These books are available for purchase at the University Bookstore.

Course Overview:

The purpose of this course is two-fold: (1) to provide you with a context (i.e. geometry) to explore and develop inductive and deductive reasoning strategies and (2) help you to develop an effective style of communicating mathematical reasoning through the use of group-work and written reports.
Most of our class time will be spent working in small groups on problems from the Primary Math textbooks and the activity manual and then discussing this work as a whole class. Making sure you understand the problems and solutions that are discussed in class will be key to your success. As such, your grade will depend as much on your ability to give good explanations as on your ability to give correct answers.
At times some may question the material which we're focusing on, finding it basic. Others may find the material difficult to master. Your view might change depending on the unit of study. This is to be expected. Hopefully you will learn something new about mathematical thinking from the course as we explore alternative algorithms and try to see problems from many different points of view.

Grading:

Your course grades will be determined by your written work, participation, and three exams.

Homework (250 points): Assignments will be posted on my website. I anticipate 11 problem sets to be assigned throughout the semester. Homework is due at the beginning of the class period. Your lowest two homework scores will be dropped.

Participation (100 points): Every student is expected to participate in both group work and large classroom discussions. Chronic failure to do either one will result in loss of points. Seeing as you cannot participate in class if you do not attend class, attendance is mandatory. You are allowed three absences for any reason. After that, each time you are absent, 10 points will be deducted from your participation grade.

Midterm Exams (300 points): There will be two midterm exams. The first midterm will be Wednesday February 23. The second midterm will be Monday April 4.

Midterm Corrections (50 points) : You are expected to write correct solutions for every problem you got wrong on your midterms. Exact instructions will be given later.

Final exam (300 points): There will be a cumulative final exam on Wednesday May 11, 7:45 AM-9:45 AM

Mark your calendars and make travel plans around it. No early exams will be given because of travel plans.

The following scale is for guaranteed grades in this class. For example if you get 94% you are guaranteed a letter grade of A. The boundaries might be lowered at my discretion:

A: Superior 93% and above
AB: Excellent 89% and above
B: Proficient 82% and above
BC: Good 76% and above
C: Acceptable 69% and above
D: Mediocre 60% and above
F: Unacceptable 0% and above

If you are a McBurney student please talk to me as soon as possible even if you do not need any special accommodations.

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Classlist

An email Classlist has been created for important announcements about this course. Your @wisc.edu or @students.wisc.edu email address is the one that will be used for the list, as well as all other official communication from the University, so check your email frequently. Also check your Junk Mail folder regularly, as some ClassList mail may end up there!