M325K Fall 2009


Unique #:     57675
Lecture :     TTh 11:00-12:30 in RLM 7.124
Textbook:     Grimaldi, "Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics",
              5th edition
Syllabus:     Chapters I-VII, with some additions and deletions
Office Hours: TTH 2:05-3:25 in RLM 12.130.
Link to this file: www.ma.utexas.edu/users/kbi/COURSES/TERM/09F/325K/M325K.html

Grading Scheme
At most every lecture I shall assign homework, which is to be turned in on Thursday of the following week. I will not accept late homework, but I will drop the three lowest or missed homeworks. The homework counts 20% towards the course grade. You are encouraged to collaborate in groups on the homework and further study, and to turn in only one homework per group. There will be three (3) midterm tests, each worth 15% and covering the material presented prior to the test. The comprehensive final test counts 35%. The worst (or missed) midterm test is replaced by the score from the final test if that improves the total. I can't allow you to miss two or more of the midterm tests, though, and there will be NO (0) make-up test.
Here are some recent grade distributions resulting from this grading scheme.
Absences drag down the grade as explained below.
I do not grade on the curve. The scheme is this: 90-100: A, 80-89.9: B, 70-79.9: C, 60-69.9: D, below 60: F.
I am not permitted to change this grading scheme, for example by assigning extra work if a few points are missing for a higher grade. Also, I do not cook the books, not even for the most charming, needy, or pushy student.

The midterm tests are scheduled on the following Thursdays during class time: October 1, October 29, and December 3. The final test is scheduled for Monday December 14 from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. in RLM 7.104. Put these dates on your calendar now!
Most test problems are taken from the book, perhaps slightly altered. There are usually 5-6 problems per test, 7-10 for the final test.
Attendance: There are very good reasons to attend the classes you paid for. Also, I have collected some statistics in previous classes, and found that on the average 3 lectures missed during the semester will lower the final grade by one level, as this graph shows. I'll elevate this from a statistic to a policy: I will check class attendance. The third, fourth, and any further absence will cost 3 points (3%) each.
``Absence'' means ``Absence for any reason'', death, visit to the doctor, sporting or cheerleading event, and hangover alike. So do not use your quota of absences frivolously and then plead hangover, sports, sickness, or death to extend your quota. It won't fly. This is not intended to be punitive, rather, to provide that extra little push our weak flesh needs from time to time. Students find a way to come to class most of the time, and this rule hardly ever needs to be applied. On the other hand, since I started to require attendance grades have gone up by nearly one level on the average.
Regrades: I grade very leniently. If I make a mistake in grading please let me know and I'll fix it--provided the request to change a score is made within one week of the test or homework in dispute being returned to the class. However, the way I apportion partial credit is my prerogative and I will not change it. I will not entertain arguments about it; they merely generate ill will.
How to learn: The most efficient way to learn the material is to collaborate and to read ahead. I will post slides covering the next one or two lectures on the web. They can serve as your notes, so you won't have to scribble along. You should read them ahead of the lecture, so you can ask questions during the lecture.
Asking questions is your civic duty!
Make use of the Learning Skills Center! Also, the University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate accommodations for qualified students with disabilities;
for more information contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.
1450
Here is a Practice Exam in dvi format, in postscript format, in pdf format.
Here is a plan of the course. A course is a living and unpredictable thing.
Therefore this plan is highly preliminary and will change as the course develops!

Thursday August 27: First Principles and Examples of Counting. Lecture 1.
Due 09/03: p 12 # 6, 8, 10, 12, 14a, 16; p 24 # 2, 4, 8, 14, 26, 30.
Tuesday September 1: Binomial Theorem, Multinomial Theorem. Lecture 2.
Due 09/10: p 34 # 2, 4, 12, 16.
Thursday September 3: Selection with repetition, Some Diophantine Equations. Lecture 3.
Due 09/10: p 54 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
Tuesday September 8: Elementary Logic, Statements, Truth Tables. Lecture 4.
Due 09/17: p 66 # 4, 6, 10, 14.
Thursday September 10: The Laws of Logic, Logical Equivalence and Implication. Lecture 5.
Due 09/17: p 84 # 2, 4.
Tuesday September 15: Rules of Inference, Quantifiers.
Lecture 6.
Due 09/24: p100 # 2, 4, 12.
Thursday September 17: Set Theory
Lecture 7.
Due 09/24: p134 # 8, 14; p146 # 8, 18.
Tuesday September 22: The Laws of Set Theory, Venn Diagrams.
Lecture 8.
Due 10/01: p156 # 2, 4, 8.
Thursday September 24: Probability: Elements, Conditional Probability, Bayes' Theorem.
Bayes' Theorem. Lecture 9.
Due 10/01: p173 # 4, 6.
Tuesday September 29: Review
Review.
Thursday October 1: Test 1
Read Lecture 10 for fun.
Tuesday October 6: The Integers; Mathematical Induction.
Lecture 12.
Due 10/15: p208 # 2, 4, 6, 8.
Thursday October 8: Recursive Definitions. Division Algorithm.
Lecture 13.
Due 10/15: p219 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 12.
Tuesday October 13: Division Algorithm, Ideals.
Lecture 14.
Due 10/22: p230 # 2, 4, 8, 12.
Thursday October 15: Ideals, Greatest Common Divisor.
Lecture 15.
Due 10/22: Compute a generator of ((840,1001)).
p236 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.
Tuesday October 20: The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.
Lecture 16.
Due 10/29: p240 # 2, 4, 6; p245 # 2, 4, 14.
Thursday October 22: Relations and Functions
Lecture 17.
Due 10/29: p252 # 2, 4, 12.
Tuesday October 27: Review
Thursday October 29: Test 2
Tuesday November 3: Counting Surjective Functions, Binary Operations.
Lecture 18.
Due 11/12: p258 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 15, 16, 17; p265 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 12; p272 # 2, 4, 6, 8, 12.
Thursday November 5: The Pidgeon Hole Principle, Inverses of Functions.
Lecture 19.
Due 11/12: p277 # 2, 4, 12, 14.
Tuesday November 10: Relations Revisited.
Lecture 20.
Due 11/19: p288 # 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 a-c.
Thursday November 12:. Graphs and Incidence Matrices.
Lecture 21.
Due 11/19: p343 # 2, 4, 6.
Tuesday November 17: Partial Orders on Finite Sets; Topological Sorting
Lecture 22.
Due 11/24: p354 # 2, 4, 6, 10, 18, 22.
Thursday November 19: Equivalence Relations
Lecture 23.
Due 11/24: p364 # 4, 8, 10, 16.
Tuesday November 24: The Principle of Exclusion and Inclusion
Lecture 24.
Due 12/03: p370 # 2, 4, 8, 12.
Thursday November 26: Thanksgiving
Tuesday December 1: Review
Thursday December 3: Test 3
Monday December 14, 2:00 PM: Final Test in TBA