MATH 142- INTRODUCTION TO COMBINATORICS-FALL, 2003

 

Fall 2003  Math 142  Green Sheet

MW 16:00-17:15  DH318  Section 1  

Introduction to Combinatorics

Professor: Brad Jackson

Office: MH 316

Phone: (408) 924-5129

Fax: 408-924-5080

Email: jackson@math.sjsu.edu

Web page: http://www.math.sjsu.edu/~jackson/  

   

 

The last day to drop a course is Fri. Sept. 12.  After that day you can withdraw from a course but only for serious and compelling reasons (written documentation is required). 

 

Learning is best accomplished in an interactive environment.  Students are encouraged to ask questions in class as well as attend Professor Jackson’s office hours.  Students with questions who cannot attend during the scheduled office hours can make an appointment with Professor Jackson, or you can contact me by phone or by email. 

 

Text: Applied Combinatorics by A. Tucker, 4th edition.

 

Prerequisites: Math 42, with a grade of C- or better or instructor consent.

 

Course Description: In this course we will study the basic counting techniques and their applications.  You will get lots of practice at being a creative problem solver.  We will also study a little bit of algorithmic graph theory and its applications.  This course should definitely be of interest for many mathematics and computer science majors.  

 

Grading:  Homework assignments will be collected roughly every three weeks.  Three assignments each worth 30 points will be collected.  Students are allowed and even encouraged to work together in groups, on their homework assignments.  On some Fridays I will try to allow some class time for students to work on homework problems in groups.  Since the homework assignments are usually discussed in class immediately after they are turned in, no late assignments can be accepted. Two midterms each worth 60 points will be given roughly every six weeks.  Any makeup midterms should be scheduled before the midterm is given.  If you get sick or are detained on the day of the midterm call my office and leave a message.  A comprehensive final exam will be given and it will be worth 90 points.

 

3 Homework Assignments     90 points

2 Midterms                           120 points

Final                                       90 points

Total                                     300 points

 

Professor Jackson is the faculty supervisor of the SJSU Juggling Club (Wednesdays 3:00-4:00, by the Tower Hall fountain) and all students are welcome to attend.  Professor Jackson also organizes the Math/CS Dept. Problem of the Week competition and encourages all interested students to participate. 

 

Please read the SJSU CAMPUS EMERGENCY PROCEDURES at http://www.sjsu.edu/news_and_info/emergencies/emergency_procedures.html