MATH 499 Assignment 3
Due: Thursday, March 03, 2011, at 11:00 AM
Write your Project Report Introduction:
Your introduction should be directed at your peers (an intelligent audience with a solid
foundation in undergraduate mathematics/statistics). Your report introduction should
include the following elements (not necessarily in this order):
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Overview of your research topic.
o Where is this topic situated in the broad area of mathematics/statistics?
Description of the context of your topic.
o It may be appropriate to review the history of the topic, or to relate your
topic to a real-life application.
o You should make a connection to relevant literature. Which papers or
results are directly related to your topic? Can you distill the essence of
those papers or results in a few sentences?
Necessary technical background to set up the reader so he/she can understand
the rest of your report.
o You may find it helpful to separate the technical background into a
subsection(s). This subsection later may become a separate section, or an
appendix. Don’t worry about that now.
Statement of the specific questions that you will focus on in your investigation.
o Make the questions as specific and precise as possible as you can make
them for the reader, taking into account the context and technical
background given so far.
You can think of the report introduction as an expanded version of the project overview
that you wrote several weeks ago. You no longer are restricted to one page – you should
write/illustrate as much as is necessary to set up your reader for the real work to come in
the rest of the report.
A few tips:
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Don’t be shy to use figures and/or diagrams to illustrate ideas/concepts.
o All figures and diagrams must be numbered and captioned, and referred to
in the text by number (e.g., “…, as shown in Figure 2.”).
Feel free to insert simple examples or analogies for pedagogical purposes.
Be sure to introduce/define all symbols and notation.
Purpose of the assignment:
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To put into practice elements of scientific writing as discussed in class.
To learn more about your topic through the process of writing.
To complete a first draft of a major component of your final report well before the
due date.
Grading:
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You will receive feedback on your report (feedback on which elements of your
introduction read well and which elements need improvement) from me.
The more effort you put into putting together a clear and cohesive introduction,
the more effort I will put into giving you constructive feedback.
Additional instructions:
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Your report introduction must be typed. If possible, please use LaTeX, especially
if your write-up contains mathematical symbols or formulas. If you need
technical help, please Dr. Hillen well in advance of the due date.
Use a regular size font (12-point), and reasonable margins.
Submit one printed copy of your assignment. Deposit your assignment in the
designated envelope on my office door (CAB 575).
MATH 499 Feedback on your Project Report Introduction
1. Is the context of the research topic clear? If yes, what strategies does the writer use to
create context? If not, how could the writer place the work in context of the broad
area of mathematics/statistics?
2. Does the writer provide the appropriate technical background for the reader?
3. Are the specific research questions that the project will address clear?
4. Comment on the strengths of the introduction. Identify areas of weakness, and give
suggestions for how to improve them.