Reading Assignments

(main course page)

Reading assignments are worth 10% of the grade in this course. They are due at 11:59 PM the night before 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?
2. What was the most difficult part of the material for you? (Note that "nothing" is not an acceptable answer. Think about the material more deeply, then.)
3. 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 something else.

Assignments:

1. For Thursday September 3:  Answer the following introduction questions.
   
   • What is your year in school and major?
   • Which post-calculus math courses have you taken?  (Use names or BYU course numbers.)
   • Why are you taking this class?  (Be specific.)
   • Do you have experience with Maple, Mathematica, SAGE, or another computer algebra system?  Programming experience?  How comfortable are you with using one of these programs to complete homework assignments?
   • Tell me about the math professor or teacher you have had who was the most and/or least effective.  What did s/he do that worked so well/poorly?
   • Write something interesting or unique about yourself.
2. For Thursday September 3:  Read Sections 1.1-1.2 and 3.1-3.3.
3. For Tuesday September 8 (now Thursday September 10), we will have a guest lecturer in class. Instead of completing a writing assignment before class, write about the guest lecture after class on Thursday and before the next Tuesday morning. Answer the same questions you would answer if you were writing about a reading assignment. Much of the material is contained in the blog posts here, here, and here.
4. For Thursday September 10: Read Sections 2.1-2.2 and 2.4.
5. For Tuesday September 15: Read Sections 2.3, 3.8, and 2.5-2.7. The Sherlock Holmes story can be found online here.
6. For Thursday September 17: Read Sections 2.8-2.12. If you're interested, read the article here about a code given to Thomas Jefferson by Robert Patterson (the "Dr. Patterson" referred to in last week's talk). You may be interested in this publication on the Enigma's history from NSA. More about Enigma can be found in chapters 3 and 4 of The Code Book.
7. For Tuesday September 22: Read Sections 4.1-4.2, 4.4, and 4.6-4.8.
8. For Thursday September 24: Read Sections 4.5 and 3.11 up through Section 3.11.2, and answer some or all of 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.)
9. For Tuesday September 29: Read Sections 5.1-5.4. Another explanation of AES can be found here, and an animation showing how AES works can be found here.
10. For Thursday October 1, as you study for the exam (a study guide can be found here), write responses to the following questions.
    • Which topics and ideas 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?
    Thinking about the answers to these questions can help guide your study. Remember also that the mathematics department's learning outcomes for Math 485 state that students

    should gain an understanding of [the core] topics. In particular this includes knowing the definitions, being familiar with standard examples, and being able to solve mathematical and algorithmic problems by directly using the material taught in the course.

11. For Tuesday October 6: Read Sections 3.4-3.6.
12. For Thursday October 8: Read Sections 3.7 and 6.1.
13. For Tuesday October 13: Read Sections 3.12 and 6.2 through 6.2.1.
14. For Thursday October 15: Read Section 3.9 and the rest of 6.2.
15. For Tuesday October 20: Read Sections 3.10 and 6.3.
16. For Thursday October 22: Read Section 6.4 up to just before 6.4.1. If you are interested in the deterministic polynomial time algorithm for testing primality, read more about it here.
17. For Tuesday October 27: Read Sections 6.4.1-6.7.
18. For Thursday October 29: Read Sections 7.1-7.2.
19. For Tuesday November 3: Read Sections 7.3-7.5 and 8.1.
20. For Thursday November 5: Read Sections 8.2, 8.4-8.5, and 8.7.
21. For Tuesday November 10: Read Sections 9.1-9.4. An interesting article on digitally signed email can be found here.
22. For Thursday November 12: Read Sections 12.1-12.2. A video explaining more about Bitcoin can be found here.
23. For Tuesday November 17: Read this nonmathematical explanation of Shor's algorithm and Sections 19.1-19.3.
24. For Thursday November 19, as you study for the exam (a study guide can be found here), write responses to the following questions.
• Which topics and ideas 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?
Thinking about the answers to these questions can help guide your study.
25. For Tuesday December 1: Read Section 16.1.
26. For Thursday December 3: Read Sections 16.2-16.3.
27. For Tuesday December 8: Read Sections 16.4-16.5.
28. For Thursday December 10: Read one of the following: Jim Cannon's thoughts on mathematics and faith; Tyler Jarvis's BYU devotional talk from 2013; Francis Su's MAA Retiring Presidential Address on Mathematics for Human Flourishing. Complete your student ratings for this course.