COURSE INFO

SCHEDULE

SYLLABUS

HOMEWORK

OFFICE HOURS




Math 495, Fall 2006

Senior Project

Syllabus




Course description: This course will revolve around a year-long project of your choosing, in coordination with a faculty advisor. The main focuses of the course and time spent in class will be on how to read, write, and present mathematics.

The course will run over two semesters, with your tasks being as follows.

  • Fall: Gather a large body of information on your chosen subject.
  • Spring: Distill that large body into a coherent and thorough report and presentation.

    Instructor: Barry Balof

    Office: 236 Olin Hall

    Location: 246 Olin Hall Time (tentative): Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 2:30-3:20 PM

    Textbook: No required text for the course.

    Time Expectations: Students will be expected to spend 6 hours per week reading and researching your specific topic. In addition, students will be expected to spend 3 hours writing and preparing for oral presentations, and one hour per week meeting with their faculty resource.

    Progress Reports: Once the project is chosen, the student will be responsible for handing in a journal of their progress each week. These will be collected on Fridays and graded for content and progress.

    Oral Presentations: Students will be giving at least four oral reports on their projects during the semester, in lengths ranging from 10 to 40 minutes. In addition to their own presentations, students will be expected to comment on and be critical of each others presentations.

    Tentative Schedule of Student Presentations: Every Three Weeks beginning September 11.

    Computer Resources: Students are expected to use LaTEX for their work. This program is available in the Mathematics Lab, as well as in various free sites on the internet. In addition, students will be learning the Beamer LaTEX package for oral presentations. More details will be presented in class.

    Grading: Grades will be assigned on a rougly 90-80-70 scale, with grades weighted as follows.
    Weekly Journal Progress Reports 50 %
    Oral Presentations 30 %
    Class Participation  15 %
    Faculty Resource Report 5 %

    Special Needs: Any student with a disability for whom special accommodations would be helpful is encouraged to discuss this with the professor as soon as possible.



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