COURSE POLICY
Math 2984 · Discovering Mathematics II · Spring 2017
CRN 19024 · Tues/Thurs · 11am-12pm · McBryde 126
Instructor
Email
Phone
Office
Office Hours
Homepage
Jessica Hurdus
[email protected]
(540) 231-5162
447 McBryde Hall
Tues/Thurs 12-1pm
Other hours by appointment.
www.math.vt.edu/people/jmhurdus
Peer Mentors
Kevin Fenton
John Higgins
Aimee Maurais
Zach Moser
Jonathan Ross
William Winter
Office Hours
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
T/R 5-6pm; W 2:30-3:30pm
McBryde 334 (Ugrad Lounge)
Prerequisite: None. This course is intended for first-year math majors.
Course Materials
• Matlab
• ShareLaTeX account
• The Heart and the Fist by Eric Greitens (University Common Book)
• How to Study as a Mathematics Major by Laura Alcock (suggested reading)
• Laptop computer (If you don’t own a laptop, speak with me about this by Friday, January 20.)
Note: If you do not own Matlab, it is available for use in several computer labs on campus.
Course Description
This course is classified as a First Year Experience course. The year-long course focuses on exposing
first-year math majors to the scope and applicability of mathematics and its many sub-disciplines,
while providing an environment to promote networking and community building amongst fellow math
majors. In the first semester of this course, you were introduced to the process of thinking and learning
as a mathematician. In this second semester, you get to put this into practice. You will work on a
mathematical modeling project to model disease spread and a graph theory project based on William
Hamilton’s Icosian Game. The semester will end with research on a topic of your group’s choosing,
which you will present at a poster session during the last week of class.
Learning Objectives
The three learning objectives of all First Year Experience courses are problem solving, integration, and
inquiry. Within the context of our year-long course, these learning objective are:
• Problem Solving – The ability to design, evaluate, and implement a strategy or strategies to
answer an open-ended mathematical question or to achieve a desired goal.
(Objective for fall and spring semesters.)
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• Integration – x2 ln(3x) dx... just kidding! Integration is the ability and disposition to make connections between mathematical ideas and experiences and apply them to new learning situations.
(Objective for spring semester.)
• Inquiry – The ability to explore mathematical issues or topics through the ethical and responsible
collection, analysis, and use of information as evidence that results in informed conclusions.
(Objective for spring semester.)
Class Communication and Canvas https://canvas.vt.edu
The course policy, class announcements, individual assignment grades, and other materials essential to
this course can be found on our class Canvas site. Students are responsible for all information delivered
via Canvas and email. Students are also responsible for course materials and announcements covered in
class. It is strongly suggested that you opt into announcement notifications from Canvas.
Click Account, then choose Notifications to see notification options.
Grading
Your final grade in the course is based on the following:
Modeling and graph theory projects
Final research project
All other assignments
Attendance
65%
25%
5%
5%
A 90% will guarantee an A-, 80% a B-, 70% a C-, 60% a D-. Plus and minus grades will be assigned at
my discretion.
Projects, Final Research, and Other Assignments: The modeling and graph theory projects will comprise roughly nine weeks of the semester. Most of the graded work will be done in class for these
projects in the form of daily in-class assignments. There will also be some homework assigned in this
grading category. Final research project grades will include, but may not be limited to, in-class work,
peer evaluations, research poster, presentation video, and poster session presentation. The final poster
session will be held on Tuesday, May 2. Any in-class or homework assignment that is not related to the
projects or final research will count toward the “All other assignments” category.
Attendance: Attendance will be taken each class and will count as 5% of your final grade. Three
attendance points will be awarded for arriving to class on time. Two attendance points will be awarded
for arriving to class between 11:01-11:05, and one attendance point for arriving to class between 11:0611:10. An unexcused absence will result in zero attendance points for that class. Arrival times will be
noted on your peer mentor’s attendance sheet (which means your attendance is only counted once you
have signed the attendance sheet).
Late work will generally not be accepted and makeup work will generally not be given. In the event
that an assignment or class is missed for reasons that are serious, unavoidable, and beyond the student’s control, the situation will be handled on an individual basis. Excused absences generally will be
considered only if I am notified prior to the missed class (if possible) and if proper documentation is
provided.
Appeals: Specific grading disputes (points totaled incorrectly, partial credit appeals, missing assignments on Canvas, etc.) should be brought to my attention within 1 week of return of the assignment.
Appeals outside of this timeframe will not be considered.
Accommodations
If you need adaptations or accommodations because of a documented disability, if you have emergency
medical information to share, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated,
please make an appointment with your instructor as soon as possible.
Virginia Tech Honor Code
All assignments submitted will be considered graded work and all aspects of your coursework are covered by the Honor Code. When completing individual assignments, each student works alone (without
other students or other students’ papers) and certifies that what is written and/or submitted accurately
represents the student’s own understanding of the material expressed in the student’s own words. The
same applies for group assignments, with “student” replaced by “group”. In working, or in preparing
to work individual (or group) in-class assignments, students may not consult partial or complete solutions of the problems that have been prepared by anyone else (or by any other group). The prohibited
solutions include, but are not limited to, solutions by current or former teachers or students at VT or
elsewhere, whether these solutions are posted on the web or available from other sources.
Honesty in your academic work will develop into professional integrity. The Undergraduate Honor
Code pledge that each member of the university community agrees to abide by states:
“As a Hokie, I will conduct myself with honor and integrity at all times.
I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor will I accept the actions of those who do.”
Students enrolled in this course are responsible for abiding by the Honor Code. A student who has doubts
about how the Honor Code applies to any assignment is responsible for obtaining specific guidance from
the course instructor before submitting the assignment for evaluation. Ignorance of the rules does not
exclude any member of the University community from the requirements and expectations of the Honor
Code. For additional information about the Honor Code, please visit http://www.honorsystem.vt.edu
Commission of any of the following acts shall constitute academic misconduct. This listing is not,
however, exclusive of other acts that may reasonably be said to constitute academic misconduct. Clarifications is provided for each difinition with some examples of prohibited behaviors in the Undergraduate
Honor Code Manual located at http://www.honorsystem.vt.edu.
• Cheating includes the intentional use of unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids or
other devices or materials in any academic exercise, or attempts thereof.
• Plagiarism includes the copying of the language, structure, programming, computer code, ideas
and/or thoughts of another and passing off same as one’s own, original work, or attempts thereof.
• Falsification includes the statement of any untruth, either verbally or in writing, with respect to
any element of one’s academic work, or attempts thereof.
• Fabrication includes making up data and results, and recording or reporting them, or submitting
fabricated documents, or attempts thereof.
• Multiple submissions involves the submission for credit – without authorization of the instructor
receiving the work – of substantial portions of any work (including oral reports) previously submitted for credit at any academic institution, or attempts thereof.
• Complicity includes intentionally helping another to engage in an act of academic misconduct, or
attempts thereof.