Math 3124, Modern Algebra
Spring 2004
9:05-9:55 AM MWF, McBryde 212
Instructor: Imre Tuba
Office: McBryde 426
Phone: 231-2767
E-mail: ituba@math.vt.edu
Prerequisites: A passing grade in Math 3034 or 3434 is
required to take this course. If you earned less than a B in either of
these courses, you may find Math 3124 very challenging.
The Honor Code will be in effect
on all assignments except for certain homework exercises, which you
will beallowed to discuss with others.
Text: Durbin: Modern Algebra. We will try to cover Chapters
I-IX, although this may turn out too ambitious.
Website: www.math.vt.edu/people/ituba/math3124.
Office hours: 10:30-11:30 M, 1-2 W, 10-11 F. But I am often in
my office and happy to talk to you on weekdays. Don't be shy, feel free
to stop by anytime.
Homework will be assigned at the end of each class and posted on
the class website. It will generally be due at 4 PM the following
Monday in the envelope on my door. There will be three types of
exercises:
- some which you will have to do but not turn in,
- some which you will have to do on your own and turn in,
- and some which you can work on with other students but will have
to write up and turn in on your own.
I am letting you work together on some exercises so that you can test
your ideas on each other and work together constructively. I still
expect you to fully understand the solution and write it up on your
own. Submission of nearly identical work by two different students will
not be acceptable.
I want to be able to grade and return HW promptly. So to be fair to
everyone, I will not accept late HW for credit. It is still better to
turn in homework late than never: I will still grade it. It is
extremely important that you take
the HW very seriously.
Don't leave it to the last moment, do it all, and do it on time. You
are unlikely to succeed in a math class without doing the all of the HW.
Exams: There will be 3 in-class hourly exams: Feb 18, Mar 17, and
Apr 14. The lowest of the three scores will be dropped. There will be
no make-ups. The final exam is at 1:05 PM May 8.
Grading scheme
Homework
|
30% |
In-class exams
|
40% |
Final exam
|
30% |
A score of 90% or more will guarantee an A, 80% a B, 70% a C, and 60% a
D. The curve may be adjusted lower than this.
Quality of work: It is important that you work neatly on the
assignments. The quality of your work will affect your grade.
Quality has to do with how easy it is for someone else to read your
solution to a problem. It is not enough to do math right, you must also
present it well.
Students with disabilities: If you need special arrangements,
let me know well in advance so we can plan to accommodate your
needs.
Another general note: Learning math is much like learning
to ride a bicycle in that you learn by doing it and not by watching
someone else do it. Attending class and reading the textbooks won't be
enough to do well on the exams. You should work through every example
and computation in the book and in your class notes and expect to have
to re-read everything several times. It's slow, but then your reading
list for this class is short.