Reading Assignments

(main course page)

Assignments:

1. For Wednesday January 7 lecture:  Answer the following Introduction questions in a blog entry.
   
   • What is your year in school and major?
   • Which post-calculus math courses have you taken?  (Use names or BYU course numbers.)
   • Why are you taking this class?  (Be specific.)
   • Tell me about the math professor or teacher you have had who was the most and/or least effective.  What did s/he do that worked so well/poorly?
   • Write something interesting or unique about yourself.
   • If you are unable to come to my scheduled office hours, what times would work for you?
2. For Wednesday January 7 lecture:  Read and blog about Sections 1.1-1.3.
3. For Friday January 9 lecture: Read and blog about Section 2.1.
4. For Monday January 12 lecture: Read and blog about Section 2.2.
5. For Wednesday January 14 lecture: Read and blog about Section 2.3.
6. For Friday January 16 lecture: Read and blog about Section 3.1.
7. For Wednesday January 21 lecture: Read and blog about Section 3.2.
8. For Friday January 23 lecture: Read and blog about Section 3.3.
9. For Monday January 26 lecture: We're catching up, so there will be no new reading. Instead, write responses to some or all of the following questions.
• How long have you spent on the homework assignments? Did lecture and the reading prepare you for them?
• What have you liked or disliked about the class thus far? What contributes most to your learning?
• What do you think would help you learn more effectively or make the class better for you?
10. For Wednesday January 28 lecture: As you study for the exam, write responses to the following questions.
• Which topics and theorems do you think are the most important out of those we have studied?
• What kinds of questions do you expect to see on the exam?
Thinking about the answers to these questions can help guide your study. Remember also that the mathematics department's learning outcomes for Math 371 state that students

should know all relevant definitions, correct statements of the major theorems (including their hypotheses and limitations), and examples and non-examples of the various concepts. The students should be able to demonstrate their mastery by solving non-trivial problems related to these concepts, and by proving simple (but non-trivial) theorems about the…concepts, related to, but not identical to, statements proven by the text or instructor.

11. For Friday January 30 lecture: Read and blog about Section 4.1.
12. For Monday February 2 lecture: Read and blog about Sections 4.2 and 4.3. Remember that you can make up a missed blog entry by going to John Cosgrave's mathematics department colloquium talk about cryptography on Tuesday February 3 at 4:00 PM in TMCB 1170 and writing a blog entry about the talk. (Answer the usual Difficult and Reflective questions.) More information on the talk is available at the BYU mathematics department webpage.
13. For Wednesday February 4 lecture: Read and blog about Section 4.4.
14. For Friday February 6 lecture: Read and blog about Sections 4.5 and 4.6. (We won't be talking about these sections in class.)
15. For Monday February 9 lecture: Read and blog about Section 5.1. There is another mathematics department colloquium talk on Tuesday February 10 at 4 PM in 1170 TMCB, with the same opportunity to make up a missed blog entry as above.
16. For Wednesday February 11 lecture: Read and blog about Section 5.2.
17. For Friday February 13 lecture: Read and blog about Section 5.3.
18. For Tuesday February 17 lecture: Read and blog about Section 6.1.
19. For Wednesday February 18 lecture: Read and blog about Section 6.2 up through the middle of page 147.
20. For Friday February 20 lecture: Read and blog about the rest of Section 6.2.
21. For Monday February 23 lecture: Read and blog about Section 6.3.
22. For Wednesday February 25 lecture: As you study for the exam, write responses to the following questions.
• Which topics and theorems do you think are important out of those we have studied?
• What do you need to work on understanding better before the exam?
• Come up with a mathematical question you would like to see answered or a problem you would like to see worked out in class on Wednesday.
23. For Friday February 27 lecture: Read and blog about Section 9.4.
24. For Monday March 2 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.1 up through the first full example on page 164.
25. For Wednesday March 4 lecture: Read and blog about the rest of Section 7.1.
26. For Friday March 6 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.2.
27. For Monday March 9 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.3.
28. For Wednesday March 11 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.4.
29. For Friday March 13 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.5 up through Corollary 7.27.
30. For Monday March 16 lecture: Read and blog about the rest of Section 7.5.
31. For Wednesday March 18 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.6.
32. For Friday March 20 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.7.
33. For Monday March 23 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.8.
34. For Wednesday March 25 lecture: As you study for the exam, write responses to the following questions.
• What do you need to work on understanding better before the exam?
• Come up with a mathematical question you would like to see answered or a problem you would like to see worked out in class on Wednesday.
35. For Friday March 27 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.9.
36. For Monday March 30 lecture: Read and blog about Section 7.10.
37. For Wednesday April 1 lecture: Read and blog about Section 8.1.
38. For Friday April 3 lecture: Read and blog about Section 8.2.
39. For Monday April 6 lecture: Read and blog about Section 8.3.
40. For Wednesday April 8 lecture: Read and blog about Section 8.4.
41. For Friday April 10 lecture: Read and blog about Section 8.5.
42. For Monday April 13 lecture: If you have not done so, complete student ratings for this course at studentratings.byu.edu. Complete any extra credit blog entries for math talks you went to but did not write up yet. Look over the review sheet handed out in class and available here, and come up with a mathematical question you would like to see answered or a problem you would like to see worked out in class on Monday. (Specific problem numbers from the book are helpful.) What do you need to work on understanding better before you take the final exam?

If for whatever reason you are uncomfortable doing a certain assignment on your blog (for instance, if you'd rather not have your answers to specific questions out there on the Internet), you may send me that particular assignment by email.

Instructions:

• Set up a blog for this class and do the first two assignments by 11:59 PM on January 6.
• Complete each reading assignment (listed above) before lecture.
• Write a blog entry for each reading assignment.
  
  The title of the blog entry should be
  (Section Number), due on (Date)
  so, for example, your first blog entry will be titled
  Introduction, due on January 7
  and the second entry will be titled
  1.1-1.3, due on January 7.
  
  A blog entry should have two parts:
  1.  (Difficult)  Answer the question "What was the most difficult part of the material for you?"  Note that "nothing" is not an acceptable answer. If nothing challenges you, then you should think about the material at a deeper level and generate some honest questions.
  2.  (Reflective)  Write something reflective about the reading. This could be the answer to the question "What was the most interesting part of the material?" or "How does this material connect to something else you have learned in mathematics?" or "How is this material useful/relevant to your intellectual or career interests?" or something else.
• The blog posting is due by 11:59 PM on the day before lecture (for example, you should post about the reading for Wednesday’s lecture before midnight Tuesday night).
• Blog posts will be graded according to the following scheme:
  0 points:  No blog submission on time.
  1 point:  Submission of both parts (Difficult and Reflective) on time, but first part (Difficult) is irrelevant or does not sufficiently show that reading has been done.
  2 points:  Submission of both parts (Difficult and Reflective) on time, demonstrating that you have done the reading and thought about it.

Setting up a blog:

Note:  these instructions should only be followed once.  Once you’ve created a blog, just add new posts to it for each reading assignment.

• Open your browser to www.blogger.com.
• Click on the orange box with “Create a blog”. If you already have a blog, please create a new one for this class; I’ll be dumping all entries into a feed reader, and would like to see only entries related to the course.
• Follow the instructions.  Make sure you note your account details (username, password, url).
• The default settings are correct, so you don’t have to change anything, although you may if you wish.  Please leave comments and full blog feeds enabled.
• For your first blog post, please answer the Introduction questions above (Assignment 1).
• Once you have made your first blog post, send me an email with the URL for the main page of your blog.  Include your full name in the email message, especially if your name does not appear on your blog.