MATH 130: MATHEMATICS IN ACTION
SYLLABUS - SPRING 2015
Course webpage: http://www.math.binghamton.edu/zaremsky/15S Action.html
Professor (section A0): Matt Zaremsky
Course meets: MWF 12:00–1:00pm in LH14
Office: WH 108
Email: zaremsky at math dot binghamton dot edu
Office hours: M 1–2pm in my office.
Instructor for section B0: Jason Mifsud
Course meets: MWF 12:00–1:00pm in S2 145
Office: WH 236
Email: mifsud at math dot binghamton dot edu
Office hours: MWF 10:45–11:45am.
Head TA: Ruiqi Liu
Office: WH 306
Email: liu at math dot binghamton dot edu
Office hours: W 2:20–3:20pm, F 2:20–4:20pm.
Any emails regarding grades should be directed to the Head TA.
(Any grade appeals will be considered only within one week after the assignment was returned. It is
your responsibility to check your grades in Blackboard.)
1. Textbook
Mathematics in Action, F. Guzmán and L.C. Kappe, Binghamton University. (Spring 2015 edition.)
2. Course objectives
The goal of this course is to provide students with an experience in quantitative reasoning and data
analysis through mathematical modeling of some real life problems including a hands-on approach.
Further emphasis will be on illustrating the importance, relevance, and currency of mathematics in the
modern world. The topics covered include: voting methods, weighted voting systems, apportionment,
fair division, counting problems, probability, measuring populations, statistics, normal distributions,
and statistical inference.
3. Blackboard
It will be possible for you to see your grades in Blackboard. There will be no other use of Blackboard.
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MATH 130: MATHEMATICS IN ACTION
SYLLABUS - SPRING 2015
All announcements will be made on the webpage and not on Blackboard. This also applies to the
homework assignments. I will post slides on the website, not on Blackboard.
4. Discussion sections
Discussion sections are for you to ask questions on past homework problems and material covered
in class. Every week, there will be a 15 minute quiz which should be easy if you have done the
previous homework assignment. The students are mostly in charge of dictating what will be discussed
in discussion section so I strongly encourage you to come prepared with questions!
The discussion sections are divided among the following TAs. You have to go to your assigned
section, but you may attend any TA’s office hours including the head TA’s ones and mine listed above.
• Kaitlyn Colgan
Office hours: MWF 9:00–9:30am, TR 10:15–11:00am, in WH 236
Email: colgan at math dot binghamton dot edu
Sections:
(1) Section A02, T 8:30am – 9:55am in FA 245
(2) Section A06, R 8:30am – 9:55am in FA 245
• Yuan Fang
Office hours: R 1-4pm, in WH 236
Email: fang at math dot binghamton dot edu
Sections:
(1) Section A03, T 4:25pm – 5:50pm in S2 243
(2) Section A07, R 4:25pm – 5:50pm in FA 246
• Meegan Marvin
Office hours: T 12-2pm, R 12-1pm, in WH 236
Email: marvin at math dot binghamton dot edu
Sections:
(1) Section A04, T 4:25pm – 5:50pm in FA 249
(2) Section A08, R 4:25pm – 5:50pm in S2 144
• Joseph Mennuti
Office hours: MWF 1-2pm, in WH 236
Email: mennuti at math dot binghamton dot edu
Sections:
(1) Section A01, T 8:30am – 9:55am in FA 244
(2) Section A05, R 8:30am – 9:55am in FA 244
• Sections:
(1) Section B01, T 4:25pm – 5:50pm in S2 245 (with Jason Mifsud)
(2) Section B02, R 4:25pm – 5:50pm in FA 245 (with Ruiqi Liu)
5. Exams
There will be three tests during the semester and one final exam during the final week. The 3 tests
will be given in class (not in your discussion section). See the webpage for the schedule.
No books, notes, calculators or cell phones are allowed during exams. You can only use a pen or a
pencil.
MATH 130: MATHEMATICS IN ACTION
SYLLABUS - SPRING 2015
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6. Quizzes
There will be a 15 minute quiz every week. These quizzes will be given by your TA during your
discussion section. The material for quizzes will be similar to the homework assignment due that day.
No notes, books, calculators or cell phones are allowed during quizzes. You can only use a pen or a
pencil.
7. Homework
There will be one homework assignment due at the beginning of your section each week. Each
assignment will consist of 3 to 5 questions from the exercises in the book. Though you are not required
to turn in all of the exercises in the book, I encourage you to do them all. Your TA will only grade
one or two random problems from the homework each week so it is important that you complete the
whole assignment in order to get credit for it.
The homework assignment will be posted every week on the webpage.
8. Make-up policy
• There will be no late homework accepted for any reason whatsoever. You have a whole week to
do it, so if you anticipate missing a discussion for some reason you should turn the homework
in early (for instance by putting it in your TA’s mailbox in Whitney Hall).
• There will be no makeup quizzes and a missed quiz will receive a score of zero. If you miss a
quiz due to illness or a similar reason, alert your TA (not me or Jason!) immediately via email
and be prepared to provide them with appropriate documentation. That quiz will be dropped.
Also, in general, everyone’s lowest quiz grade will be dropped (see “Grading policy” below).
This is the purview of the TAs, again, do not email me or Jason about missed quizzes.
• If you miss an exam due to exceptional circumstances you should contact me as soon as
possible, no later than 24 hours after the test is given.
• To be eligible for a makeup test you must provide an original document which excuses your
absence such as a doctor’s note or a police ticket. The document should be issued to you on
the test’s day. For example, if you missed a test on Friday, you should provide me a doctor’s
note from Friday.
• Any makeup exam will be scheduled within 1 week from the missed test. If you know in
advance you’ll need a make-up exam, notify me at least a week in advance. No one can take
an exam early for any reason.
• In general, any discussion of make-ups and/or dropping missed quizzes should happen via
email; there are so many students in this class, it’s very hard to remember every in-person
conversation I have with every student.
9. Grading policy
The final counts 30%, test 1 15%, test 2 15%, test 3 15%, quizzes 15% and homework assignments
10%. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. I guarantee that 93% will be an A, 90% will be an A-,
87% a B+, 83% a B, 80% a B-, etc. I also guarantee that 60% or above is a pass.
10. Email guidelines
There are about 300 people taking Math 130 this semester. As you can imagine, the TAs and I will
get a ton of emails. You can help us out by making your emails short, including your section number,
and explicitly stating/asking what the point of the email is. As explained in the “Make-up policy”
section above, if you miss a quiz for a valid reason, you can have that quiz be dropped, but this is an
issue for your TA, not for me or Jason. In the past we’ve gotten so many unnecessary emails that this
semester, We reserve the right to ignore any email asking a question for which the answer
is in the syllabus or on the website. (Examples include, “When are your office hours?”, “Where
is your office?”, “Can I turn my homework in late?”, “Can I take the exam early?” and so forth.)
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MATH 130: MATHEMATICS IN ACTION
SYLLABUS - SPRING 2015
11. Academic honesty
Obviously, no cheating is permitted. Any cases of cheating will be subject to investigation by the
Academic Honesty committee of Harpur College.
12. Copyright policy
It is prohibited to distribute the course materials without instructor’s permission.
13. I have to put this here for some reason
Students in M courses will demonstrate competence in an area such as calculus, symbolic logic,
the logic of computers, the logic of deductive and inductive reasoning, or probability and statistical
inference.
14. And this
This course is a 4-credit course, which means that in addition to the scheduled lectures/discussions,
students are expected to do at least 9.5 hours of course-related work each week during the semester.
This includes things like: completing assigned readings, participating in lab sessions, studying for
tests and examinations, preparing written assignments, completing internship or clinical placement
requirements, and other tasks that must be completed to earn credit in the course.