Course Format

We'll meet three times a week in the Science Center (3rd Floor Sheridan Center) on a MWF schedule at 11:00am. During these times, we'll strive for a balance of lecture and active problem solving and proof writing, often times in small groups. 

Outside of class, you'll be writing! Most of your weekly activities will involve solving problems, writing proofs, and both giving and incorporating feedback into improving your arguments. In addition to writing proofs, I'll often ask you to write reflections about your growth as a proof-writer. In addition to these reflection giving me insight to how you're doing in the course, these are designed to help develop your self-assessment skills!

You should expect to spend 6-8 hours each week on your Math 1000 assignments and about 2 hours each week reviewing the proofs that we cover in class.

Math 1000 uses a standards-based grading model to assign you grades. This will take some time to explain and to get used to, but what's important for you to know right now, as you're deciding on which courses to take, is the following:

• you will have opportunities to revise all graded work in Math 1000;

• your final grade reflects your growth and understanding at the end of the course, not the beginning;

• your grade is assigned independently of other students'--you are in no way competing with your peers. 

Your grade will be determined by points that you earn in weekly problem solving and proof writing quizzes, as well as a final portfolio that you will curate throughout the semester of proofs. Complete details of how this will work will be prepared in early January, before the course starts. 

You'll receive lots of feedback on your work in Math 1001 from your peers, the course's UTA, and myself. Almost everything you turn in for Math 1001 will undergo a two or three phase revision cycle.

Early in the course, we'll talk about what useful feedback looks like so that you can better help your peers. More than anything, peer feedback provides an opportunity for you to read more proofs and decide for yourself what you like and don't like in a proof.

We have a few ways to communicate in Math 100:

• the main course hub is Canvas; this is where the notes, and assignments will be shared;

• course announcements will be posted to Canvas;

• Ed Discussion will be used for course Q&A;

• myself and the course UTAs are available to message via Canvas, Ed Discussion, or email.

The text we will use this term is "Book of Proof" by Richard Hammack.  While paper copies will be made available through the bookstore, the book is officially approved by the American Institute of Mathematics' Open Textbook Initiative and is available for free on the author's web-page.

I strive to create a learning experience that is accessible, welcoming, and inclusive of our diverse community of learners. If you anticipate that you may encounter issues related to the format, materials, or requirements of the course, please meet with me to explore our options. I am happy to consider creative solutions as long as they do not compromise the objective of the assessment or learning activity.

Students may also wish to work with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) to discuss a range of options to remove barriers in this course, including official accommodations; they may be contacted via email—SAS@brown.edu—or phone—401-863-9588. If you have already been approved for accommodations through SAS, please meet with me so we can develop an implementation plan together.