Writing for Mathematics, MATH 300, Spring 2017


Instructor: Daniel Groves, 727 SEO e.mail

Course webpage: http://www.math.uic.edu/~groves/teaching/2016-17/300W/

Syllabus: Download here.

Course hours:

Wednesday, 12:00-12:50 PM, Room 300, Taft Hall.

Office hours:

Monday 11am, Friday 10am, SEO 727.

Grading Scheme:
The grades for this course will be assigned on the basis of the portfolio of your work at the end of the semester.

TeX:
In this course, there will be a number of written assignments. These will be written in TeX, or some variant thereof. (My favourite variant is LaTeX, which I find much easier to use than ordinary TeX. There are other variants that you might like more.)
It is each student's responsibility to work out how to use TeX on a computer of their choosing.

Writing Center:
The English Department runs a writing center, where you can get help with all aspects of writing:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/engl/writing/
(You can make appointments, which is probably a good idea).

Course description:
There are two writing aspects to this course. The first involves writing mathematics, and the second writing about mathematics, or topics of a mathematical flavour. For writing mathematics, there will be many short (approximately a page) assignments, which will mostly involve explaining a piece of relatively easy mathematics (usually in the form of a proof). There will also be a longer essay, on a topic of your choice (obviously with a mathematical flavour to them).
Another aspect of the course is spending some time thinking about fundamental issues of mathematics. (For example, at some point I'll ask you to write an essay entitled `What is Mathematics?')

Essay:
There will be one long (6-8 pages) essay due at the end of the semester, on a mathematically-related topic of your choice. For this essay, you will need to get permission from me for the topic, and a draft will be due well before the final version.

Important dates for the essay:

  • Wednesday, February 8, 2017. By this date, you must have agreed upon your topic with me. I am happy to discuss this with you in person, and we can talk it through. However, you must confirm the subject of your essay with me by e.mail.

  • Wednesday, April 5, 2017. The first draft of your essay is due by the beginning of class. The essay should be complete at this time, but maybe need some work editing to improve it. You should submit this draft to me (as a PDF file) by e.mail.

  • Friday, May 5, 2017 (by midnight). The final version of your essay (in PDF format) is due by e.mail.



    Writing Assignments:

    NOTE: All written assignments should be submitted by e.mail, including the draft and final version of your long essay.

  • Due Wednesday January 25, 10am (NOTE: This is 2 hours before class):

    Give a one page (up to two pages if necessary) introduction to the concept of the derivative from calculus. Your target audience is a gifted High School student who is very good at math, but knows nothing about calculus, or limits.

    When submitting this assignment by e.mail, include both a PDF version (made using your favorite flavor of TeX) and also the code you used to create it -- this could be a .tex file, or the comamnds you entered into a compiling website, etc.

  • Due Wednesday, February 8, 10am.

    Write two pieces. The first should be an essay (of 1-2 pages) making an argument. You can take inspiration from the Declaration of Independence that we read in class on 1/25. The second piece should be a short 'summary' outline of your argument. The topic that you wish to argue is up to you (it does not have to be mathematical, I am interested in a logical argument being made).

    Both of these should be written in your favorite flavor of TeX, but you can submit just the PDF file. It can be either in 1 file or in 2, but you should be clear about the separation between the piecesif it is in a single file.

  • Due Wednesday, February 22, 10am.

    Write an essay (of approximately 1 page) on the subject `What is Mathematics?'.

  • Due Wednesday, March 8, 10am.

    Write a blog post on math300.wordpress.com.

    The blog post should be an article explaining a surprising use of mathematics in some field of human endeavour. Your audience should be someone browsing the internet looking for interesting things. They may be interested in mathematics, but probably won't know a lot of mathematics.

    You will be sent an e.mail inviting you to become an author on this blog, which will give you instructions on how to sign up, and how to view the website.

    For help using LaTeX on wordpress to insert equations, see:

    Latex help

    For general wordpress blogging help, see

    Wordpress help

  • Due Wednesday, March 29, 10am Write a blog post on the math300 site about a paradox (other than Zeno's paradoxes of motion). You should explain what a paradox is, why your choice is a paradox, and give at least one description of an attempt to resolve the paradox.

  • Due Wednesday, April 19, 10am Peer editing assignment for the long essay draft. You should have been emailed about it already. If you have not received this email, please let me know asap.

  • Due Wednesday, April 26, 10am Write a blog post at math300.wordpress.com about your favorite piece of mathematics. This could be a subject, a theorem, an example, an equation, an application, etc. Please explain what it is and what you like about it.