COURSE INFO

SCHEDULE

SYLLABUS

HOMEWORK

OFFICE HOURS


Math 299, Fall 2008

Problem Solving in Mathematics

Syllabus



Course description: This course is designed to help students prepare for the Putnam Examination, a national competition held each December. Each week, you'll be assigned a set to work on outside of class. You'll also be expected to, independently, choose problems of interest to you. We'll spend the class time discussing the solutions to those problems and introducing the new ones for the coming week. YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO SOLVE ALL OF THE PROBLEMS PRESENTED!!!! Click here for a more detailed schedule

Instructor: Barry Balof

Office: 236 Olin Hall

Location: 246 Olin Hall Time (tentative): Thursday at 12

Textbook: The Art and Craft of Problem Solving by Paul Zeitz

Homework: Homework will be posted here . You will be expected to arrive each week ready to participate, having read through the assigned sections in the book. You will be expected to contribute throughout the semester to the in-class presentation of the problems assigned.

Notebooks: For this class, you will be required to keep a conjecture notebook. You will use this space to brainstorm problems from week to week, as well as write up solutions, either before or after they are presented in class. I will collect these notebooks roughly every other week.

Putnam Exam: Saturday, December 5 st , 8AM-4PM. See here for more details, or here for a history of past problems.

Grading: 50% Class Attendance & Participation, 30% Conjecture Notebooks, 20% Putnam Attendance


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