| Math 61 Modeling(TTh 9:55 - 11:10 in 3 Whittier Place), taught by Jim Wiseman, Fall 2002.
Office: 3 Whittier Place, Room 255, 690-5763.
Email: jwisema1@swarthmore.edu
Office hours: Monday and Thursday 4:00 - 5:00 and by appointment.
Text book: Edward Beltrami, Mathematical Models for Society and Biology, in the bookstore. This is a new book, with a lot of (mostly innocuous) mistakes. I'll give extra credit for any corrections that you bring in.
Plan: We'll cover five or six selected chapters of the book. We'll usually spend two class days on each chapter, with one day of our own modeling projects between chapters. The last month or so will be devoted to your final projects, and most days we'll have guest lecturers speaking on their areas of expertise in modeling.
A more detailed schedule is at www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/jwisema1/math61/schedule.html , but it's subject to change, depending particularly on the guest lecturers' schedules.
Homework: There will be homework due for each chapter we cover and each modeling project day. Assignments will be posted at www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/jwisema1/math61/assignments.html - you are responsible for checking the assignments, as I usually won't give them in class.
Group work: I strongly encourage you to work on the homework in groups. I suggest that you work on the problems by yourself first, making a note of anything giving you trouble; then meet with your group and work through the remaining problems together; and finally write up the solutions by yourself.
Every group member must write up his or her own solutions independently; just copying the group's (or the solution manual's) answers is plagiarism and is unacceptable.
Getting help: As Talking Barbie says, "Math class is tough." (Unless she's the hacked version - then she says, "Eat lead, Cobra.") Chances are that sooner or later you'll get stuck on something, so don't get frustrated. Think hard, and if you're still stuck, do something else for a while. (It's amazing how often that works.) Keep in mind that we're modeling real-world phenomena, and in the real world, there isn't always a "right" answer.
My office hours are above - these are times when I'm guaranteed to be in my office and willing to talk. If you want to see me at other times, the best thing to do is to set up an appointment with me by email or after class. Of course, you're welcome to just drop by my office, as long as you don't mind if I'm not there or don't have time to talk.
Finally, I can't emphasize enough that your classmates are your best source of help.
Grading: Homework and class participation 1/3, midterm 1/3, final project 1/3.
Exam schedule: - Midterm: Tuesday, October 29, in class
- No final exam.
Final project: Here's a list of some possible topics (I encourage you to think of your own): cellular automata, traffic flow, voting theory, drug dosages, arms control, bioinformatics, Poisson processes, diffusion models, game theory, learning, influence and social power... Late work and make-ups: Late homework won't be accepted, and you won't be allowed to make up a missed exam, except under very exceptional circumstances (e.g., the sasquatch attacks - and even then you should get a note from the sasquatch). In the case of a conflict that you absolutely can't resolve, you may arrange to take a midterm exam early.
Feedback: I'm very interested in your feedback throughout the class: what you like, what you don't, what's working for you, what isn't - anything that you think might help me make the course better. If you have any comments (and you probably should), the easiest thing to do is to talk to me (or send email) about them. If you want to remain anonymous, you can fill out the anonymous feedback form on my feedback page.
Webpage: Please check the course webpage for updated information and announcements:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/jwisema1/math61 | |