Reading Assignments

(main course page)

Reading assignments are worth 10% of the grade in this course. They are due at 6 AM the morning of each class meeting, and should be completed on Learning Suite under the "Exams" tab. Generally, they will ask the following questions:

1. Did you carefully read the entire reading assignment for today's class?
2. For each of the homework problems for this section, can you either outline what your solutions will look like, or explain why you are stuck?
3. What did you find most difficult about the reading for today's class?
4. What do you want to talk about in class?
5. Write something reflective about the reading. This could be the answer to "What was the most interesting part?" or "How does this connect to something else you have learned?" or "How is this relevant or useful to your intellectual or career interests?" or "What is the main idea of this section?" or something else.

Assignments:

1. For Wednesday January 5:  Answer the following introduction questions.
   
   • What year in school are you, and what is your major?
   • Which post-calculus math courses have you taken?
   • What are your reasons for taking this class? What do you hope to get out of this course?
   • Tell me about a math professor or teacher you have had who was the most and/or least effective and what they did that worked well/poorly.
   • What is something interesting or unique about you?
2. For Wednesday January 5:  Read Sections 1.1-1.3 (second edition) or Sections 1.1-1.3 and problem 15 of section 1.2 (third edition).
3. For Friday January 7: Read Section 2.1.
4. For Monday January 10: Read Section 2.2.
5. For Wednesday January 12: Read Section 2.3.
6. For Friday January 14: Read Section 3.1 through the middle of page 48 (second edition) or the end of page 50 (third edition).
7. For Wednesday January 19: Read the rest of Section 3.1.
8. For Friday January 21: Read Section 3.2.
9. For Monday January 24: Read section 3.3.
10. For Wednesday January 26: Answer the following questions.
• How long have you spent on the homework assignments? Did lecture and the reading prepare you for them?
• What has contributed most to your learning in this class thus far?
• What do you think would help you learn more effectively or make the class better for you? (This can be feedback for me, or goals for yourself.)
11. For Friday January 28: Read Section 4.1.
12. For Monday January 31: Read Section 4.2.
13. For Wednesday February 2: As you study for the exam (a study guide is available here), 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?
• 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.
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.

14. For Friday February 4: Read Section 4.3.
15. For Monday February 7: Read Section 4.4.
16. For Wednesday February 9: Read sections 4.5 and 4.6.
17. For Friday February 11: Read Section 9.4 (second edition) or 10.4 (third edition).
18. For Monday February 14: Read Section 5.1.
19. For Wednesday February 16: Read Section 5.2.
20. For Friday February 18: Read Section 5.3.
21. For Tuesday February 22: Read Section 6.1 through the middle of page 138 (second edition) or through page 145 (third edition).
22. For Wednesday February 23: Read the rest of section 6.1 and read section 6.2 through the middle of page 147 (second edition) or the middle of page 154 (third edition).
23. For Friday February 25: Read the rest of section 6.2.
24. For Monday February 28: Read Section 6.3.
25. For Wednesday March 2: As you study for the exam (note that there is a study guide available here), 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?
• 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.
26. For Friday March 4: Read Section 7.1 up through the first full example on page 164 (second edition) or throught the first full example on page 173 (third edition).
27. For Monday March 7: Read the rest of Section 7.1.
28. For Wednesday March 9: Read Section 7.2.
29. For Friday March 11: Read Section 7.3.
30. For Monday March 14: Read Section 7.4.
31. For Wednesday March 16: Read Section 7.9 (second edition) or Section 7.5 (third edition).
32. For Monday March 21: Read Section 7.5 through Corollary 7.27 (second edition) or Section 8.1 through Corollary 8.6 (third edition).
33. For Wednesday March 23: Read the rest of Section 7.5 and read section 7.6 through page 211 (second edition), or read the rest of Section 8.1 and read Section 8.2 through Example 8.6 (third edition).
34. For Friday March 25: Read the rest of Section 7.6 (second edition) or the rest of Section 8.2 (third edition).
35. For Monday March 28: Read Section 7.7 (second edition) or Section 8.3 (third edition).
36. For Wednesday March 30: Read Section 7.8 (second edition) or Section 8.4 (third edition).
37. For Friday April 1: Read the first eleven pages of the document "The Mathematics of the Rubik's Cube", available at https://web.mit.edu/sp.268/www/rubik.pdf.
38. For Monday April 4: As you study for the exam (note that there is a study guide available here), 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?
• 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.
39. For Wednesday April 6: Read Section 8.1 (second edition) or Section 9.1 (third edition).
40. For Friday April 8: Read Section 8.2 (second edition) or Section 9.2 (third edition).
41. For Monday April 11: Read Section 12.1 (second edition) or Section 13.1 (third edition).
42. For Wednesday April 13: Complete your student ratings for this course. As you study for the final 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.
• What have you learned in this course? How might these things be useful to you in the future?