MATH 310 SYLLABUS

Fall 2006

Lectures:    1:00 p.m. MWF
Room:        MTH  0101

Instructor:   David C. Lay
Office:        MTH 2307
Hours:        Mon 3 - 6 pm; Wed 4 - 6 p.m.

The immediate purpose of this course is to prepare students for MATH 410. Its general goal is to develop the ability to construct rigorous proofs of mathematical statements. As a side benefit, students will be made aware of various mathematical results that are of interest to those wishing to analyze a particular mathematical model. Topics will be drawn from logic, set theory, structure of the number line, elementary topology, functions, sequences and continuity. This course is open only to mathematics majors, and this course does not count towards the upper-level mathematics requirements.

Texts:       Steven Lay,  ANALYSIS - With An Introduction to Proof, 4th ed., Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2005

Order of Topics:

Exams:      Tentative Dates: Sept 25 (Mon), Oct. 23 (Mon), Nov 22 (Wed)
                    Final Exam: Dec 15 (Fri), 1:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Makeup exams will not be given, unless a student can present evidence that an absence was caused by serious illness, a death in the immediate family, religious observance, or participation in University activities at the request of University authorities. (A note stating only that you visited the Health Center is not sufficient.) Please contact me before an anticipated exam absence, if at all possible. If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations with me, please contact me as soon as possible. Check your final exam schedule now. If you have a problem with the schedule, the university requires you to contact your instructors on or before Sept. 13. (See me as soon as possible, so we can discuss the situation.)

Homework:     Success in the course is highly correlated with regular attendance and punctual completion of homework. Homework will be assigned each day, to be completed before the next class meeting. During the first part of the semester, homework will be collected weekly. (Only selected problems will be graded, and the quantity graded will depend on the amount of grading time available for our course.) When explanations are requested, your answers should be written in good English form. At the top of each assignment, write your name, section number, the date, and the exercises assigned. Homework pages must be stapled. A small number of homework grades will be dropped.

Blackboard:     Over the past seven years, the University has used WebCT as its course-management program, in more than 800 courses. This Fall, the University is beginning a transition to Blackboard, because it is better designed to handle the growing number of courses that use the Web for course materials and grade records. At present, Blackboard will display individual student grades. When I gain some experience with Blackboard, I will use Blackboard to provide assignments and exam review sheets.
     When you registered for MATH 310, you were automatically assigned a Blackboard account. Go to elms.umd.edu (without the "www" prefix) and enter your standard University "user name" and "password" to login. Once inside Blackboard, you should see an "ELMS Student Guide" on the main page, to help you navigate the system.

Quizzes:    
     There will be about ten to fifteen short quizzes during the semester, probably given in class. The lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. There will be no makeup of missed quizzes.

Grading     The final grade will be based on 600 points: 100 points for each hour exam, 150 points for the combined quiz scores and homework, and 150 points for the final exam.
     Letter-grade cutoff scores will be announced after each exam and they will be added to produce the total cutoffs for the course. Usually, the cutoff scores are: 540 (A), 480 (B), 420 (C), and 360 (D).

Email     The best way to reach me is at lay@math.umd.edu , please include "MATH 310" in the message header. Otherwise, I may delete the message along with the junk mail. I will not respond if that information is missing, because I file my student email by course number. If you cannot attend office hours, please speak to me after class or send a list of the times when you can come, and I'll try to find a time that works.

Last Revised:  September 7, 2006