Exams
There will be one midterm exam and one final exam for the course.
The final exam will be cumulative.
Homework
There will be about 15 homework assignments consisting of
one or more questions or problems related to the current topic,
often taken from the textbook.
All homework must be typeset using Word, LaTeX, or some other software.
Unless there is a significant amount of mathematics involved,
handwritten assignments will not be accepted.
One of the skills I want you to develop is the ability to communicate
what you know to others.
Therefore, you must provide context for each problem,
show all calculations, and explain your work/answers.
Numbers and/or algebra by themselves are not enough.
You will lose a significant amount of credit if you do not show enough work/context for your answers.
All work that you turn in must be your own. You are encouraged to discuss
homework questions together, but your solutions must be your own work.
Discussing ways to approach solving problems is always acceptable;
discussing the answers to questions often leads to students turning
in work that is not truly their own and must be avoided.
Please see my policies page for how I deal with academic dishonesty.
Project
There will be one major project for the course.
See the
Project
page for more details.
Questions & Exercises
Every section of the book has Questions & Exercises.
After you read each section you need to complete all of these questions. This will help you
know whether or not the material is making sense before moving on to the next section.
You should write down your answers to these questions for use during class.
Note: You can check your answers to the questions—the solutions are given at the end of every chapter.
However, you will learn the most if you always attempt every question before looking at the solutions.
At the beginning of many classes you will either take a quiz containing one or more the the questions
or present your solution to one of the questions to a small group of your peers. Your peers will
evaluate your answer and give you a score between 0 and 4 based on two criteria: correctness and
communication. In both cases, you will be permitted to have a sheet of paper with your answers on it,
but what is on the sheet of paper must have been written (or typed) by you.
Each of the following will be considered an act of academic dishonesty and dealt with accordingly:
Copying answers from someone else
Copying answers from the textbook or online
Asking those in your group to give you a good score even if you didn't do the exercise(s)
Miscellaneous
There are three main criteria here, not necessarily equally wieighted:
Classroom discussion and activities.
Your participation in the course is important to your success. The more engaged
you are during class, the more you will get out of it.
During certain portions of the course, your participation during class will be
particularly important.
Therefore I keep track of things like attendance, how engaged you are during class,
whether you are contributing to a positive learning environment or causing distractions, etc.
Getting help when needed (Office Hours, Help Center, Tutor, etc.).
Contrary to what some students may believe, it is a good thing to ask your professors
questions when you get stuck. Thus, I want to encourage you to do so.
If you are struggling with the material and never come for help,
it will be reflected in this part of your grade.
Colloquium attendance. You must fullfil the departmental colloquium requirement.
Colloquiums are usually at 11:00am on Thursdays, so please plan your other activities in such a way as to leave this time open.