Syllabus

Course Description

This course is an introduction to discrete mathematics. We shall discuss basic discrete mathematical structures, methods of reasoning and proofs, basic counting techniques, digital logic design, elementary number theory, design of programs, and proofs of program correctness.

Students who have completed Math 109 may not receive credit for CSE 20. Credit not offered for both Math 15A and CSE 20.

Prerequisites: COGS7 or CSE8B or CSE11 with a grade of C- or better.

Textbook: Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, 7th edition by Kenneth Rosen.

Homework (35% of your course grade)

First and foremost, late homework will not be accepted and there will be no exception to this rule. If you fail to submit your paper before the deadline, then you will automatically receive a zero for that assignment. Please do not contact the instruction staff to ask for leniency!

There will be 8 assignments (7 mandatory + 1 optional) in total. Homework assignments are posted on the class website under the “Assignments” tab, and due at 10:00pm on the indicated date through Gradescope. Before the deadline, you may submit as many copies of your homework paper as you would like; however, only the most recent submission will be considered. All problems on homework assignments will be graded for correctness. We strongly encourage that you type your solution. Handwritten papers should be legible or your homework may not be graded. The scores and solutions to these problems will be available on Gradescope and TritonED.

Homework may be done in groups of one to three students. You are free to change group members at any time throughout the quarter. Problems should be solved together, not divided up between partners. Each group only need to submit one copy of their homework. Please remember to indicate the names of all group members in your submission.

Exams (60% of your course grade)

There will be two in-class midterms and one in-class final. No textbook, notes, calculator, or any other electronic devices will be allowed. The midterms will take place in during regular lecture times and place. Study guide will also be posted roughly one week prior to the exam date.

There will be no make up exam! It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the exams.

The first midterm will be held on Monday, January 28 (Week 4), covering topics from Weeks 1- 3.
The second midterm will be held on Monday, February 25 (Week 8), covering topics from Weeks 4 - 7.
The final exam will be held on Monday, March 18, 8:00am - 10:59am, location TBA, covering all materials from the course.

Participation (5% of your course grade)

This course is structured to allow opportunities for active participation during lectures and discussions (in terms of solving problems, responding with iClickers, group discussion), in which every student is expected to participate. We shall use iClicker remote to keep track of your participation.

You earn 1 participation point for a given lecture day by responding to at least 75% of the iClicker questions from that day. iClicker questions will be graded for participation only and not correctness of the response.
You earn 1.5 participation point per week by attending the weekly discussion sections.

There will be opportunities to earn about 35-37 points, but you only need 25 of them for full 5% participation. If you earn fewer than 25 points then your participation will be determined as follows.

4% at 24 points,
3% at 23 points,
2% at 22 points,
1% at 21 points,
0% at 20 points or below.

Important: It is strongly recommended that you use the physical iClicker remote instead of the REEF polling app. This feature has been quite inconsistent for me in the past, so use it at your own risk!

Participation points will be updated weekly on TritonED. It is your responsibility to monitor these points and report any inconsistency. Do not attempt to falsify iClicker or discussion participation as doing such is considered a violation of academic integrity.

Grade Policy

Your grade will be based on the scores of the homework, participation, two midterms, and the final exam. It will be the maximum of the following two scores (namely, you may replace the lower midterm score with that of the final) :

Score 1 = 5% Participation + 35% Homework + 15% 1st Midterm + 15% 2nd Midterm + 30% Final
Score 2 = 5% Participation + 35% Homework + 15% Best Midterm + 45% Final

You must pass the final examination (scoring at least 50%) in order to pass the course. Since there is no makeup exam, if you miss a midterm exam for any reason then your course grade will automatically be computed using the second method. The letter grade you receive at the end of the course will be based on the following scale:

The final scores may be adjusted to determine the letter grades. However, the letter grade corresponding to a given percentage will never be lowerthan specified by the above scale.

Regrade Policy

All graded materials will be posted on Gradescope and on TritonED. If you find a grading error on any graded material, you must immediately request a regrade through Gradescope. All regrade issues must be resolved within one weeks after the score is published. After that, the score will become final and any late requests will not be considered.

Only the grades posted on TritonED will be computed toward your final score percentage. You must keep all of your graded materials and check TritonED frequently to make sure that the grades on your Gradescope page match those recorded on TritonED. If there is any inconsistency in the recording of your scores, you must inform the instructor or TA before the end of the 10th week of the quarter to resolve recording errors. Questions regarding missing or incorrectly recorded scores will not be considered after the last day of instruction.

Academic Honesty and Attendance Policy

As a student of UC San Diego, you have agreed to abide by the university’s academic honesty policy. Academic integrity violations will be taken seriously and reported immediately. Violation of such policy may result in failing the class, suspension, and even expulsion from the university. Students are expected to attend classes regularly. Cell-phone and all electronic devices must be turned off during lecture time, unless being used for taking note. A student who is absent for an excessive amount of times may be dropped from the class. Further information regarding Academic Integrity policy are available under the "Links" button above. You should make yourself aware of what is and is not acceptable by reading this document. Ignorance of the rules will not excuse you from any violations.

Key facts about academic integrity related to our course:

Do not discuss homework problems with people besides your homework partner (except during office hours, with the instructional team).
Do not share written solutions or partial solutions with other groups.
Prepare your final written solution without consulting any written material except class notes and the class text.

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