Course Web Page
Course: MATH 3050
Title: Discrete Mathematics
Sections: 100 and 101 (Class Numbers 6572 and 6573)
Campus: Ohio University, Athens Campus
Department: Mathematics
Academic Year: 2020 - 2021
Term: Fall Semester
Instructor: Mark Barsamian
Contact Information: My contact information is posted on my web page .
Office Hours for 2020 - 2021 Fall Semester: I will provide help online via text chat and video calls in the Teams program
Course Description: Course in discrete mathematical structures and their applications with an introduction to methods of proofs. The main topics are introductions to logic and elementary set theory, basic number theory, induction and recursion, counting techniques, graph theory and algorithms. Applications may include discrete and network optimization, discrete probability and algorithmic efficiency.
Prerequisites: C or better in MATH 2301 or MATH 263B and WARNING: No credit for both this course and CS 3000 (first course taken deducted)
Special Needs: If you have physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities that require accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible so that your needs may be appropriately met.
Video of the First Day Meeting can be reached by clicking on this link: ( Link to Video of First Day Meeting )
Course Format: Sections 100 and 101 (Class Numbers 6572 and 6573) will be asynchronous online courses. That is, there will be no face-to-face meetings, all content will be delivered online, all assessment will be done online, and all events will be on a flexible time schedule. (Days will be scheduled; time of day will not be scheduled.)
Available Help: Of course, I will not be holding any in-person office hours. I will also not be holding any regularly-scheduled online help sessions because in the past I have found that nobody goes to those online sessions. Students who need one-on-one help can e-mail me or send me a message using the Teams app, and we can arrange individual help sessions to be held via Teams video calls.
Required Computer Tools:
- Microsoft Teams is an online collaboration tool that provides group chat, channeled conversations, instant messaging, live document collaboration, audio or video calls, and meetings. Teams is used extensively at Ohio University, and is made available free to students, faculty, and staff. It will be used extensively in MATH 1350. (In particular, our initial class meeting will be held in Teams .) For that reason, all students in MATH 1350 need to make sure that they are able to access Teams , either on a desktop or laptop computer, or on a mobile device. Click on the link at right for more information. ( link to information about Microsoft Teams )
- Blackboard is an online learning management system (LMS) used at Ohio University. Access to Blackboard is free for students, faculty, and staff. Each class that a student takes has an associated Blackboard site. What exactly happens on that Blackboard site depends on how the instructor for the course has set it up. Students in MATH 1350 sections taught by Mark Barsamian will use Blackboard for Accessing MyLab Math and for seeing their current course grades. They may also take quizzes or exams on the Blackboard site. The Blackboard system for Ohio University can be reached by clicking on this link: ( Blackboard for Ohio University )
- WebAssign
is an online system system developed by Cengage
, the publisher of the textbook. Students will use the WebAssign
for accessing an eText
version of the textbook, and for solving math problems as part of homework assignments
, quizzes
, and exams
.
Students will access the WebAssign
system, including the eText
, through the Blackboard
site for this ourse.
- Find instructions for accessing to WebAssign here: ( Print Instructions ) ( Video Instructions )
- Access to WebAssign is not free , but rather is paid for through the Inclusive Access Program at Ohio University. See information below on this web page for more information about the Inclusive Access Program .
- Camscanner is a very useful free cellphone app that uses a cellphone camera to take a picture of a document, and then crops and sharpens the image and turns it into a PDF file. This is very useful for students who need to submit homework electronically. It is helpful to the instructor, because when the instructor receives a PDF of the homework, it is easy to add comments. For that reason, all students in MATH 3050 need to install the app. ( link to Camscanner web page )
The Inclusive Access Program :
Ohio University MATH 3050 is part of the Inclusive Access Program at Ohio University. That means that when students register for MATH 3050, they automatically get access to the course materials that they will need for the course. These materials include the online WebAssign system and an online eText copy of the textbook. During the first two weeks of the course, students will use WebAssign and the eText for free. The cost of the online materials will be billed automatically to their student account AFTER the deadline to drop the class at the end of the second week of the course, Friday, September 4, 2020. (In other words, if they drop the course before the drop deadline, they will not be charged anything for having used the online materials.) Cost of the online materials is roughly $71.25 plus 7% Ohio sales tax, for a total of roughly $76.24. Students will access the WebAssign system, including the eText , through the Blackboard site for their MATH 3050 course.
Optional Upgrades:
- If a student has more than one course that uses a textbook published by Cengage and that is part of the Inclusive Access Program , then the student might want to consider upgrading to Cengage Unlimited . This entails paying an additional $48.74, for a total payment of $71.25 + $48.74 = $119.99. The upgrade gives the student digital access to the online content for all of their courses that use books published by Cengage .
- Students who prefer reading a printed book, rather than an eText , can purchase an optional loose-leaf print copy of the textbook for about $45 at the bookstore.
Syllabus: This web page replaces the usual paper syllabus. If you need a copy of the syllabus (now or in the future), unhide the next three portions of hidden content (Textbook, Calendar, Grading) and then print this entire web page on paper or print it to a PDF file.
Textbook Information:
Title: Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 5 th Edition
Author: Susanna Epp
Publisher: Cengage, 2020
Obtaining the book: Ohio University MATH 3050 is part of the Inclusive Access Program at Ohio University. That means that when you register for MATH 3050, you automatically get access to the WebAssign system run by Cengage , the publisher of our textbook. This system includes an online eText copy of the textbook. You will access the WebAssign system and the eText through the Blackboard site for the course.
Paying for the book: Access to the WebAssign system and the eText is not free , but rather is paid for through the Inclusive Access Program at Ohio University. See information above on this web page for more information about the Inclusive Access Program .
Optional Upgrades: Students who prefer reading a printed book, rather than an eText , can purchase an optional loose-leaf print copy of the textbook for about $45 at the bookstore.
Calendar:
Calendar for 2020 - 2021 Fall Semester MATH 3050 Sections 100 and 101 (Class Numbers 6572 and 6573), taught by Mark Barsamian
Week 1 (Mon Aug 24 through Fri Aug 28)
- Section 1.1 Variables
- H01.1: 1.1#2,6,11,13
- Section 1.2 The Language of Sets
- H01.2: 1.2#4,5,8,12,15
- Section 1.3 The Language of relations and functions
- H01.3: 1.3#2,4,5,6,13,17
- Section 1.4 The Language of Graphs
- H01.4: 1.4#2,9
- Quiz 1 on Sun Aug 30
Week 2 (Mon Aug 31 through Fri Sep 4)
- Section 2.1 Logical form and Logical Equivalence
- Section 2.2 Conditional Statements
- Section 2.3 Valid and Invalid Arguments (Argument Forms)
- Quiz 2 on Sat Sep 5
Week 3 (Mon Sep 7 through Fri Sep 11)
- Section 3.1 Predicates and Quantified Statements I
- Section 3.2 Predicates and Quantified Statements II
- Section 3.3 Statements with Multiple Quantifiers
- Section 3.4 Arguments with Quantified Statements
- Homework H03.4: 3.4#4,11,13,15,17,18,20,22,26
- Exam 1 on Sat Sep 12
Week 4 (Mon Sep 14 through Fri Sep 18)
- Section 4.1 Direct Proof and Counterexample I: Introduction
- Wed Sept 16 Meeting discussing concepts fom Section 4.1 ( video ) ( notes )
- Section 4.2 Direct Proof and Counterexample II: Writing Advice
- Section 4.3 Direct Proof and Counterexample III: Rational Numbers
- Quiz 3 on Fri Sep 18
Week 5 (Mon Sep 21 through Fri Sep 25)
- Section 4.4 Direct Proof and Counterexample IV: Divisibility
- Section 4.5 Direct Proof and Counterexample V: Division into Cases and the Quotient Remainder Theorem
- Wed Sept 23 Meeting discussing
- Divisibility (Section 4.4)
- Quotient Remainder Theorem (Section 4.5)
- Proof by Division into Cases (Section 4.5)
- Section 4.7 Indirect Argument: Contraposition and Contraposition
- Quiz 4 postponed to Moday
Week 6 (Mon Sep 28 through Fri Oct 2)
- Quiz 4 on Mon Sep 28
- Section 5.1 Sequences
- Section 5.2 Mathematical Induction I
- Exam 2 on Fri Oct 2
Week 7 (Mon Oct 5 through Fri Oct 9)
- Section 6.1 Set Theory: Definitions and the Element Method of Proof
- Section 6.2 Properties of Sets
- Quiz 5 on Fri Oct 9
Week 8 (Mon Oct 12 through Fri Oct 16)
- Section 7.1 Functions Defined on General Sets
- Section 7.2 One-to-One Functions, Onto Functions, and Inverse Functions
- Section 7.3 Composition of Functions
- Quiz 6 on Fri Oct 16
Week 9 (Mon Oct 19 through Fri Oct 23)
- Section 8.1 Relations on Sets
- Section 8.2 Reflexivity, Symmetry, and Transitivity
- Section 8.3 Equivalence Relation
- Thu Oct 22 Meeting to Review for Exam 3 ( video ) ( notes )
- Exam 3 on Fri Oct 23
Week 10 (Mon Oct 26 through Fri Oct 30)
- Section 9.1 Introduction to Counting
- Wed Oct 28 Discussion Meeting ( video ) ( notes )
- Section 9.2 Possibility Trees and the Multiplication Rule
- Quiz 7 on Fri Oct 30
Week 11 (Mon Nov 2 through Fri Nov 6)
- Section 9.3 Counting Elements of Disjoint Sets: The Addition Rule
- Section 9.5 Counting Subsets of a Set: Combinations
- Quiz 8 on Fri Nov 6
Week 12 (Mon Nov 9 through Fri Nov 13)
- Section 9.6�r-Combinations with Repetition Allowed
- Section 9.7 Pascal's Formula and the Binomial Theorem
Week 13 (Mon Nov 16 through Fri Nov 20)
- Exam 4 on Mon Nov 16
- Section 10.1 Trails, Paths, and Circuits
- Section 4.9 The Handshake Theorem
Week 14 (Mon Nov 23 through Fri Nov 27)
- Section 10.2 Matrix Representations of Graphs
- Quiz 9 on Tuesday, Nov 24
Week 15 (Mon Nov 30 through Fri Dec 4)
- Section 10.4 Trees: Examples and Basic Properties
- Homework H10.4: to be announced later
- Section 10.6 Spanning Trees and a Shortest Path Algorithm
- Homework H10.6: to be announced later
- Quiz 10 on Fri Dec 4
Week 16 (Mon Dec 7 through Fri Dec 11)
- Final Exam on Wednesday, December 9
Grading:
During the semester, you will accumulate a Points Total of up to 1000 possible points .
- Homework: a bunch of online assignments, with total points rescaled to 200 points possible
- Best three of the following five items
for a total of 600 points possible:
- Quizzes: Best 8 of 10 quizzes @ 25 points each = 200 points possible
- Exam 1: 200 points possible
- Exam 2: 200 points possible
- Exam 3: 200 points possible
- Exam 4: 200 points possible
- Final Exam: 200 points possible
At the end of the semester, your Points Total will be converted into your Course Letter Grade using an 85%, 70%, 55%, 40% scale.
- 900 - 1000 points = 90% - 100% = A
- 850 - 899 points = 85% - 89.9% = A-
- 800 - 849 points = 80% - 84.9% = B+
- 750 - 799 points = 75% - 79.9% = B
- 700 - 749 points = 70% - 74.9% = B-
- 650 - 699 points = 65% - 69.9% = C+
- 600 - 649 points = 60% - 64.9% = C
- 550 - 599 points = 55% - 59.9% = C-
- 500 - 549 points = 50% - 54.9% = D+
- 450 - 499 points = 45% - 49.9% = D
- 400 - 449 points = 40% - 44.9% = D-
- 0 - 399 points = 0% - 39.9% = F
Throughout the semester, you will be able to see your current scores and your current course letter grade on Blackboard.
page maintained by Mark Barsamian , last updated Nov 23, 2020