MATH 3413

Tues, Thurs 2:00-3:15, 303 Boyd

Instructor:         Scott Sykes

Office:              MP 314

Office Hours:    Monday  9:30-11:00, 12:00-1:00

                        Tuesday  9:30-11:00, 1:00-3:00

                        Wednesday 9:30-11:00, 12:00-1:00

                        Friday 9:30-11:00

                        or by appointment

Office Phone:    836-4346

Email:               ssykes@westga.edu

LEARNING OUTCOMES:  At the end of this course, a student should be able to demonstrate:

1. An understanding of the properties of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers and complex numbers.
2. An understanding of the formula for solving a quadratic of cubic equation
3. An understanding of the Euclidean algorithm for integers and polynomials.
4. A basic understanding of the concepts of rings, fields and groups.  

TEXT: Course notes will be provided.  A reference book is Abstract Algebra: A Geometric Approach by Theodore Sifrin (Prentice Hall)

TESTS:  There will be two exams on Friday, October 3 and Friday, November 14.   Each will count 100 points towards your final grade.

FINAL:  The final is Friday, December 12 at 11:00-1:00.  It counts 150 points towards your final grade and will be comprehensive.

HOMEWORK:  Homework will be assigned weekly and collected.  You should try your best at all the homework problems.  Each assignment will be assigned a score of 1-8 based on effort and results.  You can obtain a maximum of 100 homework points.

BOARD WORK:  You will “volunteer” to do problems and proofs on the board during class.  Every time you go to the board, you will get a score of 0-5 for the problem.  3 points will be based on “mathematics” and 2 points will be based on “presentation”.  You do not have to do a fancy presentation to get 2 points, but your presentation should be organized, everything you write should be legible, your speaking should be comprehensible and you should be able to talk and write together.  Your score will be scaled to 50 points when compared to other scores in the class. 

GRADES:  Your grade will be determined based on the following formula

                        TESTS                         200 points

                        +FINAL                      150 points

                        +HOMEWORK          100 points

                        +BOARDWORK          50 points

                        TOTAL                        500 points

POINTS GRADE

                        450-500           A

                        400-449           B

                        350-399           C

                        300-349           D

                            0-299           F

There will be no curve or extra credit assignments, so don’t ask!

If you ever have any questions or suggestions, feel free to come by my office at any time.  I will definitely be there during my office hours, you can just stop by.  You can also stop by or call to see if I am there at other times.