Math 10: Discrete Mathematics: Course Description

Math 10: Discrete Mathematics
Kevin Carlson
Spring 2020
E-mail: carlson_kevin@smc.edu Web: CoCalc

Office Hours: Mon 12:50-2:10 pm (MC23) Class Hours: MW 2:15-3:35 (MC67)
Course Description
This course is intended for computer science, engineering, and mathematics majors. Topics in-
clude proof techniques, cardinality of sets, partial orderings and equivalence relations, symbolic
logic and valid arguments, permutations and combinations with repetition, and an introduction
to graph theory.
Required Materials
• Rosen, Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, 8th edition. As this is a new edition, it is
rather expensive. You should feel free to purchase an older edition, or try to go without,
but you will need access to the eighth edition to get the correct homework problems, either
from a friend or from the reserve texts at the library.
• An account at CoCalc.com, which is where everything for the course will happen. You will
eventually need to pay $14 for access.
• A smartphone, tablet, or laptop, which should be brought to class daily. A laptop is ideal.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites: Math 8.
Homework
Homework will be completed and graded online on CoCalc. You will be expected to type your
solutions using LATEX. I will provide templates and basic tips about LATEX, but there will be limited
classtime available for this. You are all advanced enough students that learning LATEXwill pose
no issues, and it will leave you with an important skill used heavily throughout the sciences.
Assignments will be weekly, and largely but not entirely from the text. Emphasis will be on
writing mathematics, not on computing answers. Grading will be primarily by completion, but
1
Math 10, Carlson, Sp20
I will select certain problems to assess carefully. I will drop two homework assignments, and no
late homework will be accepted.
Participation
You must participate actively, on a daily basis, in class. Asking questions as soon as you are
confused is the most important skill you should be trying to develop as you prepare for upper-
division math and computer science courses. Anything that’s confusing you is confusing to a
neighbor, and anything you’re curious about, someone else is too.
I will accept questions, comments and answers digitally during class via the CoCalc chatroom,
and you will receive participation credit for either digital or verbal participation. You must
participate on at least 12 days to receive full participation credit for the course.
Tests
We will have 2 in class exams, one take-home exam, as well as the final. In-class exams will be
closed-book and closed notes. There will be no make-up exams offered, but to compensate for
emergencies I will replace your lowest score with your final exam score if this improves your
grade. Note that it generally does not, for students who appear for all exams.
The in-home exam will be available from Thursday morning before spring break until the end
of the day Sunday. A take-home exam gives an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding
without the time pressure of an in-class exam, but poses obvious academic honesty risks. Any
hint of academic dishonesty on the take-home exam will be dealt with severely. In general, you
may consult the text and the lecture notes, but you may not consult outside sources or collaborate
with peers in class.
The final exam will be cumulative and given on June 10. Failing to take the final exam will
result in a grade of F in this course.
Project
You will complete a group project, due at the end of the semester, on a topic in discrete math
which the syllabus does not permit time to study. The general areas are number theory, for the
more mathematically inclined, and algorithms, for those more interested in computer science.
More information will be forthcoming no later than spring break. The key goal of the project is
that you should demonstrate the ability to digest and explain new mathematical information on
your own.
Grading Policy
Cutoffs for letter grades will be determined at the end of the course. My exams are often quite
difficult, so it is possible that the cutoff for an A, for instance, could be as low as an 80%. But it
could be as high as a 90%. I will update you on this as the semester goes on.
The grade will be based on the following proportions:
2/5
Activity type Percentage

Homework 10%
Class participation 5%
In-class exams 30%
Take-home exam 18%
Project 7%
Final 30%
Attendance
Everything I say in lecture, unless otherwise specified, is fair game for exams and assignments.
You will need to be in class on a daily basis to keep up.
It is your responsibility to withdraw from the course if you intend to do so. If you fail to
withdraw yourself, you may receive an F instead of a W.
Course Objectives
See curricunet for more.
Student Learning Outcomes

1. Given a theoretical or applied problem, represent the problem and solve it using techniques
such as combinatorics, graph theory, function theory and logic.
2. Given a mathematical statement, construct and communicate a valid argument using stan-
dard proof techniques.
Resources for help

The Math Lab, MC 84, should be your second stop if you need help. Hours are M-R 8 am to 10
pm and F 8 am to 4:30 pm, and any time they’re open you’ll find a tutor available who can help
with our material. You can also schedule hour-long one- on-one sessions there. It’s also a great
place to hang out and do your homework, just in case something goes wrong!
Your first stop if you need help should be my office hours. It’s a great idea to come as much
as possible-even if you aren’t having much trouble with the material, college students who get
to know faculty members tend to feel much more comfortable with the experience.
Academic Integrity and Honesty

Don’t cheat. Don’t behave in any way that could be construed as cheating, such as fiddling
with inappropriate tech during exams. I will report any academic dishonesty to the Campus
Disciplinarian, and consequences are generally severe.
Honest and ethical students are protected in this class; I consider dishonest students to be
game-theoretic defectors, and I play (at least) two tits for a tat against defectors. (see wiki. )
3/5
Accommodations for Disabilities

I encourage students requesting disability-related accommodations to contact Disabled Student
Services as soon as possible. I will work with you and the Center for Students with Disabilities
to provide appropriate and reasonable accommodations. An early notification of your request
for test-taking and/or other accommodations is necessary to ensure that your disability related
needs are addressed appropriately; testing accommodations cannot be applied retroactively. The
DSPS office is located in the Admissions/Student Services Complex, Room 101, and the phone
numbers are (310) 434-4265 and (310) 434-4273 (TDD).
If you need help with receiving accommodations, please bring this up immediately. The process
can be slow.
4/5
Tentative daily schedule

The schedule is tentative and subject to change, except for the exam dates. Sections in parentheses
may not appear on the corresponding day.
Date Day Topic Text sections

2/19 1 Propositional logic 1.1-1.3
2/24 2 Finish propositional logic 1.3 (1.4)
2/26 3 Predicate logic, quiz 1.4-1.5
3/2 4 Proofs 1.6-1.8
3/4 5 Sets and functions 2.1-2.3(start)
3/9 6 Boolean algebra 12.1-12.4
3/11 7 Finish Boolean algebra 12.3-12.4 (2.3)
3/16 8 Exam 1
3/18 9 In(sur)jections 2.3
3/23 10 Cardinality 2.5
3/25 11 Induction and recursion 5.1-5.3
3/30 12 Recurrence relations 8.1-8.2
4/1 13 Relations and their properties 9.1
4/6 14 Equivalence relations 9.5
4/8 15 Representations and orders 9.3,9.6
SPRING BREAK, take-home exam 2
4/20 16 Counting 6.1,6.2
4/22 17 Permutations and combinations 6.3
4/27 18 Binomial coefficients 6.4
4/29 19 Multinomial coefficients etc 6.5
5/4 20 Inclusion-exclusion 8.5-8.6
5/6 21 Probability/combinatorics review (7.1)
5/11 22 Exam 3
5/13 23 Graphs and their properties 10.1,10.2
5/18 24 Representations and isomorphisms, trees 10.3,11.1
5/20 25 Connectivity,Eulerian and Hamiltonian paths 10.4,10.5
5/27 26 Catchup
6/1 2 Project lecture: number theory
6/3 28 Project lecture: algorithms
6/8 29 Review
6/10 Final Exam, 3:30-6:30
5/5

Math 10: Discrete Mathematics: Course Description

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Math 10: Discrete Mathematics

E-mail: carlson_kevin@smc.edu Web: CoCalc

Activity type Percentage

Student Learning Outcomes

Resources for help

Academic Integrity and Honesty

Accommodations for Disabilities

Tentative daily schedule

Date Day Topic Text sections

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