{"id":417,"date":"2020-01-02T14:18:40","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T19:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/rptacek\/?page_id=417"},"modified":"2026-03-19T08:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:23:28","slug":"mgf1107-fall-2020","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/rptacek\/mgf1107-fall-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"MGF1107 Spring 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Course Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

MGF 1107, Mathematics for Liberal Arts 2 is a general education\/math course which is not intended to prepare you for Precalculus or Calculus. Instead, this course emphasizes mathematical reasoning and the connections between mathematics and the liberal arts. This course qualifies for both GenEd and Gordon Rule credits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Name:           <\/strong>Ross Ptacek\r\nOffice:         <\/strong>LIT 442\r\nOffice Hours:   <\/strong>TBD (Tenatively 10:00-1:00 PM on Wednesdays)\r\nEmail:   <\/strong>\u00a0      rptacek@ufl.edu<\/a>\r\nPhone:<\/strong>          3522942306<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The above is the instructor of record for this course.\u00a0 Email is the preferred method of communication followed by Canvas messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name:           <\/strong>Jason Johnson\r\nOffice:         <\/strong>LIT 477\r\nOffice Hours:   <\/strong>\r\nEmail: <\/strong>\u00a0        jasonchaos@ufl.edu<\/a>\r\nPhone:<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The above is the TA for this course, but he functions as a co-instructor.\u00a0 He will update his contact information once his course schedule is fixed.\u00a0 It is best to contact Dr. Ptacek<\/a> first for administrative questions, but feel free to message whoever you want for course content issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Prerequisites:<\/strong> None (No, not even MGF1106.\u00a0 The courses are independent.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Credits:<\/strong> 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Textbook:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>There is no textbook from this class.\u00a0 All of the essential information will be provided in-class through notes.\u00a0 In addition, there is a minor research component to the course where students will be encouraged to go beyond the basics presented in the notes using freely available resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Goformative:<\/strong>\u00a0 Goformative (www.goformative.com<\/a>) is a free service which we will use for both homework assignments and in-class groupwork.\u00a0 Every student will make an account on the first day of class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Course Content:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>This course will revolve around three major questions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  1. What is math?<\/strong> There is a great difference between what is done in high school and lower division undergraduate math courses and what is done by professional mathematicians.\u00a0 In this class, we will try as much as possible to function like mathematicians.<\/li>\n
  2. How are things true in math?\u00a0<\/strong>Every discipline has different standards for establishing truth.\u00a0 Mathematical truth is is established through rigorous logical arguments called proofs.\u00a0 We will devote some time to writing informal proofs with every topic covered.<\/li>\n
  3. How can mathematical truth be applied outside of math?<\/strong> If mathematical truth is so different, how can it possibly be applicable to other fields?\u00a0 We will model problems from other disciplines with mathematics and understand the limitations of our models.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    These questions are the thrust of the course, and covering particular material is of secondary importance.\u00a0 That said, we will cover topics from game theory, graph theory, counting principles, probability and statistics, topology and elementary number theory.\u00a0 Course material is flexible and will be guided to some extend by student interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Course Format<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    There will be very little traditional lecture in this course.\u00a0 Most classes will have the class form small groups to work on challenging problems.\u00a0 Following some initial time to work on the problem, groups will present their (partial) solutions to the class.\u00a0 Followup activities will be given for homework and weekly quizzes will be given to reinforce the topics from the group activities.\u00a0 Finally, there will be a major project at the end of the term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    All course communication will be through Canvas or your ufl email.\u00a0 Course announcements will be posted on Canvas, so it is highly recommended to have notifications from canvas sent to your email (Click on “Account” in the side bar of Canvas, then go to “Notifications” and set announcements to email).\u00a0 This should be the default setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Assignments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Assignments are graded either based on mastery or numerically.\u00a0 In short, mastery grades will either give all points or none but have a chance for resubmission while numerical grades are graded once for points.\u00a0 Details can be found below in the “Grading Procedures” section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    In-Class Groupwork:<\/strong> Most days will begin by dividing into groups of 3-5 and working on a problem or a continuation of a previous day’s problem. Group work will be assessed as a participation grade, but the material covered in groupwork will feature prominently on homework so it will need to be completed accurately.\u00a0 There may be a bellringer given as an attendance check prior to the group work.\u00a0 In this case, the day’s grade will be split 50-50 between the bellringer and the group participation.\u00a0 Three days can be missed without penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Homework:<\/strong> Homework assignments build on the material in the classwork and come in three levels based on difficulty.\u00a0 The levels must be completed in order.\u00a0 Level 1 and level 2 assignments are graded numerically while the level 3 assignment is graded for mastery.\u00a0 If a submission does not meet a certain threshold, zero points will be given<\/strong>.\u00a0 This threshold is up to the instructor’s discretion.\u00a0 Typically, homework assignments are individual, but there may be some exceptions, especially on level 1 assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Quizzes:<\/strong> We will have a quiz every week which will be graded numerically.\u00a0 These are open notes (that you personally have taken).\u00a0 Quizzes are individual assignments which cover topics from that week’s group work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Documentaries:<\/strong> Throughout the semester you will be provided with documentaries that deal with the history and application of mathematics.\u00a0 Questions about the documentaries will appear on the quizzes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Final Project:\u00a0 <\/strong>There will a final project due on the last day of class.\u00a0 In short, the project is to write a short paper about a famous result from mathematics and to provide an appropriate graphical aid.\u00a0 Full specifications can be found on Canvas. Projects will be given a numerical grade rather than a mastery grade.\u00a0 With few exceptions, these will have the same conditions as homework.\u00a0 All final work must be original work.\u00a0 The bibliography must include at least one non-encyclopedia source.\u00a0 Plagiarism gets an immediate zero for the assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    The course is divided into three units (see tentative schedule at the bottom).\u00a0 Each unit will have 3 homework assignments each with three levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Grading Procedures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Every assignment in this course is either given a numerical grade or a mastery-based grade.\u00a0 Numerical grades are the kind of grades you are familiar with.\u00a0 An assignment that is graded based on mastery will either be awarded 0 points or full points.\u00a0 However, assignments given a mastery grade may be resubmitted up until the final deadline.\u00a0 The mastery assignments should be treated as a conversation where we go back and forth with the material until it is clear that the material has been mastered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Some assignments are group assignments, but all submitted answers should be individual work.\u00a0 Any answer copying or plagiarism will result in an immediate zero for that assignment.\u00a0 Your final papers will be tested for plagiarism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Attendance\/Groupwork           110 points\r\nQuizzes                        100 points (10 x 10 points, 12 total w\/ 2 dropped)\r\nLevel 1 HW                      80 points (8 x 10 points, 9 total w\/ 1 dropped)\r\nLevel 2 HW                     160 points (8 x 20 points, 9 total w\/ 1 dropped)\r\nLevel 3 HW (mastery)           150 points (5 x 30 points, 9 total w\/ 4 dropped)\r\nFinal Project                  200 points\r\nTotal                          800 points<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Final grades are assigned on a 100 point scale<\/p>\n\n\n\n