Course Guidelines Math 338
Dr. R. Beezer Spring 2005

Text We will be using Combinatorics by H. Joseph Straight and Introduction to Graph Theory (Fourth Edition) by Robin J. Wilson.

Home Page Start at http://buzzard.ups.edu/courses.html to locate the WWW page for this course.

Office Hours My office is Thompson 321G; the telephone number is 879-3564. Making appointments or simple, non-mathematical questions can be handled via electronic mail -- my address is beezer@ups.edu. Office hours will be 1:00-1:50 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I will always be available during these times on a first-come, first-served basis. If these times are not convenient, please do not hesitate to make an appointment with me for another time. You are also welcome to drop by my office without an appointment at any time that I am in (roughly 3 P.M. - 4:30 P.M. is a good time to try). Office hours are your opportunity to receive extra help or clarification on material from class, or to discuss any other aspect of the course.

Homework Problems will be suggested throughout the lectures. Of course, you are not limited to working just these problems. It will be your responsibility to work these problems and seek out my feedback as you desire. You may turn in written solutions for my comments at any time, or you may come by my office to discuss your solutions. These exercises will form the basis for the classes where we will have problem sessions and for discussions in office hours. It is your responsibility to be certain that you are learning from these exercises. The best ways to do this are to work the problems diligently when assigned and to participate in the classroom discussions. If you are unsure about a problem, then a visit to my office is in order. Making a consistent effort outside of the classroom is the easiest way to do well in this course.

Exams There will be five 50-minute timed exams -- they are all listed on the very tentative schedule. The lowest of your five exam scores will be dropped. The comprehensive final exam will be given at 8 AM on Wednesday, May 11 at 8 AM. The final exam cannot be given at any other time and also be aware that I will allow you to work longer on the final exam than just the two-hour scheduled block of time. In other words, plan your travel arrangements accordingly.

Grades Grades will be based on the following breakdown: Exams -- Two-thirds; Final -- One-third. Attendance and improvement will be considered for borderline grades. Scores will be posted on the World Wide Web at http://buzzard.ups.edu/courses.html. A reminder about withdrawals -- a Withdrawal Passing grade (W) can only be given during the third or fourth weeks of the semester, after that time (barring unusual circumstances), the appropriate grade is a Withdrawal Failing (WF), even if your work has been of passing quality. See the attached schedule for the last day to drop with an automatic ‘W’ and please read The Logger about these often misunderstood grades.

Attendance Daily attendance is required, expected, and overall a pretty good idea.

Purpose Combinatorics is important for many problems in computer science and allied fields (like cryptology), is fundamentally the main part of simple probability questions, and is useful in other fields of mathematics, such as abstract algebra. Many optimization questions (scheduling, vehicle routing, etc.) rely heavily on ideas from combinatorics. Its also a major component of problems classified as recreational mathematics (puzzles and games). We will have occasion to work with many theorems and develop some theories fully, especially in the later part of the course. The principal thrust of this course early on will be on problem-solving.