Home, 1/12 (last message)

Well, it looks like I enjoyed the break so much I forgot to update the page for the final time.

The course is over and the grades are in! You can get solutions to all the exams and see statistics on exam grades on the "scores and docs" page.

In spite of the numerous challenges inflicted on us by the coronavirus epidemic, I greatly enjoyed teaching this course. Special thanks go to the many students who regularly participated in class discussion - you make my job easier!


Home, 11/18

Office hours during this week: Wednesday - Friday, 11-1, also on Zoom (morning office hour).


Home, 11/13

Exam 3 is scheduled for Monday, covering sections 5.1-5.3, 6.1-6.3. Check out sample exam 3 for some representative problems.

Homework from sections 5.3 and 6.1 is due on Saturday. I will try to get it back to you before the exam, but can't promise this. Homework from 6.2 and 6.3 is due by the time you take the final exam.

By early Tuesday afternoon, I will have your overall grade determined, so you can decide whether to take the final exam. Recall that the final exam is optional and takes the place of your weakest exams, but only if it is better (otherwise, it does not affect your grade). If you are happy with the grade I send you on Tuesday, you don't have to take it - the final essentially serves as an opportunity to improve your grade.

The final exam is officially scheduled for Thursday at 8:00AM, but we will start at 8:30. You will have two hours to complete it. Because the final exam is so close to the end of the semester, if anyone wishes to take it a little later, I will allow it. When I send you the grade, I'll also send a sign-up sheet for preferred final exam time.

The final exam will have six pages and consist of problems like the ones on the exams during the semester. Therefore, to start preparing yourself for the final exam, make sure you can do all the problems on the three exams we will have had by then.

Good luck on exams!


Home, 11/8

On Monday, we will finish section 6.2 and start discussion of homework in sections 5.3 and 6.1, finishing during the makeup hour on Wendesday.

Exam 3, covering sections 5.1-5.3, 6.1-6.3 is scheduled for Monday, 11/16. By the end of Tuesday, you will receive your overall grade so you can make a decision on whether to come for the final exam.


Home, 10/30

Exam 2 turned out so-so. See the statistics and solutions on the "scores and docs" page.

On Monday, we will continue with discussion of homework in 5.2, with sections 5.1 and 5.2 due later in the week.


Home, 10/25

Exam 2 has been rescheduled for Monday.

On Wednesday, we continue with new material from sections 5.1 and 5.2.


Home, 10/18

Exam 2 is scheduled for Friday, covering sections 3.1-3.5, 4.1 and 4.2. Check out sample exam 2 for some representative problems.

On Monday, we will finish sections 4.1 and 4.2 and start going over their homework. Homework from sections 4.1 and 4.2 is due on Wednesday, so I can return it to you before the exam.

Homework from sections 3.3-3.5 will be returned on Monday. Some of them could be better, so make sure you go over them and see how you missed points. Ask me if you are unsure what you did wrong.


Home, 10/9

On Monday, we plan to discuss homework over section 3.5, which will be due on Wednesday.


Home, 10/3

On Monday, we plan to cover section 3.4 and start going over homework in sections 3.3 and 3.4.

If you haven't already, finish homework in sections 3.1 and 3.2 and upload it on Canvas. It is due today.


Home, 9/25

Excellent work on exam 1, class! Best average among my Mathematical Reasoning classes by a significant amount! You may take a victory lap, and then go back to looking at homework to ensure this happens again! Solutions to exam 1 are on the "scores and docs" page, as well as class performance statistics.

Next week, we'll go over homework in 3.1 and 3.2 on Monday and during Wednesday's makeup hour. Writeups for 3.1 and 3.2 will be due on Friday.


Home, 9/21

A little belated update for this week. We continue working on the new material, section 3.1. As part of section 3.1, consider the handout on finding the errors in the "proofs" that 1=0. If you did not get it in class, find it in Canvas/files.

I plan on returning the exams on Wednesday


Home, 9/12

Exam 1, covering sections 1.1, 1.2, 2.1-2.4, is scheduled for Friday. Since I have not seen many of you during the semester, I may ask to see a picture ID, so make sure you have one with you at the exam. Check out sample exam 1 on the scores and docs page for an idea of what the exam will be like.

On Monday, we will discuss homework in section 2.4.


Home, 9/7

Hope you had a good long weekend. I was so excited by it that I forgot to update our webpage at the end of last week.

On Wednesday, we will finish the little we have of section 2.3 and dive into 2.4. Homework discussion will occur during our make-up hour. (Incidentally, I don't intend to have make-up hour ever week, but I'd like us to be turning in homework for 2.3 and 2.4 by the weekend, so we can have an exam the following week.)

You caught that, right? Our first exam during the week after this shortened one .


Home, 8/28

Homework for sections 1.1 and 1.2 is due today. Please upload if you haven't already.

On Monday, we will continue our discussion of sections 2.1 and 2.2, with homework from those sections due on Friday.

Don't forget to ask for help if things aren't clear. Come to office hours, or join them on Zoom - links are on the main Canvas page.

Free tutoring information has been updated - the Ross center is now active.


Home, 8/22

Well, we weathered some technological hiccups. Thank you for putting up with them.

On Monday, we will go over some homework from section 1.1. Work on it so you have some questions, and perhaps volunteer to do a problem for everyone.

The first assignment getting turned in will be homework from sections 1.1 and 1.2. Recall that you are turning in only problems under "What to write up" on the homework list (which is on the "scores and docs" page). You will file the homework as a PDF in Canvas under "Assignments." More tips on filing homework are below, in my post of 8/16.

For your ease of writing notes while in class, I will attempt to post blank lecture notes in Canvas/Files before I cover them in class. (If I am writing the notes last-minute, you may not get the chance to print them, unless you are sitting right next to a printer.) Written (i.e. "filled in") notes will be updated as we cover the material, also in Canvas/Files. All recordings of class sessions, to the extent Zoom doesn't mess something up, are in Canvas/Files as well.

Incidentally, the book for our course can be obtained free as a PDF, although the printed version costs little. See author's website, pick version 2.1.


Home, 8/16

Welcome to the course! Look around to familiarize yourself with the layout of these webpages. To get to other pages, click on the links in the menu (or drop-down, if viewing on a smartphone). The most often-used pages are in the first line of the menu (or the first several choices of the drop-down). "Scores and docs," for example, has all the documents for the course.

Your first exercise is to find the syllabus on these pages and read it. (I will not be printing it.) The items there that are typically of greatest interest to students are from "Homework" to "Make-ups."

These pages will get more content as information becomes available. Check back often: useful information is provided in the "home" section (which you are reading), typically updated weekly.

Here are some specific items related to our COVID-19-tainted-semester.

Masks: To repeat the university's policy, they have to be worn while in class, my office, or in the building. They have to cover your nose and your mouth.

Canvas: If it hasn't been already, the Canvas page will be set up shortly. Canvas will mainly be the repository of class notes, class session recordings, your grades, and a place to upload homework. Information about the course and weekly messages will be posted to this website (also accessible from Canvas). (Why bother with the website outside of Canvas? Two reasons: it's easier to make updates to it, and it stays public, something I value, and you may grow to as well, as a service to future students of this same course.)

Attendance: If you are reading this, you have received an email telling you which days to come to class in person. On the days on which you do not come in person, join the class via a Zoom meeting (see link on Canvas.) Both in-person and Zoom presence counts for the purposes of tracking attendance.

Sites to catch Zoom classes inbetween your in-person ones: When there is not enough time to go home for your Zoom class, try one of these sites:

Office hours: At most one person will be allowed in my office at a time. Of course, you have to wear a mask. I may take your temperature with a touchless thermometer, and you will be able to check mine with the same. If you come and see someone in my office, let me know you are there, so I may be able to help you concurrently while you sit in the foreroom, or we can all go to a larger room, if several students have the same questions. During office hours, I will also start a Zoom session through which you can ask questions. If I do not respond immediately on Zoom, please be patient, as I may have left the office for a short while.

Assignments and exams: To minimize handoff of physical objects between people and thus reduce chance of transmission of the virus, all assignments will be submitted and returned on Canvas. Exams will be taken in person as long as the university is running in-person classes.

Assignment submission: is through Canvas as PDF files only, to facilitate easier grading and return.

If you are scanning, resolution of 100dpi has been good enough for exam solutions, so it should be adequate for your assignments. (Resulting smaller files are quicker to upload and download).

If you don't have a scanner, take pictures with your phone, and try to lay the assignment sheet on a flat surface with good lighting. Use a lower resolution setting for the camera, to reduce final file size. Then use an app to bundle the pictures into a PDF. Some phones have native support for this, for others you can download a free app. Here are some that have been recommended to me: default notes app on the iPhone, Adobe Scan, Tiny Scanner, CamScanner, Notebloc.

Additional instructional hours: will most likely take the form of Zoom sessions in the late afternoon or evening for the purpose of discussing homework. They will not be mandatory, although, from past experience, many people will find them useful. We will have to find a time that will suit the most people.