SYLLABUS

MATH 281 Foundations Math Fall, 2017

Instructor: Ivan C. Sterling, 177 SH, 240-431-8185, isterling@smcm.edu.

Office Hours: TBA, and by appointment

Book: Foundations of Higher Mathematics, Fendel & Resek

Tests and Grades: There will be four exams (worth 80% of your course grade, 20% each). One of the four exams will be the non-comprehensive final. Homework will be part of your grade (worth 20%). The homework will be collected at the beginning of class on the day it’s due. Late homework will not be accepted. After it is collected some of the homework problems will be selected for grading by the TA. The exam problems will be the same or similar to those in the homework and the examples worked in class.

Extra Credit: You can earn up to three extra credit points by attending an NSM colloquium and giving me an at most two paragraph summary of the lecture.

Dates for the exams: Wednesdays 9/20, 10/18, 11/15; Final: M 12/11 2-4:15

Grading-roughly: 90-100% A,A- 80-90 B+,B,B- 70-80 C+,C,C 60-70 D+,D <60 F

Teaching Assistant: Emily Stark, enstark@smcm.edu, cell TBA, Office Hours: TBA, Review Session: TBA

Assessment info: At the completion of MATH 281, students will be able to

• implement the rules of mathematical logic as demonstrated by incorporating logic into valid mathematical proofs.

• use the principles of set theory as demonstrated by computing the results of set operations

and proving properties of sets and set operations.

• solve novel problems in mathematics as demonstrated by successfully completing problems and proofs that involve unfamiliar mathematical definitions.

• construct clear and rigorous mathematical arguments as demonstrated by writing proofs that are readable and mathematically correct.

• judge the validity of a mathematical argument as demonstrated by analyzing attempts at

mathematical proofs and assessing whether or not these attempts constitute actual proofs.