MCS 150, Discrete Mathematics
(1:30--2:20 and 3:30-4:20 ThF online and in BH 219)

Syllabus: Here is the syllabus.

Class meetings: Our class meets online Thursdays and in person on Fridays. The meeting code for the online class meetings is further down this page. Friday class meetings are held in person for about half of the class at the time, while those not present can tune in synchronously via the same meeting code as for the Thursday classes or watch the recorded class posted on Moodle asynchronously. Please come to class on Friday according to the section you registered for.

Office hours for the rest of the semester: These are held on Google Meets. The meeting code is aqc-ymhm-zfu.

• 11:30-12:20 Mon, 12/7
• 1:30-2:30 Tue, 12/8
• 5:30-6:30 Wed, 12/9
• 2:30-4:30 Fri, 12/11
• 12:30-2 Mon, 12/14
• 3-4:30 Tue, 12/15

Online resources:

• The meeting code for our online classes on Google Meets is efb-rggg-uiw.
• Our textbook.
• Webwork is where you do your online homework.
• I use Moodle to post your grades periodically throughout the semester
• The grade calculator allows you to input your current running total from Moodle and see what kind of score you need on the final exam for each kind of letter grade. The calculator is a Google Sheets document, so you need to be logged in to a Google account to access it. It is supposed to work with any Google account, not only your Gustavus account. Click Use Template in the upper right corner to start. You can also download an Excel version of the calculator if Google Sheets does not want to cooperate.

Homework:

Assigned	Due	Read	Exercises
9/4	9/11	1.1-4 and 2.1-6	2.1.2 2.2.3 2.3.3, 7, 10
9/11	9/18	3.1-3	Webwork: HW1 Offline: 2.4.4, 6 2.5.6, 7 2.6.1
9/18	9/25	3.3-5	Webwork: HW2 Offline: 3.1.5 3.2.4 3.3.4, 5, 12
9/25	10/2	3.4, 5	Webwork: HW3 Offline: 3.3.8, 10, 11
10/2		3.5, 6	Homework holiday. Review for the upcoming exam.
10/9	10/16	3.6 and 4.1, 2	No webwork assignment this time. Offline: 3.4.5, 7, 9 3.5.8, 11 3.6.5
10/16	10/23	4.1, 2	No webwork assignment this time. Offline: 3.5.3, 6, 12 3.6.3, 8
10/23	10/30	4.3-5	Webwork: HW4 Offline: 4.1.4, 6, 12 4.2.8, 10
10/30	11/6	4.5 and 5.1, 2	Webwork: HW5 Offline: 4.3.10, 11, 14 4.4.6, 7b
11/6		5.2, 3	Homework holiday. Review for the upcoming exam.
11/13	11/20	5.4, 5	Webwork: HW6 Offline: 4.5.6, 12 5.1.2, 4 5.2.6
11/20	12/4	5.6, 7	Webwork: HW7. Note that c(A) in problem 1 is the cardinality of the set A. Offline: 5.3.2 5.4.2 5.5.5, 8 5.6.10
12/4	12/9 (Wed, not Fri!)	Entirely optional but fun: Automotive number theory	Webwork: HW8

Exam solutions:

• First midterm exam pdf
• Second midterm exam pdf
• Final exam pdf

Educational links:

• A serious paper on teaching/learning at the university level by Prof. Steven Zucker
• A more light-hearted, but very true guide on how to be on good terms with your professor (who assigns your grade) by Prof. Doug Andrews at Wittenberg University

Math links:

• Wolfram MathWorld is an interactive math encyclopedia.
• Wolfram Alpha gives you access to many features of Mathematica, an extremely powerful computer algebra program, without paying $$$ and learning Mathematica syntax. It does not only do algebra.

Some scholarship opportunities for prospective teachers:

• Knowles Science Teaching Foundation