Spring Semester 2020

Finite Mathematics

Syllabus

Quick Links:

Class mailing list for announcements and discussion
Homework sheets
Class handouts
Informal lecture notes

Summary:

This module is the second semester in a sequence of mathematical methods modules for students in the sciences, industrial engineering, and management majors It aims at rounding off the mathematical education for students in these majors with topics from matrix algebra, probability, and related subjects in a way that is directly useful for the applications in experimental sciences, economics, management, and applied engineering.

Contact Information:

Instructor:	Marcel Oliver
Email:	m.oliver@jacobs-university.de
Phone:	200-3212
Office hours:	Tu 10:00, We 11:00 in Research I, 107
TA:	Saad Ijaz
Email:	S.Ijaz@jacobs-university.de

Time and Place:

Lectures:	Mo/We 14:15-15:30 in West Hall 4 (will hopefully be changed!)
Discussions:	TBA

Textbook/Further Reading:

This course is not covered in a single textbook at exactly the level required. I will be using different sources, indicated in the class schedule below. First, most of the material is contained in one of two voluminous American undergraduate textbooks

M.L. Lial, R.N. Greenwell, N.P. Ritchey, Finite Mathematics, Pearson,
M. Sullivan, Finite Mathematics – An Applied Approach, Wiley.

If you intend to purchase a single comprehensive book for self-study and reference, either of them will be very good; any recent edition will do. The presentation of matrix algebra topics and notation used is not perfect, though, and I aim at using more concise notation especially in the early weeks of this course. A bigger drawback of these two books is the price. Thus, for matrix algebra, I will largely follow selected chapter from two freely available textbooks which I also slightly prefer in their style of presentation:

For probability and statistics, a preliminary list of free study material is contained in the following:

Grading:

The module grade will be determined by the written module examination. Time and place are centrally scheduled.
Changed! Homework and "Mock Midterm" can each provide a grade bonus of up to 0.33 grade points (5% on the percentage scale), for a maximal total bonus of 10% on the percentage scale.
The two worst homework sets will be removed from the bonus computation.
Changed! The bonus is applied as follows: The portion of the percentage score above 50%, divided by 10, will be added to the module exam percentage score, for a maximum total of 110%
Scores above 100% will be capped at 100%.
New! The bonus cannot change a failing grade into a non-failing grade.
The full provisions of the Code of Academic Integrity apply not only to the module examination, but to all bonus work, of course, and will be enforced. That said, the bonus for learning and retention of the material from consistent and honest homework is far greater than any possible bonus to your final score. If you invest time on homework and midterm preparation, you will succeed in the final module examination!

Class Schedule (subject to change!)

Last modified: 2020/02/03
This page: http://math.jacobs-university.de/oliver/teaching/jacobs/spring2020/finite/index.html
Marcel Oliver (m.oliver@jacobs-university.de)