Syllabus for The Study of Patterns
Math 120, Spring 2009

Office Hours:  Please feel free to make an appointment (via e-mail or phone) or to drop by my office without an appointment anytime during the day when my door is open. (I do request 15 free minutes before each class to prepare, so if I’m busy, I’ll simply ask you to return later.)  If you need to reach me and I am not in my office, please leave me a voice-mail on my office phone or email me at the address above.  The best times to find me in my office without making an appointment are:  MTR 1:30-3:30 pm and WF 1:30 - 2:30 pm

Course Description:  An introduction to the essence of mathematics, namely the discovery and verification of patterns, and to the historical role of mathematics in shaping culture.  Professors teaching the course will offer topics of their choice which serve to fulfill the course description. 

This semester's course is a learning community (a paired course) with English 102F called "Math, Murder, and Mystery". 

Course Content: 

• Critical Thinking, Logic, Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

• Managing Your Money (tentative)

• Infinity

Prerequisites: None. 

Course goals: 

1. To appreciate the historical role of mathematics in many of the greatest discoveries of our civilization.  
2. To raise awareness of contemporary mathematical ideas.
3. To develop the student's ability to solve non-routine problems. 
3. To improve the student's ability to write about interesting and complex ideas. 
4. To learn problem-solving strategies used in mathematics and how to apply them.   
5. To have fun discovering mathematics!

The goals above will be met through in-class "Warmup" problems, out-of-class homework problems, class presentations and discussion, and exams. 

Technology Skills:  For some of the activities, you will need a calculator which adds, subtracts, multiplies, divides and calculates square roots.   (For the exams, you will not be allowed to use the calculator function on a Pocket PC, a Palm OS, a cell phone, or any such device.)

Attendance: I believe that there is a direct link between attendance and grades;  in general, those students who attend class regularly achieve higher scores on the exams and are more satisfied with their learning experience.  However, there are times when you may want to miss a class in order to focus on improving your health and there are also useful career-related experiences and special events that you may choose to attend.    Thus, I have developed the following attendance policy. 

You will start the semester with three “Wellness Days” at your disposal to use as you see fit.    A Wellness Day is the equivalent of an excusable absence provided that you notify me in advance that you will be missing class, or in the case of an emergency situation, you notify me within a reasonable time, usually within twenty-four hours of the end of class.  (You may notify me by e-mail or by voice-mail or in person.  I will respond to e-mails within twenty-four hours.  I will respond to voice-mails within twenty-four hours by sending an email.  In the event that you do not receive a response from me,  it is your responsibility to confirm that your notification was received.) Every absence beyond these three Wellness Days and any absence after which you fail to notify me that you will be missing class will lower your final course grade by three percentage points per absence.  In the event that you will miss more than three days due to an extensive illness or another legitimate reason, you may see me to discuss how I will handle your special circumstances.   

Students who will miss any class during the semester due to an official college event (such as an official athletic event or a non-athletic event approved by the Dean of the College) are required to speak to me as soon as possible and not less than one week before the first absence is scheduled to occur.  Students are expected to bring me, in advance, a list of the dates of any anticipated absences;  in the event of a change in the date of the event, you should notify me as soon as possible that you are unexpectedly missing class.  Any student who expects to miss four or more days of class due to official college events must schedule an appointment with me to discuss this special circumstance. 

Regardless of whether an absence is excused or unexcused, whenever you miss class, you miss important materials and discussions.  Be sure to obtain the notes and homework assignments from the missed class day as quickly as possible and certainly BEFORE the next class day.  It is your responsibility to make up assignments as quickly as possible.  Late work may only be turned in with my permission.   

Tardiness:  Any student who arrives more than five minutes late to class will be considered tardy.  Being tardy twice has the same consequence as an absence. 

Instructional Format:  At the beginning of many classes, students will be asked to volunteer to present homework problems aloud or on the board.  In addition, while some students are copying problems onto the board, I may hand out a "Problems of the Day" worksheet with problems for you to complete;  you are welcome to work with a partner on these problems. After a suitable amount of time for working on the "Problems of the Day", the students who copied their problems on the board will be asked to explain their work to the class.  I will then select students to present the worksheet problems to the class via the video projector.  More than half of most classes will involve working on problems within groups and discussing your solutions;  the rest of the class will consist of interactive lectures.  

Participation:  Math is best learned actively, not passively.  This class will mostly consist of discussion and group activities.  Most classes will involve some problems for you to work on;  you will be asked to present problems at the chalkboard or via the video presenter.    See the section on Homework below for how your participation will be assessed. 

Group work: During class, you will frequently be working in a group. These groups may be formed randomly or may be predetermined by me.  
      Most classes will involve some problems for your group to work on;  you will also be asked to present some problems at the board or via the video presenter.  These problems should be earnest attempts to solve the problem and present its solution;  you will be evaluated on your willingness to present problems at the board and your use of appropriate mathematics, regardless of the correctness of the solution.  

Homework:  Suggested homework problems will be assigned after each class and should be completed before the next class. You will be asked to present homework problems on the board and will be evaluated on the quantity and quality of your board presentations;  over the course of the semester, you are expected to present five to eight problems (either from the homework problems or from the "Problems of the Day" worksheets.)   These problems should be earnest attempts to solve the problem and present its solution;  you will be evaluated on your willingness to present problems at the board and your use of appropriate techniques, regardless of the correctness of the solution.  These presentations, along with certain assignments, count as 25% of your final grade. 

Reading:  You will be expected to prepare for class by reading the upcoming material in the textbook.  (This textbook is very readable!)

        You will also be reading excerpts from the book Agnesi to Zeno by Sanderson and Smith.  Four times during the semester, you will be asked to submit questions from this reading;   submission of these questions will count in your final grade.  These questions will be used to study for the History of Math portions of the exams.  The submission of these questions will be due at the end of class.  Any assignment which is not turned in within 30 minutes of the end of class will be considered late.  Late assignments which are turned in by the next class period will be penalized 20% of the grade.  Late assignments will not be accepted after the next class period.  Reading questions may be submitted via email. 

        Please note that, if you are going to miss a class period, you are still responsible for turning in any assignments that are due during that class period, unless you receive permission from me to turn the work in later.   Moreover, being absent during a class period in which an assignment is made for the next class period does not excuse you from turning in the assignment at the next class period, unless you receive permission from me to turn the assignment in later.  It is your responsibility in the event of an absence to contact me or another member of the class and to determine whether an assignment is due during the next class period. 

Quizzes:  6 quizzes will be given throughout the semester.  Make-up quizzes will only be given in the event of an excused (school-related) absence or a true emergency (which can be verified.)  The score on one quiz will be dropped;  the scores of the remaining five quizzes will be averaged and will count 30% of your final grade. 

Exams and the Final Exam Period:  2 exams will be given, each of which counts 30%.   Make-up exams will only be given in the event of an excused (school-related) absence or a true emergency (which can be verified).  The second and final exam will be administered during the final exam period.  The final exam period for Math 120B is Tuesday, May 12, 2009, from 9:00 am until noon.   No student will be permitted to take the second exam at a time period different from the one above.   

Note:  Some of the work in this class as well as your exams will not be returned to you but will be kept in my office.  You will be regularly notified of your grades on these assignments and you are welcome to come by my office anytime you would like to look at the grading of your work.  

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Grades:  Grades will be based on your work as follows: 

Grades will be assigned according to the following percentage scale; percentages will be rounded up to the nearest tenth of a percent.  This means that a score of 92.9% is an A- while a score of 92.95% would round up to an A.         

Honor Code:  "Because Wofford is committed to the moral as well as the intellectual growth of its students and staff, and because academic freedom and responsibility demand that members of the community embrace principles of good conduct, the college emphasizes personal integrity as its highest value.  Dishonesty is especially destructive of the academic process.  The Honor Code requires students to pledge honesty in their academic work and it sets forth appropriate responses to those who violate that pledge."  
-- Wofford College 2008-2009 Catalogue (www.wofford.edu/uploadedFiles/0809HonorCode.pdf)

I expect each of you to observe the Wofford College Honor Code, behaving honestly and fairly within the classroom and on all assignments outside of the classroom.  In recognition of the importance of the Honor Code, you will be asked to pledge that any work you complete in this course is entirely your own work;  this includes in-class exams as well as any work you may turn in which has been completed outside of class.

Cell phones and PDAs:  As a courtesy to your colleagues in the class, please mute the ringer on your cell phone or turn off your cell phone when you enter the classroom.  If a cell phone disrupts class, then the owner has the option of choosing whether to sacrifice two percentage points from their final average or purchase cookies or donuts for the entire class.    If a student answers a cell phone during the class, the student will sacrifice ten percentage points from their final average.  (As always, exceptions to this rule may be made for true emergencies provided you notify me before class begins and you attempt to minimize any disruption to the class.) 
   
During exams, all cell phones, Palm Pilots, Pocket PCs and PDAs must be turned off and placed in your book-bag or under your desk.    

Inclement Weather Policy:  Unless Wofford College officially closes campus, our class will be held on regular schedule, providing that I can safely travel from my house to campus.  In the event that I cannot safely travel to campus, I will notify the switchboard operator and he/she can notify you.  If it is possible, I will notify the class by e-mail as well. 

Tentative Schedule: Logic and Problem Solving (Chapters 1-2)                                     Weeks 1-5
                                   Quantitative Information in Everyday Life (Chapters 3-4)              Weeks 6-10             
                                   Infinity (Supplemental Material)                                                     Weeks 11-13
                 

                                   Exam 1 will tentatively cover the first half of the material and will occur around week 7 or 8;
                                   Exam 2 will cover the remaining half of the material.  

*** This syllabus is subject to minor change if necessary! In the event of a change in ***
*** the syllabus, you will be notified via email or during the next regular class period. *** 

Last updated:  February 2, 2009
Email:  knottszidesca@wofford.edu