Math & Society will cover applications of mathematics to society including exponential growth, probability, voting theory, graph theory, and Markov chains.
| Date | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, May 21 | Voting methods | Day 1 |
| Wed, May 22 | Arrow’s impossibility theorem | Day 2 |
| Thu, May 23 | Weighted voting | Day 3 |
| Fri, May 24 | Factors & proportions | Day 4 |
| Tue, May 28 | Orders of magnitude and logarithmic scales | Day 5 |
| Wed, May 29 | Relative & exponential growth | Day 6 |
| Thu, May 30 | Compound interest and the rule of 70 | Day 7 |
| Fri, May 31 | Midterm 1 | Day 8 |
| Mon, Jun 3 | The apportionment problem for Congress | Day 9 |
| Tue, Jun 4 | Apportionment: history and paradoxes | Day 10 |
| Wed, Jun 5 | Intro to graph theory: Euler paths & circuits | Day 11 |
| Thu, Jun 6 | Trees & minimal spanning trees | Day 12 |
| Fri, Jun 7 | Markov chains | Day 13 |
| Mon, Jun 10 | Markov chains 2 | Day 14 |
| Tue, Jun 11 | Probability models | Day 15 |
| Wed, Jun 12 | Expected value | Day 16 |
| Thu, Jun 13 | Conditional probability | Day 17 |
| Fri, Jun 14 | Midterm 2 | Day 18 |
| Mon, Jun 17 | Normal distributions | Day 19 |
| Tue, Jun 18 | Central limit theorem | Day 20 |
Regular attendance is crucial. There are only 20 classes during May Term. You are responsible for any material you miss. Any workshops you miss will be posted online, and will be due at the beginning of the next class.
Tobacco products (including chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes) are not allowed in class.
My official office hours will be from 12:30 - 1:30pm on Mondays through Thursdays. I am also available by appointment. If you can’t stop by during my regular office hours, just ask me after class or by e-mail, and I’ll be happy to make an appointment that works for both of us.
The term grade will be based on the following factors.
| Component | Proportion |
|---|---|
| Workshops | 50% |
| Midterm 1 | 15% |
| Midterm 2 | 15% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
I use the following grading scale for tests.
| Letter Grade | Percentage |
|---|---|
| A | 93 - 100 |
| A- | 90 - 92 |
| B+ | 87 - 89 |
| B | 83 - 86 |
| B- | 80 - 82 |
| C+ | 77 - 79 |
| C | 73 - 76 |
| C- | 70 - 72 |
| D+ | 67 - 69 |
| D | 60 - 66 |
| F | 0 - 59 |
There will be two in-class midterm exams and a cumulative final. You can use a calculator during the exams, but not other outside materials. It is okay if you use your cell phone as your calculator, as long as you only use it as a calculator during the exam.
Most classes will include one or two workshops. I’ll usually collect them at the end of class. Occasionally, if we aren’t able to finish a workshop during class, I will assign it as homework. Then it will be due at the beginning of the next class. I will not accept late workshops. Workshop problems will be graded on a 2 point scale. A correct solution gets 2 points, while an incorrect solution is usually 1 point, unless you did not attempt the problem in which case it is worth zero points.
Students who think they may need accommodations in this course because of the impact of a disability are encouraged to meet with me privately at the beginning of the semester. Students also should contact Melissa Wood, Title IX/504 Coordinator (mwood@hsc.edu, 434-223-6061) to verify their eligibility for reasonable accommodations. Early contact will help to avoid unnecessary inconvenience and delays.