Math 3410 Course Outline

Subsection 2.1 Course website

The primary course website is Moodle. On Moodle, you can expect to find:

1. Links to important resources, like this syllabus, and the textbook.

2. Links to key course activities, including the online homework, and the discussion forum. (The links will log you into those services automatically.)

3. Details about your grades and assessments.

4. A weekly topics schedule.

As you learn to navigate online learning (and as I learn how to guide you), the weekly topics schedules will be key to staying on top of your course material. Every week you can expect to receive details on readings, videos, homework, and assessments, as well as information on what will be taking place in class, and how to access those classes.

In case there's a day when Moodle isn't working properly and you need access to course materials, you can find some of them (like this syllabus) on my personal website. The textbook for this course (and many others) is available on our Open Textbook Server.

Subsection 2.2 Scheduled classes

Math 3410 will be a primarily synchronous course. A lot of our Zoom meeting time will be devoted to group work on assignments. If there are several students who cannot attend the live sessions, we can try to form an asynchronous group, and facilitate using Campuswire.

On Monday, I will present content for the week. This will consist of highlights of the important theorems and concepts, and some examples. I won't be able to cover everything in one class, so I will be expecting everyone to keep up with the readings.

Tuesday classes will be used for work on theory and proof. I will prepare a problem set to be done during class, in groups.

Thursday will be a “lab” class. You will work in groups on computational problems, often with the use of a computer. We will mostly use the Python programming language, together with the SymPy library. You do not need prior knowledge of programming to use this software. The book is filled with examples containing all the code you will need, and the HTML version of the book lets you run that code in your web browser.

Subsection 2.3 Course textbook

Our course textbook is Lecture Notes for Math 3410 (by me), supplemented by Linear Algebra with Applications, by Keith Nicholson.

Both books are open education resources (OER). That means that the books are fully free, both in terms of cost, and your freedom to use and share the books however you see fit.

Use the Math 3410 notes as your guide to how we'll proceed through the course material. The Nicholson book provides additional details, along with plenty of exercises and examples.

If getting the book for free somehow feels wrong, or you worry you're missing out by not buying anything, here is a great book you can buy (especially if you're in Education):

Mathematics for Human Flourishing, by Francis Su.

Subsection 2.4 Grading scheme

Our assessment principles this year:

• No big high stakes assessments: lots of little ones instead.

• More concepts, and less rote computation. (Less — not none. Your follow-on courses will still assume you know how to take a derivative.)

• Classes (the synchronous part) will be used for work, not lecture. (Nobody wants to sit though a 75 minute Zoom lecture, including your instructor.)

• Group work is good for you. (Even if you don't always like it!)

The various graded components of the course are explained below. At first it will seem like there's a lot to do! But most items are small, and many can be done during class time.

Online Homework (10%)

Whenever we're covering a topic for which appropriate problems are available, I'll provide a problem set you can complete, to help develop proficiency with the computational procedures in the course. Homework will be delivered through the WeBWorK online homework system. See Subsection 4.1 for details.

“Lab” assignments (20%)

On Thursdays, we'll have an assignment in class that is applied or computational in nature. You will work in groups, and will be encouraged to use the computer to assist you in solving the problems.

Proof Assignments (15%)

Assignments will be done in groups, and there will be time set aside in each Wednesday class to work on them. Each assignment have only one or two problems.

Typically a written assignment is expected, but interested students are encouraged to explore alternative formats. For example, if a group wants to submit a video presentation instead of written work, that sounds like fun, and I will totally be on board with that.

Here is a fictitious (but possibly informative) grading rubric for assignments:

• A: wow, they clearly discussed this as a group, and nailed down all the key points! I also appreciate how the work is legible and relatively free of frustrated scribbling.

• B: everyone had something to say, but I'm not sure they all agreed. There's an obvious mistake that someone should have caught, suggesting that nobody thought to read it over before submitting.

• C: most of the details are there but this was clearly done in the last hour before the deadline. Also, it looks suspiciously like one person did all the work.

• D: looks like parts (a), (b), (c), and (d) were each done by a different person, and then arranged randomly on the page.

• F: nothing submitted. Or work is a crude drawing of what appears to be an integral attacking a kitten.

Peer review activities (15%)

There will also be individual assignments that cover theory and proof. This will be facilitated though Moodle, using the Workshop activity. In a Moodle Workshop, you submit work like you would for a Moodle assignment. But once the submission phase closes, the workshop moves on to a peer feedback phase.

Typically, any reasonable effort at completing these activities will receive full credit. Any peer score over 75% will be automatically rounded up to 100%. I will review anything below 75% to see if the lower score is deserved.

Tests (30%)

There will be five tests in total. Each test will be a take-home test, with a 48 hour completion window. There will be no time limit, but a reasonably well-prepared student should be able to complete each test in about an hour. Tests will open on January 28, February 10,¹ March 4, March 18, and April 7.

You will write the test individually, and submit via Crowdmark. The test will be a take-home test: open book, and open notes. The primary restriction is that you are not allowed to hire someone else to write your test for you. (This includes using certain subscription-based websites that offer “homework help”.)

I will automatically drop your lowest test score. If you miss one test (for any reason), it will be dropped. You do not need to explain why you missed the test.

Exam wrappers (10%)

After your test has been graded, you will be asked to submit a short reflection piece, where you comment on your performance and the feedback you receive.

Typically, you will be asked to comment on the following:

1. What did you do to prepare for the test?

2. What types of mistakes did you make on the test?

3. What (if anything) could you do differently next time?

Participation

Participation is an optional grade, worth up to 10%. If you feel that your participation in the course was worthy of credit, you may submit a request for participation to be counted toward your grade at the end of the semester. Your request should detail the extent to which you participated in class, and you should also indicate where you would like your participation grade to be applied. You may use your participation grade to replace up to 5% of the weighting for any grade category, for a maximum of two grade categories. For example, you may ask to have participation replace 5% of tests, and 5% of group assignments.

The two best ways to accumulate participation credit are by asking (and answering) questions on our discussion forum, and by adding annotations to the textbook.

Regrading policy: for both individual tests and group assignments, once your work has been evaluated, you will have an opportunity to address the feedback you received. You can get back up to 50% of the points you lost by explaining what you did wrong, and how to correct it. Your explanation should reflect the fact that you have read and considered your feedback, and thought about steps you can take to avoid similar mistakes on the next test.

You may submit corrections in writing, or in person during office hours.

Each of the grade components above will be assigned a numerical score. These will be added to get a score out of 100. Your score out of 100 is converted into a letter grade according to the following table.