Syllabus: Math 155 Fall 2014
Elementary Mathematical Models (Math 155) Section 001
Instructor: Sean Carver, Ph.D., Professorial Lecturer, American University.
Contact:
- office location: 107 Gray Hall
- email: carver@american.edu
- office phone: 202-885-6629
Office Hours: 107 Gray Hall. Tentatively scheduled as follows: (may be adjusted throughout the semester)
- 5:30 - 7:00 pm Monday
- 5:30 - 7:00 pm Tuesday
- 5:30 - 7:00 pm Wednesday
- 5:30 - 7:00 pm Thursday.
Tutoring through MATH/STAT tutoring center: Gray Hall, Room 110 As of August 11, the tutoring center hadn't yet posted their hours. I will update this page when they do. Last year the tutoring center was open:
- Sunday, 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Monday - Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Class times and locations:
- Monday: 11:45PM - 01:00PM, WARD BUILDING, Room 304
- Thursday: 11:45PM - 01:00PM, WARD BUILDING, Room 304
Important Dates:
- September 1 (Monday): Labor Day, No Class
- September 25 (Thursday): EXAM 1, during class, in our classroom
- October 30 (Thursday): EXAM 2, during class, in our classroom
- November 26-30 (Wednesday-Sunday): Thanksgiving, No Class
- December 8 (Monday), 11:45AM - 2:15PM FINAL EXAM In our classroom.
Text: Dan Kalman. Elementary Mathematical Models: Order Aplenty and a Glimpse of Chaos.
Course Description (from department website): Study of mathematical subjects including linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions, in the context of difference equations models. Emphasizes concepts and applications using numerical, graphical, and theoretical methods. Also includes an introduction to the mathematical subject of chaos.
Prerequisite: three years of high school mathematics or equivalent.
Learning Outcomes: [Credit Emmanuel Addo, Spring 2013]. By the end of the course, the student should be able to:
- Use and understand common statistical terminology.
- Understand data collection methods including designed experiments and sampling methods.
- Know when to use stemplot, histograms, pie charts, bar charts, and box plots to describe a given distribution.
- Calculate and interpret the measures of center and spread.
- Understand the concepts of correlation and linear regression.
- Understand the concepts of randomness and probability.
- Understand and interpret probability distributions such as the normal, student's t- and chi-square distributions.
- State the central limit theorem and understand the concept of a sampling distribution.
- Calculate confidence intervals for means and proportions--one sample.
- Use sampling techniques to test hypotheses for means and proportions--one and two samples, contingency table, and goodness-of-fit.
Tentative grading scheme:
| ITEM | PERCENT |
|---|---|
| Attendance and Participation | 10% |
| Homework | 15% |
| Exam 1 | 25% |
| Exam 2 | 25% |
| Final | 25% |
Homework Policy: Will be discussed in class.
Academic Integrity: To the extent that grades are based on a curve, cheating to get a better grade on an assignment or exam can result in lowering the grades of some of your classmates. This is not acceptable and cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. As required by American University, I will report all suspected cases of cheating and plagiarism to the Dean's office who will proceed to investigate and adjudicate the issues.
What is considered cheating?
- Cheating is copying work from another source without giving attribution.
- Cheating is copying problem(s) from a classmate.
- It is OK (and, in fact, it is encouraged) to work with other students on homework as long as you write up the solutions yourself and your solutions reflect your own understanding of the problems.
- When inappropriate copying between students is caught, both parties are culpable.
- When in doubt, if you are not sure if help you have given or received is appropriate, disclose what you have done. You may not get full credit for the problem but you won't be charged for academic misconduct.
