Homework Resources

This course will feature a substantial emphasis on cooperative learning. In class, I plan to facilitate group activities and discussion rather than just repeat the content of the text to you at the board. This means that you will be asked to read the material and attempt the homework before it is "covered" in class.

Written homework is a substantial part of your grade. Each of the problems will require considerable thought and a complete, well-written solution. You will often find that homework problems are best solved in a cooperative environment. Discussing problems with your classmates is a more efficient way to learn and remember the material.

Each homework problem will be graded on a 1-3-5 scheme. The grade "5" means that the problem was solved essentially correctly, perhaps with very minor inaccuracies. The grade "3" means that there was a substantial gap in your solution and "1" means that the problem was essentially not solved. The grades 2 and 4 interpolate the gaps between 1, 3 and 3, 5 respectively.

The purpose of having you write detailed and clear explanations of your work is to improve your understanding. The more carefully and clearly you write your mathematics, the more likely it is to be correct, and the more likely you will be to remember the ideas involved. Writing is a crucial part of the thinking process itself. In this course, writing is part of the process of learning.

TeX is a typesetting system that allows anyone to produce textbook or journal quality mathematical text. This is the way most of modern mathematics is communicated. If you are considering a career that has to do with mathematics, chances are you will need to learn TeX at some point. While typing up homework solutions is not required for this course, a part of the grade will be determined by the clarity of exposition. Some of your solutions are likely to require revisions, and typing things up is an efficient way to deal with that. Additionally, I will give a (small) bonus for typesetting solutions in TeX. If you want to give it a try, here are some options (assuming you have a Windows computer):

• Option 1. Online LaTeX Editor ShareLaTeX. This one does not require you to install anything on your computer, everything is on the cloud. The documents can be shared with other people. The follownig helpful information together with example documents below should be enough to get you started.
• Option 2. LyX. This is a "What you see is what you get" type editor; great for those starting with TeX. You need to choose "Bundle with MiKTeX download" (LyX is the interface, and MiKTeX is the brain that figures out where things go on the page). If your operating system is not Windows, you will probably welcome the challenge of figuring out how to install LyX; I will be happy to help.
• Option 3. MiKTeX. This should work for those ready to code in TeX on their own computer. MiKTeX is the program that compiles the text you enter and produces a good-looking output. You need to download and install it first. (It is free.)
• Option 3, continued. After you install MiKTeX, you can enter the TeX code in TeXWorks, the editor that comes with MiKTeX. Alternatively, you can find a number of free TeX editors with more features.
• Some examples of TeX code.