Course Syllabus

The course syllabus contains the policies and important dates for Math 116 this term. If you are confused about anything in the syllabus, please don't hesitate to let the instructor know.

Course Details

Professor My name is Andy Schultz, and my preference is that you address me by my first name (no title necessary). My office is on the main floor of Clapp Library, room 255. Office hours will be held

You are highly encouraged to attend office hours, and you never need an appointment to do so. If these office hours don't fit with your schedule, let me know so that I can either adjust when ``official" office hours are held or set up an appointment to help you outside of office hours. Please come to my office or send me an email if you ever want to discuss material from the class or ask about homework problems!

You can contact me at . Though I'm always happy to receive emails from you with questions or concerns about the course, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to promptly reply to emails late at night or over the weekend. If you do contact me by email, please be sure to follow standard email etiquette. In particular, please make sure you include a greeting and signature and avoid abbreviations. If you're contacting me to ask about a problem, please be sure to specify what the problem asks (as opposed to asking something like ``I can't get problem 2 and need your help").

Text The course is centered around Rotman's Galois theory, 2nd edition. The ISBN for the text is 978-0-387-98541-1.

Online resources You'll be able to access homework assignments, lecture summaries and copies of quizzes online through the course webpage at http://palmer.wellesley.edu/~aschultz/w20/math306.

Learning Goals While learning the content of the course, you will

Disability accommodations If you have a disability or condition, either long-term or temporary, and need reasonable academic adjustments in this course, please contact Accessibility and Disability Resources (ADR) to get a letter outlining your accommodation needs, and submit that letter to me. You should request accommodations as early as possible in the semester, or before the semester begins, since some situations can require significant time for review and accommodation design. If you need immediate accommodations, please arrange to meet with me as soon as possible. If you are unsure but suspect you may have an undocumented need for accommodations, you are encouraged to contact (ADR). They can provide assistance including screening and referral for assessments. Disability Services can be reached at accessibility@wellesley.edu, at 781-283-2434, by scheduling an appointment online at their website, https://www.wellesley.edu/adr or by visiting their offices on the 3rd floor of Clapp Library, rooms 316 and 315.

Expectations

Prerequisites Students are expected to have completed Math 305 prior to taking this course.

Out-of-class expectations for students Students are responsible for reading relevant sections of the text prior to any given class. This optimizes each person's chance of understanding the material as its being presented, since it not only gives students some exposure to what will be discussed, but gives them a chance to know which parts of the text are unclear to them. The nature of the class means that it is difficult to know precisely what we will cover on any given day. As a guide for what could possibly be covered in a given class, our policy will be that we will not complete more than 2 "new" presentations on a given day. This means on a given day a presenter from last class can finish her lecture, and at most two new students will be giving presentations.

Out-of-class expectations for the instructor The instructor is expected to post lesson plans in a timely fashion so that students have the opportunity to do the necessary prep work. He is also expected to be available as a resource for students as they work through their own understanding of the material (either from the text or another student's presentation). He will provide feedback on each presentation to help students identify their strengths and weaknesses in preparation for the next presentation. He is happy to students think through lesson planning.

In-class expectations for students A student's engaged presence is expected in classroom lectures. While the professor is in charge of setting guidelines for what content is covered in a given presentation, students will be responsible for giving a large portion of the lectures in the class. Student presenters are expected to have worked on their presentations prior to class, and should set their standards high for delivering interesting, mathematically correct and engaged lectures. Students who are not presenting are expected to stop the lecturer to ask her to repeat a particular exposition, to present a concrete example of an abstract concept, or to re-explain a confusing concept. Classroom time should be treated as an interactive resource, and the best class periods will feel more like discussions than lectures. If a presenter is unclear or is presenting material that seems mathematically incorrect, it is the responsibility of the class --- not the instructor --- to work towards resolving these issues.

In-class expectations for the instructor For the most part, the instructor does not actively participate in a given presentation.

Attendance Mathematics requires that a student understand one concept before moving on to the next, and since our course moves at a fast pace it is critical that you attend each and every class. If you are going to miss any classes this term, please let the instructor know as soon as possible. More than 1 absence could negatively impact your final grade, in the sense that absence from class will likely result in you getting behind on material. I do not tabulate absences and use them in determining your grade in the course, but regular absences will prevent you from participating in the course, and this can be reflected in your "presentations and participation" grade.

Effort Many students have the impression that "understanding the material" means instantly knowing how to do problems assigned in the class. On the contrary, most students find they don't truly understand the course material until they have struggled through several attempts at solving problems or understanding concepts. You are expected to exert a good amount of effort in working through the course material, and you shouldn't be discouraged if a certain topic remains elusive when you first encounter it: try some suggested problems, go to office hours, and ask your instructor or friends for help when you need it. The typical student will need to put in at least 10 hours per week on the assigned problem sets. If you find you are consistently spending more than 12 hours on problem sets, please discuss this with the professor so he can help you manage the time you spend on this class more effectively.

Academic Integrity You are expected to read and understand the college's Honor Code. Incidents where academic integrity have been compromised will be dealt with severely. Although most students have a good feel for what constitutes a violation of the Honor Code, for this class you will also need to be familiar with the instructor's policy on homework collaboration. Please be sure to thoroughly read and understand the section on homework below to avoid an inadvertent violation of the Honor Code.

Grading

Homework Homework problems will be assigned throughout the semester. Students are to write their solutions neatly and submit them according to the instructor's instructions. Be sure to start your assignment early so you have enough time to work through problems which require some creative energy. When computing your homework average, each part of each homework is graded with equal weight. We will not have a dropped homework grade unless we submit 10 or more assignments during the semester.

An important note about collaboration and the Honor Code. Students are more than welcome to work with the instructor or their friends when solving homework problems. In the event that you have taken notes while working with someone else, you must put these notes away and recreate the solutions on your own when you submit your solutions for the homework assignment. Using notes from a collaboration while writing your homework assignment will be considered a violation of the Honor Code. If you have any confusion about this policy, please talk to the instructor.

Tests There will be a take-home midterm due on March 20 and a take-home final exam.

Computing your grade Your grade is computed as follows: Homework average (45%), Presentations and Participation (25%), Midterm (15%), Final (15%)