Mathematics (MATH) |
202 Fenton, 541-346-4705
College of Arts & Sciences
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Course Data
| MATH 206 Combinatorics Math Lab |
2.00 cr. |
| Exploratory course in mathematics. Course focuses on techniques of mathematical exploration and discovery, the language of mathematics, and foundational issues. Topics from combinatorics. |
| Grading Options: |
Pass/No Pass Only for all students
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| Instructor: |
Vaintrob A |
Office:
322 Fenton Hall
Phone:
(541) 346-4734
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Only Open to Majors:
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Mathematics & Computer Science, Mathematics
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Only Open to:
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Freshman, Sophomore
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| Course Materials |
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CRN |
Avail |
Max |
Time |
Day |
Location |
Instructor |
Notes |
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23993 |
22 |
25 |
1300-1350 |
mw |
209 UNIV |
Vaintrob A |
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Academic Deadlines
| Deadline |
Last day to: |
| January 2: |
Process a complete drop (100% refund, no W recorded) |
| January 8: |
Drop this course (100% refund, no W recorded; after this date, W's are recorded) |
| January 8: |
Process a complete drop (90% refund, no W recorded; after this date, W's are recorded) |
| January 9: |
Process a complete withdrawal (90% refund, W recorded) |
| January 9: |
Withdraw from this course (100% refund, W recorded) |
| January 10: |
Add this course |
| January 10: |
Last day to change to or from audit |
| January 16: |
Process a complete withdrawal (75% refund, W recorded) |
| January 16: |
Withdraw from this course (75% refund, W recorded) |
| January 23: |
Process a complete withdrawal (50% refund, W recorded) |
| January 23: |
Withdraw from this course (50% refund, W recorded) |
| January 30: |
Process a complete withdrawal (25% refund, W recorded) |
| January 30: |
Withdraw from this course (25% refund, W recorded) |
| February 20: |
Withdraw from this course (0% refund, W recorded) |
 | You can't drop your last class using the "Add/Drop" menu in DuckWeb. Go to the “Completely Withdraw from Term/University” link to begin the complete withdrawal process. If you need assistance with a complete drop or a complete withdrawal, please contact the Office of Academic Advising, 101 Oregon Hall, 541-346-3211 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday). If you are attempting to completely withdraw after business hours, and have difficulty, please contact the Office of Academic Advising the next business day. |
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Expanded Course Description
| Reading a book like “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is fairly straightforward: each sentence conveys a direct idea on what a char- acter did, said, or thought, and these ideas fit together easily to make a simple story. Reading a play by Shakespeare is quite different: sentences can convey multiple ideas at once, characters can say one thing and mean another, and the stories have layers upon layers of meaning. Reading Shakespeare takes training and practice.
Reading mathematics, and learning mathematics, is a lot like reading Shakespeare. One doesn’t just sit down and read each sentence, and have the ideas fit together easily. One has to find the deeper meaning in the sentences, and carefully put together the story that they are trying to tell. This is difficult, and sometimes frustrating, but learning to do it opens up a wonderful and exciting world.
In this course we will read some mathematics together. We will talk about ways to make sense of what you read, and we will do a lot of exploring. Some of the skills we will focus on are: trying examples, looking for patterns, making conjectures, testing conjectures, and modifying conjectures. These might sound easy, but when you are reading mathematics you need to be constantly doing all five of these things! It takes practice.
In this particular course we will be reading the book “Thinking Mathematically” by John Mason, and tackling several of the problems listed in the final chapter. As the title suggests, this course is designed to teach students how to think like a mathematician—through the process of working on problems. The problems represent a hodgepodge of different kinds, mostly lying in the general area of combinatorics. |
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