COURSE SYLLABUS

Instructor- Paul Brock

Office- GMCS 510

Office phone- 594-6835

Office Hours- 1530 to 1700 MW

Website: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~pwbrock/math303.htm

Topics- Math 303 is a mathematics course designed to present some elementary but significant results in geometry, number theory, and algebra. Some highlights include:

§ Early Greek geometry: Thales, Pythagoras, Hippocrates

§ Euclid's geometry and number theory

§ Heron's formula

§ Cardano and the solution of the cubic

§ Pascal's triangle, the binomial theorem and probability

§ Newton's approximation to π.

Prerequisites- High school algebra I and II, high school geometry, passing score on the ELM exam.

Grading:

Exam I-------------100pts (Wednesday, February 17^th)

Exam II------------100pts (Wednesday, March 17^th)

Exam III-----------100pts (Wednesday, April 21^st)

Final ---------------150pts (Monday, May 17^th, 1030 – 1230) (Absolutely no early or late finals)

The students are responsible for working through several assignments which are clearly posted on the course website. The exercises given in the assignments are not collected or graded, but the solutions to the exercises are either given during the lecture or posted on the website. Students who both attend every class and look at the website should see every solution. Students should work in groups consisting of 3 or 4 students per group. For each student, the lowest of the scores on Exams I, II, and III will be dropped; the course grade will be based on the remaining 350 possible points. The exams cover the content of the assignment exercises and the lecture material. The final exam can not be dropped and is comprehensive.