Mathematics 2200

Fall 2010

Instructor: Kelly A. MacArthur

Class Time and Place: 12:25 to 1:45 p.m.
Tuesdays and Thursdays in WEBL104

Office Hours: Mondays 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., Wednesdays 12:00 - 2:00 p.m.,
Thursdays 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., Fridays 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.,
or by appointment.
Office Location: JWB226
Office Phone Number: 581-6837
E-mail address: macarthur@math.utah.edu
Website: www.math.utah.edu/~macarthu

Text: Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications, 6th edition, by Kenneth H. Rosen.

Prerequisite: Calculus 2 (Math1220) or equivalent course.

Tutoring Lab: T. Benny Rushing Mathematics Student Center
(adjacent to JWB and LCB), Room 155
M - Th 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
(opens 2nd week of semester) (closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
They are also offering group tutoring sessions. If you're interested, inquire
at the Tutoring Lab.

Private Tutoring: University Tutoring Services, 330 SSB (they offer
inexpensive tutoring). There is also a list of tutors at the Math Department
office in JWB233.

Computer Lab: also in the T. Benny Rushing Mathematics Student Center, Rm 155C.
M – Th 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Link to computer lab

Calculators: Calculators will not be allowed on exams, nor necessary.

Grading: The grades will be calculated as follows:
Homework 30%
Midterm 20%
Midterm 20%
Final Exam 30%

Teaching Philosophy: I believe strongly that mathematics, at its
core, is the art/experience/science of problem solving and pattern recognition.
It is inherently a creative process, one to be struggled with, repeated, and
enjoyed. The process requires imagination, persistence, courage, processing
time, and ultimately produces experiential, mathematical skill. It is from
this perspective that I teach. I'm not as concerned with the destination, i.e.
the answer, as I am about the journey of problem-solving and mathematical
exploration since it is exactly the entirety of the journey that creates
the answer. And, self-confidence and mastery are then natural by-products
of the mathematical journey.

Homework: The homework will be graded for correctness. The grade of
each homework set will be based on accuracy, thoughtfulness, completeness and
clarity of communication (i.e. there may be no credit given for answers given
without work shown). You can use these as study tools for the exams. These
homework sets will be due a week or two after assigned. Since these homework
sets will be given out at random times, it is your responsibility to show
up to class in order to have current, correct information about these problems
and their due dates. The lowest homework set score will be dropped, thus late
homework sets will NOT be accepted under any circumstances. To turn in the
homework, you will need to staple your homework together.

Grading Scale: Although I'm not philosophically opposed to curving
grades, I find it's rarely necessary. The grade scale will be the usual:
A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79),
C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), E (0-59).

WebCT: I will put your grades online on WebCT.
You can get there easily from the main University of Utah website www.utah.edu.
(There's also a link from my website.) To log in, you use the same student id
and password that you use for Campus Information System. I do my best to
update the grades on a regular basis and keep everything accurate.
However, I would advise you to check your grades often to make sure there
were no data entry mistakes. I'm always happy to correct any mistakes I've
made. You just need to let me know about them.

Other Policies: Due to experience, I have decided to make some
additional policies regarding my classroom administration and grading.
  1. There will be no retakes of exams…ever.
  2. There are no alternate exams, period. Make sure you make your
    travel plans around the exam dates, which I will keep fixed. If
    your parents decide you need to come home early for winter break,
    then you will simply miss the final exam for this class and therefore
    fail. The only exceptions I will ever make to this policy is for
    extreme cases of illness, in which case you will need to provide
    thorough documentation of said illness.
  3. I will demand respectful behavior in my classroom. Examples of
    disrespect include reading a newspaper or magazine in class, social
    chatting with your friend in class, text-messaging your buddies during
    class or cuddling with your girl/boyfriend in class. If you choose to
    be disrespectful during my class, I can guarantee I will take action
    to terminate your disruptive behavior.
  4. There will be no cursing nor negative ranting (for example,
    “math sucks”) on any written work turned in. The penalty
    for such things on your written work will be a zero score on that
    assignment or test!
  5. You need to have a valid email address registered with Campus
    Information System. I will regularly send emails to the class and hold
    you accountable for receiving that information.
  6. If you have crisis-level extenuating circumstances which require
    flexibility, it is completely your responsibility to communicate with me
    as soon as possible. The longer you wait to communicate with me, the
    less I can and am willing to do to help.
  7. If you have questions about any exam grade, or you want
    to appeal the grading of the exam, you must bring it to me within one
    week of the exam. After that, you will have to live with whatever
    grade you got.
  8. Please make sure you do your best throughout the semester and come
    talk to me if you need further study strategies. I will NOT offer
    any extra credit at the end of the semester or any other way for you
    to improve your grade at that time. If you ask me toward the end of
    the semester if I'll make special arrangements for you to improve
    your grade by some means, I will automatically deduct one percentage
    point from your overall grade, just for asking the question!!