Welcome to Mathematical Connections
(Honors 1020 -- Fall, 2024)
| Course Description |
This course is intended to help you develop aspects of your mathematical maturity. We will be doing various explorations in the use of mathematics (as opposed to, say, arithmetic) in your real life. This will involve problem solving skills, and the application of rigor and analysis. I've done this course on-line a few times, so I'm still working on the process. Since this is a 1 unit course, we are only scheduled to work together for 1/3 of the semester (about 5 weeks) -- things will move pretty quickly, but then we'll be done :-) |
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| Textbook(s) | How to Lie with Statistics, Darrell Huff A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, John Allen Paulos |
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| Readings | You will have assigned reading most weeks. I want you to write a brief response to each of the assigned readings and post them on the appropriate discussion board. This might, for example, be two strengths and two weaknesses (or troubling points). This brief response should show your thinking about what you have read, and where your thinking has led you. |
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| Participation | We will do various amounts of on-line discussion and conversation. Your participation in these on-line discussions will play a significant role in the learning process of the course. Please remember that there may be ideas presented that are new to you or may not make sense at first. Please do not be afraid to ask questions. Please be kind to others as they work through the material. |
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| Final Paper | At the end of the course you will each write a brief (a couple to a few pages) reflection on the course: what you learned, what was valuable to you, etc. This will be due at the end of the five weeks. |
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| Grading Policy | The grades for the course will be determined by two components -- on-line participation / weekly written responses; reflection paper. Each of these elements will carry approximately equal weight. The work you do for this course will be your own. You are not to submit other people's or machine's work and represent it as your own. However, I do expect and encourage you to work collaboratively with others during the course. |
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CATEGORY |
10/5 points |
8/3 points |
6/2 points |
0 points |
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Topic Response (10 points) |
Responding to the week's topic by Wednesday with at least 250 words. |
Responding to the week's topic by Saturday. |
Responding to the week's topic by Sunday. |
Not responding to the week's topic. |
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Peer Response (5 points) |
At least 150 words response to one other posting by Friday |
Responding to another posting with less than 100 words by Saturday. |
Responding to another posting with less than 100 words by Sunday. |
Responding to NO peer postings. |
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Quality Threads |
Student comments that add significantly to the discussion by suggesting other solutions, pointing out problems, or even respectfully disagreeing. Student also substantiates any comments made with reasoning or even source citation. |
Student comments that add moderately to the discussion by suggesting other solutions, pointing out problems, or even respectfully disagreeing. Student does not substantiate any comments made with reasoning or even source citation. |
Student comments that do not add to the discussion. Student does not substantiate any comments made with reasoning or even source citation. Posting is simple: "I agree" or "Yes" or "No" |
Note that there is information about the University, policies, support services, accommodations, etc., in the University Catalog:
In particular, information about student support services can be found here:
https://www.csustan.edu/student-services
Note also that it is possible there may be changes to the syllabus at any time, and that any changes to the syllabus will be communicated in a timely and transparent manner.