Instructor:
Juan Migliore
Office: 236 Hayes-Healy
Telephone: 631-7345
Time and place of class: MWF 8:30-9:20 pm, HAYE 127
Textbook: Finite Mathematics & Its Applications, 10th edition (7th edn) by Goldstein, Schneider and Siegel, available in bookstore.
Help outside of class
How you will be evaluated: Your course grade will be based on your total score out of 550, with points allocated as follows:
Homework and Reading: Homework will be assigned each day, and will be posted on the webpage. I will collect homework once a week, on Fridays. You should attempt the problems the day that they are assigned, so as to be able to ask me in class about any difficulties you encounter (I generally won't do a homework problem for you in class, but may discuss a similar problem). Similarly, there will be regularly assigned reading for most class periods, and you should come to class prepared to ask questions about any of it you did not understand.
Here is a detailed list of topics and homework assignments for Math 10120. It will be updated, with precise dates added, over the course of the semester.
Late Homework/Make-up Exams Grades will be recorded per assignment; most weeks there will be three assignments. Late homework will not be accepted. I will drop the lowest five scores (out of roughly 33) before I compute the homework grade. Thus, if it happens that you have not completed everything that's due in a particular week, it's in your interest to turn in whatever parts you have finished. A zero in one assignment will just be one of the five we drop. A note from your advisor must accompany a request for a make-up exam. Please call my office and leave a message as soon as possible if you miss an exam. If you have an exam conflict, please let me know as soon as possible in advance, so that we can resolve it. Do not make travel plans conflicting with any exam date!
Honor Code The course will be conducted under the Notre Dame Honor code. In particular:
Course content: We will cover the following material from the book:
Chapter 1 is mostly a review of results about lines. In Chapter 2 we examine systems of linear equations and their solutions. Matrices are introduced and we see how these can be used to solve systems of linear equations.
In Chapter 3 we deal with optimization problems. An example might be if you wanted you maximize your scores for this course, but had a constraint on the amount of time available to spend on the course. You would then, of course, have to pick and choose in order to use your time to your best advantage. Sometimes such problems can be reduced to graphing some lines and solving systems of equations. This is the content of Chapter 3.
In Chapter 9, we look at game theory i.e. the mathematics of strategy. If you play a game, you want to maximize your returns, or minimize your losses as the case may be, i.e. you want to play an optimal strategy. We use matrix theory, the theory from chapter 3 and a little probability to find this optimal strategy.
CHANCE and STRATEGY: This course is designed to help students explore the everyday notions of chance and strategy through the language and methods of mathematics. We bring clarity and precision to our use of these concepts through the language and tools of mathematics. By understanding these basic concepts fully, the student should build confidence in his or her ability to analyze chances and strategies in everyday life.