Mathematics MAT 305 : Fundamental Structures of Mathematics
Fall 2006
MF 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m., Room 240
Instructor: Dr. Brad Emmons
Office: DePerno Hall 121
Telephone: 792-3413
Office Hours: Tuesday 9:30 - 10:20, Wednesday 11:30 - 12:20, Thursday, 1:00 - 2:00
Email: bemmons@utica.edu
Homepage: http://www.utica.edu/faculty staff/bemmons
Course Materials
A Transition to Advanced Mathematics, Sixth Edition, Smith, Eggen, St. Andre (required)
Introduction
This course is designed to give you the required background material to be able to explore more
advanced areas of mathematics. By now you have taken Algebra, Geometry, Calculus and perhaps a
half-dozen other intimidating sounding math classes. In those classes you learned a certain aspect of
mathematical problem solving. That is, you learned how to formulate a problem mathematically and
solve it using the computational tools taught in those courses.
At this point in our mathematical education our focus shifts from being able to come up with the
right answer to a problem to being able to prove that our techniques are correct. That is correct. We
are going to prove things in this course.
Most advanced courses in mathematics requires us to precisely formulate our problems. And so we
need a precise language to do this. It is this language that we will be learning in this course. We will
learn the elementary rules of logic, set theory, equivalence relations, and functions and how these rules
fit into our framework of mathematics.
Exams
There will be two in-class exams as well as a final cumulative exam. The exams will test your ability
to work through some of the computations, your ability to apply the techniques to certain applications,
as well as your ability to prove certain theorems using these techniques. The first exam is scheduled for
Friday, September 29 and will count for 20 percent of your final grade. The second exam is scheduled
for Friday, November 3 and will count for 20 percent of your final grade. The final exam will be held on
Friday, December 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The final will count for 20 percent of your final grade.
There will be NO make-ups for missed exams. Please look over your schedule as soon as possible. If you
see a potential conflict, inform me immediately.
Homework
The best way to learn Mathematics is to solve problems. Homework will be assigned at the end of
each class period and collected the following class period. I will choose 4 or 5 problems to grade in each
assignment. To earn full credit for a problem, a complete solution to the problem must be submitted.
Just writing down the answer will not earn full credit. In addition to points for each graded problem,
5 points on each assignment will count for completeness and neatness of the graded assignment. Late
assignments will not be graded, but they will be eligible for the 5 completion points. If you are not in
class the day an assignment is collected, you may turn in your assignment into my office later that day.
However, your assignment will be considered late. The homework is designed to help you identify where
you might have difficulties. If you encounter any trouble with an assignment or a concept, seek help!
The homework will count for 20% of your final grade.
Quizzes
Every other Friday, starting with September 8th, we will have an in-class quiz. There will be a total
of 6 quizzes throughout the semester. You should treat the quizzes as mini-exams, covering material
from approximately 6 days worth of course work. The quizzes will consists of 4 or 5 problems similar
to problems from your graded homework, and they are to make sure that you are keeping up with the
concepts presented in class, and to identify where you are having problems before you take the exams.
The quizzes will count for 20% of your final grade.
Attendance
