| Course page: |
ON CAMPUS: http://www.math.fsu.edu/~mesterto/AAI.html (this
page)
OFF CAMPUS:
http://www.math.fsu.edu.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/~mesterto/AAI.html (with your
FSUID username and password) |
| Professor: |
Dr M-G |
| Office: |
202B Love |
| Office hours: |
Please click here. Office hours are
subject to change during the semester at 24 hours notice, but
current times are always posted online. Note that office hours are
primarily for personal matters that cannot be addressed in class
(as opposed to tutorial help, for which see under Course format and How to
study below) |
| Phone: |
(850 64) 42580 |
| Main website: |
Professor
M-G's Home Page Email:
|
| Goal: |
The purpose of this course is to introduce the elements of
modern or abstract algebra with an emphasis on concepts, methods of
proof, and the communication of mathematical ideas. The course,
which is the first part of a two-semester sequence, will focus on
abstract arithmetic, rings—a generalization of the structure
of the familiar ordinary integers—and related algebraic
structures, in particular, groups, ideals and fields. (The second
semester—to be taught by Dr Hironaka in Spring
2010—will delve more deeply into groups and fields.) |
| Class meets: |
In 201 LOV on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at
10:10—11:00a.m.
|
| Text: |
Hungerford, Abstract Algebra: An Introduction, 2nd
edition (Brooks/Cole, 1997, ISBN 0-03-010559-5), Chapters 1-6 and
10 |
| Credit: |
3 semester hours |
| Prerequisites: |
| (i) |
C- or better in MAS 3105 (Applied Linear Algebra) and MGF
3301 (Introduction to Advanced Mathematics) or MAD2104 (Discrete
Mathematics
I), or appropriate transfer credit; and |
| (ii) |
self-motivation and industriousness. Dr M-G's philosophy of
learning is perhaps best expressed by the following
diagram: |
|
| |
ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS
PAIN
 |
For further details, please click here.
|
| Communication: | It is your responsibility to
register for
an FSU computer account so that I can send you email, which you are
expected to check regularly. If you prefer to read your email
elsewhere
then you can arrange to have messages
forwarded, but you must still obtain an FSU account in the first
instance |
| Your name: |
 |
|
I don't know who you are, but because
everything works so much better when I do, I would like to
learn your name as soon as possible. So, please take a sheet of
card stock (or even paper), fold it in half, write your name in large letters on
one side and stand it up on your desk so that I can see it.
(Write what you want me to call you: if you're a William who
likes to be called Dubya or a Margaret Jane who likes to be
called Dee Dee, write Dubya or Dee Dee, not William or Margaret
Jane.) Please bring your nameplate to every class
until I have finally learnt your name (which will take
significantly longer than it used to take when I started
out) |
|
| Course format: |
We will largely follow the text, only rarely departing from its
order of topics. I will present a lecture in class on each new topic,
and the rest of the time will be spent on solving problems from the
text, as interactively as possible. My lecture notes will be posted here after class. I will set homework each
period—either at the end of class or by email—for the
following period. The homework is an integral part of the course and I
expect you to take it seriously (i.e., do it), even though it will not
be formally graded.
Accordingly, a typical class will proceed as
follows. It will begin with an opportunity for you to ask questions
about the homework. Depending on the time available and the nature of
the question, I will answer each question either in class that day, or
in class another day (e.g., I may first want to check your attempted
solution, so that I can more easily assess where a difficulty has
emerged), or by posting a solution online later, or by some combination
of the above; and as a precaution against forgetting about solutions I
have promised to post, I may ask you to send me an email. We will then
move ahead to a lecture on the topic of the current period before
proceeding to solving problems, with as much interaction as possible
from you. Questions may be asked at any time—and should be, if
there's anything you don't understand.
Every once in a while, if circumstances
warrant, we may set aside an entire period for a tutorial class on
matters arising from homework. Then the onus will be on you to
determine a complete agenda for that period, and I may ask you to turn
in a variety of solutions or attempted solutions beforehand, so that I
can more easily assess where difficulties are emerging. |
| Test format: |
Begin each question (but not subsequent parts of the same question)
on a fresh sheet of paper, use one side of the paper only, and have
your solutions stapled together in order at the end of the examination.
(Please do not use dog ears. Not owning a stapler is no excuse: I will
bring a stapler to the final, and for the tests you can borrow the
stapler in 208 Love.) Needless to say, your name must appear on Page
1 |
| Calculator policy: |
You are allowed to use a Texas Instruments TI30XA Scientific
Calculator or a four-function calculator for the final. The use
of any other calculator for the final is strictly
forbidden |
| Grades: |
Will be based on five take-home tests (15% each) and a cumulative
final examination (25%). Typically, each test will begin at the end of
class on a Wednesday and end at the beginning of class on the following
Friday (47 hours later).
Note that quality of presentation is extremely
important. It is not enough merely to produce an answer: the method by
which you obtain it must be sound, and you must clearly demonstrate
that you understand it. Therefore, there will be penalties
(commensurate with degree of infraction) for bad
presentation—which includes bad grammar, illegibility,
incompleteness, incoherence and untidiness—especially on the
take-home tests. Even on the final, however, you must show all
necessary steps in your method, with enough comments and/or diagrams to
convince me that you thoroughly understand.
Precise cut-off points for A, B and C will be
determined by the distribution of grades at the end of the semester,
but are likely be in the vicinity of 90%, 80% and 70%, respectively. In
borderline cases, a smaller number of completely correct solutions will
carry more weight than a proportionate number of fragmentary answers;
later test scores will carry more weight than earlier test scores; and
a record of active participation in class will carry more weight than a
record of passive attendance (in that order of relative importance
among these three factors). Plus or minus grades may be assigned
in a manner consistent with standard University practice.
Please note that partial credit will be awarded
only when part of a solution is completely correct (not when all of a
solution is partially correct, whatever that means, if anything). Also,
a grade of I will not be given to avoid a grade of F or to give
additional study time. Failure to process a course drop will result in
a course grade of F |
| Attendance policy: |
You are expected to attend class regularly, and bear the full
responsibility for learning anything covered during any class that you
miss. On the other hand, it would be extremely anti-social to attend
class if you either have, or are coming down with, a contagious
disease. So please familiarize yourselves with the Thagard Student
Health Center's advice on H1N1 flu
and keep me apprised of any illness or other emergency (by
email—have, e.g., your best friend contact me if you are too
incapacitated yourself), so that I can make any necessary adjustments
(and please make friends within the class as soon as possible if you
haven't done so already, so that there is someone you can call upon to
borrow notes if the need should arise). |
| Exam policy: |
No makeup exams. An absence may be excused given sufficient
evidence of extenuating circumstances (in which case, extra weight will
be attached to the other exams). But you must either have discussed
the matter with me (well) in advance; or, in the case of H1N1, have
kept me apprised as indicated under the attendance policy; or, in the
case of other illness or emergency, have brought me a physician's note
or other documentation to establish your incapacitation on the day or
days in question. An unexcused absence will result in a grade of
zero |
| Etiquette: |
You are firmly bound by Florida State University's Academic Honor Code. Briefly, you have the
responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in
your own work, to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity
in the University community, and to foster a high sense of integrity
and social responsibility on the part of the University community. Even
more briefly, you must neither cheat nor enable others to cheat. The
penalties for violations can be severe. Please carefully read the
section in the FSU Student Handbook on the Honor Code and official
procedures for dealing with students who violate it. If you are in any
doubt at all as to what constitutes acceptable behavior in this regard,
you should ask me for clarification.
In particular, for a take-home test you may
use any inanimate aid (including any calculator), but all such use must
be explicitly declared. Although you may discuss the test with
other students in general terms—meaning that discussion is
oral, and absolutely nothing is copied down—the solutions
you present must be your very own work; moreover, any such discussions
must be explicitly declared (i.e., you must supply the name of
every such discussant and the nature of the discussion, or else you are
in violation of the Academic Honor Code).
You are also bound by the ordinary rules and
customs of polite behavior that prevail in a civilized society. I
assume that you know these rules and customs, and I expect you to
comply with them. (In particular, you are not allowed to use a cell
phone or otherwise have private conversations with others during
class.) |
| Final: | Thursday, December 10, 7:30
a.m.—9:30
a.m. in 201 LOV |
| How to study: |
There is a lot of material to be covered in this course, so it is
important that you keep up from the very beginning, always attempting
as many as possible of the homework problems (even though they do not
count directly towards your grade). If you get stuck, then send me a
question by email. As soon as I possibly can, which might be as soon as
within half an hour, but might also be a day or so later (I have a
life, too, you know), I will reply—not to you, but rather to the
class alias (after carefully concealing your identity, just in case you
are inexplicably bashful about being perceived as smart enough to ask a
question).
Note, however, the following. First, you must
identify yourself (i.e., you remain anonymous to the other students in
the class, but not to me) in the body of your message (because your
username does not identify you to me): I don't reply to anonymous
email. Second, you should be as specific as possible in describing your
difficulty: the more precisely you identify how you got stuck, the more
helpful my reply is likely to be. |
| Disabilities: | If you have a disability requiring
academic accommodations, then not only should you register with the
Student
Disability Resource Center (SDRC),
but also you should bring me written confirmation from SDRC during the
first week of class. This and other class materials are available in
alternative format upon request. |