Writing for mathematics (Math 300) Fall 2003


Instructor: W. J. Blok: SEO 423, tel. 413-2152

Sections: #67268, W 10:00, 308 TH; #67250, W 9:00, 312 TH

e-mail: wjb@uic.edu

Office hours: MW 1-2, and F 11-12, or by appointment

Webpage for this course: http://www.math.uic.edu/~blok/m300.html

Prerequisite: Math 210 with a grade of C or better. Students who are enrolled must be majors in the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, and should have also completed English Composition (English 160 and 161) or its equivalent.

Drop policy: LAS students may drop classes during the first two weeks of the semester without incurring any academic penalty. In addition, students may drop classes during weeks three through six for a total of four times during their entire UIC enrollment.

Credit: This is a one-credit course that meets one hour per week.

Course description: In the course students write on mathematical topics. Three essays, each five or six pages long, are assigned. Each of these essays will be revised at least once. These essays are the basis for 60% of the course grade. The remaining 40% is based on shorter writing assignments, class attendance and class participation. However, in order to receive a passing grade in the course all three essays must be completed.

Follow these steps for each of the three essays:

1) Submit a half-page outline of the essay.

2) Two weeks after the outline is approved, turn in a first draft of the paper. It should be five or six pages long and be written with normal formatting on 8 by 11 inch paper. Turn in the outline along with this draft. The instructor will read and comment on this draft.

3) Submit a revised and corrected second draft within one week of receiving the comments from the instructor on the first draft. Turn in the annotated first draft along with this revision. The grade for the paper will be based on the final accepted version.

Because of the many revisions that will be made, students are required to type their papers using a word processing system on a computer. The system used should be able to handle mathematical symbols, or at least be able to manage subscripts and superscripts. For example, Word and WordPerfect have these capabilities. Students who do not have home computers with suitable word processing programs might want to use UIC computer facilities. Students are encouraged to use the mathematical typesetting program TeX. An introduction to TeX will be given during the semester. If for any reason a class is missed, contact the instructor by phone or e-mail to find out what was missed.