Time and Place: TTh 2-3:30, ETC 2.136; W 9-10, UTC 4.110.
Prerequisite: Consent of the Honors Director.
Instructor:
Vladimir Lifschitz
(vl@cs.utexas.edu).
Office Hours: TTh 11-12 and by appointment,
MAI 2010.
TA:
Fangkai Yang
(fkyang@cs.utexas.edu).
Office Hours: MF 4-5 and by appointment,
MAI 2004.
This is a mathematically oriented course. It will introduce you to methods of reasoning that play an important role in computer science. You will learn to use these methods by doing homework problems, presenting your solutions in class at the board, and discussing solutions found by others. (This is known as the Moore method.) We will talk about mathematical proofs (in particular, proofs by induction) and definitions (in particular, recursive definitions); about the use of logical notation; about functions, sets, and binary relations.
There will be no textbook. The necessary notation and the statements of problems will be provided in the lecture notes to be handed out in class.
Since all homework problems are going to be discussed in class, you are not expected to submit your homework for grading. Some of the problems are difficult, but you should make a serious effort to solve each of them. Try to figure out solutions by yourself or in collaboration with other students, but not by asking someone who already knows the answers, and not by reading books or consulting the Internet.
Three exams will be given on September 29, November 1, and December 1 during regular class time. They will be cumulative, more heavily weighted towards the material which has not yet been tested. Quizzes will be given almost every week in discussion sections; the lowest quiz score will be dropped. During exams and quizzes, you may refer to class handouts and to your notes, but you should not use any books or Internet materials, nor any notes written by others. If we have made a mistake in grading your work then you should send the TA an e-mail message describing the problem within a week after we return the graded work to the class.
To get credit for class participation, you should present a solution to at least one problem during the semester. That must be a homework problem that you solved by yourself, without help from others.
There will be no final. Your grade will be determined by the three exams (25% each), the quizzes (20%), and class participation (5%).
It is important that you make an effort to attend every single class meeting and that you spend your time in class listening critically to your fellow students and thinking about their proposed solutions, rather than just recording what is being said.
Please turn off cell phones and laptops in the classroom.
Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/.
If you must miss a class in order to observe a religious holy day then please notify the instructor a week in advance. You will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time.