. There shall be 3 tests, each worth 15% of your grade. Right now, they are scheduled as follows (but dates might change):

• Test # 1: Monday, September 20.
• Test # 2: Monday, October 25.
• Test # 3: Monday, November 22.

Final. The final exam is on Tuesday, December 14th, 1:00-3:00pm.

Letter Grades. After the final, all of your grades shall be averaged together, and a letter grade shall be assigned (after adding the extra credit) as follows:

Remember: The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary.

Last updated on October 25, 2004.