Spring 2003

• Syllabus
• Class meets M/W/F 10:00-10:50am THN E316
• Pre-requisites: C- or higher in CS101, APMA 111
• Textbook
– Rosen, Kenneth. Discrete Mathematics and Its
Applications, 5th Edition , McGraw Hill, 2002.

• The class is full; so some of you may want to add
• You should be on the CS 202 waiting list
– http://www.cs.virginia.edu/ (Course Waiting Lists)
• Here’s the deal:
1 Sit through the first day of class (today)
2 If you are still interested, email me after class and we will set up a time to meet in my office.
3 Be prepared to explain to me why you wish to take this class and why I should let you into it.
4 I will not make final decisions until I have heard from everyone so be prepared to sit through Friday’s class.

• After class if you still want to enroll:
1 If you have not already put yourself on the waiting list, do this today
2 Email me today at cmt5n@virginia.edu about getting in to CS202 and list times that you are available to meet on Thursday and Friday

• This is a mathematics class
– Exams and homework are essential
– Understanding of class material is important
– Reading is definition, theorem, proof oriented
• This is not a CS class
– No semester project, no computer labs
– No long programming assignments
– Very little conversational reading

• Introduce and work with the skills necessary to read, understand, and construct a valid mathematical argument
– precision, attention to detail
– problem solving techniques
– simplifying a problem to its basic form (abstraction)
• rethinking a problem, finding multiple approaches
• Exposure to important discrete data structures
– Sets, Functions, Relations

• The text is very good (if it is used properly)
– lectures will follow the text rather closely
• This is not a good reason to skip class!
• I find that the learning process works best with some redundancy built in. If you don’t understand something in the text, hopefully it will be understood from the lecture and vice-versa.
• It is often unclear in the text which concepts are most crucial. I will try to concentrate my lectures on explaining the more crucial material and clarifying the most poorly explained topics from the text.

• You should read the material we will cover beforehand (ask me if you don’t know)
– If you are still unclear on something when it arises in the lecture, please ask for me to clarify
• It is best to work the homework as we go, instead of doing it all at the end of the week
– It is fresher in your mind
– There is more opportunity to seek help

• Everyone makes mistakes …
– It is our ability to recognize this and to deal with it that makes us humans (not computers)
• double-checking (based on importance)
• keep your work neat and organized
– use a pencil, preferably; erase mistakes
– do problems in order
– copy the problem statement down before working it on HW
» It is easy to get off track
» You may understand the problem better after writing it

Christopher Taylor
Olsson Hall, Office 228D
Office Hours: M/T 3:30-5:00pm, W 3:30-4:30pm
(and by appointment)
Open Door Policy? … well, my door is not open … but ...

• I treat office hours as an opportunity for you to request further help with the course material, seek advice, and discuss other topics.
• For this reason, I usually don’t restrict things to one-on-one. When you get to my office, knock on the door and I will let you in to join us.
– Exception: Occasionally, a matter will require oneon-one attention such as discussing grades, etc. In such a case, I will ask you to wait until we are done.

• If you wish to meet with me outside of regularly scheduled office hours, send email with availability and I will work out a time to meet with you.

• I will be using the toolkit page for this class to:
– Post class materials (syllabus, HW solutions, etc.)
– Post announcements (I will also use the toolkit email list to send out the announcements I post)
– Post Homework Assignments (Once Finalized)
• http://toolkit.itc.virginia.edu
– Then search for APMA 202 or CS 202

• A collection of homework problems will be assigned from the text about once a week.
• Announcements in class, finalized assignment will be posted to the toolkit
• Due date will be given when HW is assigned
– HW is due in class on the due date
• Some problems will be graded, others not
• I may post solution keys to some of the HWs

• Your homework should be neat and well organized
– preferably hand-written in pencil (unless this precludes neatness)
• Show your work (when applicable)
• You may work together
– but realize that if you don’t understand the problems yourself, you won’t do well on exams

Hours Late Days Late Percentage
0-48 0-2 75%
48-96
96-168
>168
2-4
4-7
>7
50%
25%
0%
*Under no circumstances will HW be accepted after a solution key posts

• 3 in-class exams throughout the semester
– Dates will be announce well in advance
– Will cover material from last exam to this one
– You will have one full class period to complete each
• Cumulative final exam given during exam week
– Monday, May 5, 2003 from 9am to noon, THN E316
• All exams are closed book/notes, etc. You will only be allowed to use pencil, test, and paper.
– No calculators or calculating devices

• If you can not attend an exam:
– As soon as you know you will not be able to attend, notify me and we will arrange for you to take the exam in advance of the class
• If there is no possible way to take the exam in advance, I will make up a second exam for you
• University Closings (next class meeting)
• If you miss an exam and have not notified me in advance and arranged to take the exam at another time, you will have to abide by the
Dean’s criteria for extenuating circumstances.

• If you wish to have a grade corrected on a
HW or exam, come by office hours with it
– I will only consider grading corrections up to two weeks after the assignment is passed back
• Come see me or email me within this time frame
• I am always willing to discuss a HW or exam problem with you, regardless of how ancient, but grade corrections are restricted to the two week period

Weight
Homework 20%
Exam 1 15%
Exam 2
Exam 3
15%
15%
Final Exam 35%

• Chapter 1: The Foundations
– Logic
• Propositional
• Predicate
– Methods of Proof
– Sets
– Functions
• Countability, Uncountability
• Section 2.4: The Integers and Division
– Divisibility, primality, (ir)rationality, mod

• Chapter 3: Reasoning, Induction, Recursion
• Chapter 4: Counting
– pigeonhole principle
– permutations and combinations
• Chapter 5: Discrete Probability
• Chapter 7: Relations
– Equivalence Relations, Partial Orderings
– Closures

• We will start Section 1.1: Logic on Friday
– we won’t get through all of this so if you don’t have the book until this weekend, you can play catch-up for Monday
• Any of the introductory/preface material that interests you
• I intend to cover all of Chapter 1 (except for a few mini-sections we will skip) so if you like to get ahead, you can continue reading