Reading Assignments

(main course page)

Assignments:

1. For Friday September 6:  Answer the following Introduction questions in a blog entry.
   
   • What is your year in school and major?
   • Which post-calculus math courses have you taken?  (Use names or BYU course numbers.)
   • Why are you taking this class?  (Be specific.)
   • Tell me about the math professor or teacher you have had who was the most and/or least effective.  What did s/he do that worked so well/poorly?
   • Write something interesting or unique about yourself.
   • If you are unable to come to my scheduled office hours, what times would work for you?
2. For Friday September 6:  Read and blog about Sections 1.0-1.4.
3. For Monday September 9: Read and blog about Sections 2-1-2.2 and the Historical Introduction.
4. For Wednesday September 11: Read and blog about Sections 2.3 and 3.1.
5. For Friday September 13, read and blog about Sections 3.2-3.4.
6. For Monday September 16, read and blog about Sections 3.5-3.6.
7. For Wednesday September 18, read and blog about Section 4.1.
8. For Friday September 20, read and blog about Sections 4.2-4.3 and 5.1.
9. For Monday September 23, read and blog about Sections 5.2-5.3.
10. For Wednesday September 25, read and blog about Sections 5.4 and 6.1.
11. For Friday September 27, read and blog about Section 6.2.
12. For Monday September 30, read and blog about Section 7.1. Additionally, answer some or all of the following questions.
    • How long have you spent on the homework assignments? Did lecture and the reading prepare you for them?
    • What has contributed most to your learning in this class thus far?
    • What do you think would help you learn more effectively or make the class better for you? (This can be feedback for me, or goals for yourself.)
13. For Wednesday October 2, read and blog about Section 7.2.
14. For Friday October 4, read and blog about Sections 8.1-8.6.
15. For Monday October 7, as you study for the exam, write responses to the following questions.
• Which topics and ideas do you think are the most important out of those we have studied?
• What kinds of questions do you expect to see on the exam?
• What do you need to work on understanding better before the exam?
Thinking about the answers to these questions can help guide your study. Remember also that the mathematics department's learning outcomes for Math 372 state that students

should achieve mastery of the [core] topics... This means that they should know all relevant definitions, correct statements of the major theorems (including their hypotheses and limitations), and examples and non-examples of the various concepts. The students should be able to demonstrate their mastery by solving non-trivial problems related to these concepts, and by proving simple (but non-trivial) theorems about the [core] concepts, related to, but not identical to, statements proven by the text or instructor.

16. For Wednesday October 9, read and blog about section 9.1.
17. For Friday October 11, read and blog about sections 9.2-9.3.
18. For Monday October 14, read and blog about section 10.1.
19. For Wednesday October 16, read and blog about section 11.1.
20. For Friday October 18, read and blog about section 11.2.
21. For Monday October 21, read and blog about section 12.1.
22. For Wednesday October 23, read and blog about section 13.1.
23. For Friday October 25, there will be no new reading in the textbook. Instead, spend some time reviewing group theory from your 371 text or other resources. A list of topics covered in Math 371 may be found here.
24. For Monday October 28, read and blog about section 14.1.
25. For Wednesday October 30, read and blog about section 14.2.
26. For Friday November 1, read and blog about section 14.3.
27. For Monday November 4, read and blog about section 15.1.
28. For Wednesday November 6, read and blog about sections 15.2-15.3.
29. For Friday November 8, read and blog about sections 16.1-16.2.
30. For Monday November 11, read and blog about sections 16.3-16.5.
31. For Wednesday November 13, read and blog about sections 17.1-17.4.
32. For Friday November 15, read and blog about sections 17.5-17.6.
33. For Monday November 18, as you study for the exam, write responses to some or all of the following questions.
• Which topics and ideas do you think are the most important out of those we have studied?
• What kinds of questions do you expect to see on the exam?
• What do you need to work on understanding better before the exam?
Thinking about the answers to these questions can help guide your study.
34. For Wednesday November 20, read and blog about sections 18.1-18.3.
35. For Friday November 22, read and blog about sections 18.4-18.5.
36. For Monday November 25, read and blog about sections 20.1-20.2.
37. For Tuesday November 26, read and blog about sections 21.1-21.2.
38. For Monday December 2, read and blog about sections 21.3-21.4.
39. For Wednesday December 4, read and blog about sections 21.5-21.7.
40. For Friday December 6, read and blog about sections 22.1-22.2.
41. For Monday December 9, read and blog about section 22.3-22.4.
42. For Wednesday December 11, read and blog about sections 24.1-24.3. Complete your student ratings for this course.

If for whatever reason you are uncomfortable doing a certain assignment on your blog (for instance, if you'd rather not have your answers to specific questions out there on the Internet), you may send me that particular assignment by email.

Instructions:

• Set up a blog for this class and do the first two assignments by 11:59 PM on September 5.
• Complete each reading assignment (listed above) before lecture.
• Write a blog entry for each reading assignment.
  
  The title of the blog entry should be
  (Section Number), due on (Date)
  so, for example, your first blog entry will be titled
  Introduction, due on September 6
  and the second entry will be titled
  1.0-1.4, due on September 6.
  
  A blog entry should have two parts:
  1.  (Difficult)  Answer the question "What was the most difficult part of the material for you?"  Note that "nothing" is not an acceptable answer. If nothing challenges you, then you should think about the material at a deeper level and generate some honest questions.
  2.  (Reflective)  Write something reflective about the reading. This could be the answer to the question "What was the most interesting part of the material?" or "How does this material connect to something else you have learned in mathematics?" or "How is this material useful/relevant to your intellectual or career interests?" or something else.
• The blog posting is due by 11:59 PM on the day before lecture (for example, you should post about the reading for Wednesday’s lecture before midnight Tuesday night).
• Blog posts will be graded according to the following scheme:
  0 points:  No blog submission on time.
  1 point:  Submission of both parts (Difficult and Reflective) on time, but first part (Difficult) is irrelevant or does not sufficiently show that all reading has been done.
  2 points:  Submission of both parts (Difficult and Reflective) on time, demonstrating that you have done all of the reading and thought about it.
• You may make up a missed blog entry by attending a mathematics department colloquium, Focus On Math, or Careers In Math talk and writing about it on your blog. Answer the same two questions about the talk that you would normally answer for a reading assignment.

Setting up a blog:

Note:  these instructions should only be followed once.  Once you’ve created a blog, just add new posts to it for each reading assignment.

• Open your browser to https://www.blogger.com.
• Log in with a Google account, choose appropriate public profile information, and click on "New Blog". If you already have a blog, please create a new one for this class; I’ll be dumping all entries into a feed reader, and would like to see only entries related to the course.
• Follow the instructions.  Make sure you note your account details (username, password, url).
• The default settings are correct, so you don’t have to change anything, although you may if you wish.  Please leave comments and full blog feeds enabled.
• For your first blog post, please answer the Introduction questions above (Assignment 1).
• Once you have made your first blog post, send me an email with the URL for the main page of your blog.  Include your full name in the email message, especially if your name does not appear on your blog.