MATH 166.504 - TOPICS IN CONTEMPORARY MATHEMATICS II
Spring 2015, Tuesday/Thursday 2:20-3:35 Heldenfels 111
Instructor: Joseph Noles, Blocker 525A, jnoles@math.tamu.edu.
Webpage: www.math.tamu.edu/jnoles/math166
Office Hours: Wednesday 2-5 pm, Tuesday 10 am - noon, and by appointment.
Textbook: Applied Finite Mathematics, 2nd Edition by Tomastik and Epstein, published
by Cengage Learning (Brooks/Cole), ISBN 1133444288. Note: The textbook is available
to you for free online via webassign, visit www.math.tamu.edu/courses/eHomework.
Course Description: This is a 3 credit course covering finite mathematics, matrices,
probability and applications.
Prerequisites are high school algebra I and II and geometry.
Students cannot receive credit for more than one of MATH 141 and MATH 166.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
(1) understand and evaluate statements of prepositional logic
(2) use counting techniques to calculate probabilities of events
(3) generate statistics and model probability distributions from data sets
(4) calculate accumulation of interest accrued using various financial paradigms
(5) use matrix techniques to solve systems of linear equations
(6) model Markov processes and predict their long-term behavior
Grades: Coursework will be weighted as follows:
Webassign
Quizzes
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Final Exam
15
15
15
15
15
25
%
%
%
%
%
%
The grade distribution will be:
> 90 %
80-90
70-80
60-70
< 60
A
B
C
D
F
Schedule: A tentative course schedule can be found at
www.math.tamu.edu/courses/math166/currentsched.html.
Homework: We will have weekly WebAssign homework. Assignments and due dates
can be found on the WebAssign page at www.webassign.net/tamu/login.html.
1
Quizzes: There will be a short in-class or take-home quiz each lecture starting week 2
and excluding exam weeks. The lowest 3 quiz grades will be dropped.
Exams: There will be 3 in-class midterm exams and 1 final exam, all to be held in
Heldenfels 111 according to the following schedule:
Midterm 1
Midterm 2
Midterm 3
Final
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015 (1-3 pm)
Academic Honesty: ”An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.”
Students are expected to work independently on quizzes and exams, and to use only those
resources approved by the instructor. Violations of the Academic Integrity Policy will
result in a grade of zero on the assignment and may result in more severe consequences.
Repeated violations will result in more severe consequences.
Getting Help: The math department offers several resources for those who desire extra
instruction in the course. Among these are:
The instructors office hours, see page 1
Math department help sessions, see www.math.tamu.edu/courses/helpsessions.html
Week in Review sessions, see www.math.tamu.edu/courses/weekinreview.html
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive
civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation
requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that
provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a
disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability Services, in Cain Hall,
Room B118, or call 845-1637. For additional information visit disability.tamu.edu.