Instructor: Stephen Brill
Office: MB (Mathematics Building) 218-A
Phone: (208) 426-3122
Fax: (208) 426-1356
Email: sbrill@boisestate.edu
Class meetings: 1500 to 1615, Monday, Wednesday and Friday in room CCP 221.
Textbook: We will be using the zyBook entitled Discrete Mathematics. This book is available by subscription. To obtain a subscription:
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Enter zyBook code: BOISESTATEMATH189BrillSpring2021
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Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays: 1330-1445. Fridays: 1200-1445. Other times by appointment.
Academic Honesty and appropriate behavior: All students are expected to be familiar with and adhere to the policies and standards given in the BSU Student Code of Conduct.
Cell phones, paging devices, etc.: Please turn off or silence your devices during class time.
Late work and/or extensions: If you seek an extension on an assignment and the request occurs after the due date or time, your request will be summarily denied (except in the most extraordinary circumstances). Such requests that occur before the due date and time will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Contesting grades: If you think I have graded you unfairly on a particular assignment, you must bring this to my attention within a week from the time that the assignment was returned to the class. After a week I will not consider any requests to review and possibly change my grading.
Learning outcomes: At the end of the semester, the student will be able to:
Understand basic logic and logical arguments.
Produce and interpret valid mathematical arguments (proofs) with a variety of structures, such as direct proof, proof by contrapositive, proof by contradiction, and proof by induction.
Obtain basic familiarity with areas of mathematics including set theory, functions, graph theory, modular arithmetic, counting methods, and other topics in discrete mathematics.
Communicate mathematical knowledge in writing. Interpret and appropriately use mathematical notation.
Homework: When we finish our classroom instruction of a particular textbook section, I will announce this fact. This is your cue that homework for that textbook section is assigned. Homework consits of those exercises in the book included in the section just concluded. While homework is not graded, it is far from being optional. Doing the homework exercises is how you will learn the material. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about homework exercises in class.
Grading policy: Your grade will be determined by your performance in three areas:
Weekly take-home quizzes (50%). These are due on Friday at the beginning of class. You may work on these quizzes solo or in pairs. Groups of size three or larger is not allowed. At the end of the semester, the lowest quiz score for each student will be "dropped".
Take-home Midterm Exam (20%) -- due 5 March at 1500.
Take-home Final Exam (30%) -- due 5 May at 1400.
Your grade will be computed via the following algorithm. Let x be the number of points accumulated throughout the semester (between 0 and 100):
A+: x > 97
A: 93 < x < 97
A-: 90 < x < 93
B+: 87 < x < 90
B: 83 < x < 87
B-: 80 < x < 83
C+: 77 < x < 80
C: 73 < x < 77
C-: 70 < x < 73
D: 60 < x < 70
F: x < 60
This page was most recently updated on 26 March 2021.