Friday, Sept. 12 - class will be held in the 239 Altgeld computer lab and this will be part of your homework assignment due the next week. Please bring your textbook that day.
Class times:
Instructor: Dr. Karen Mortensen
Office: 247 Illini Hall
Email: kmortens@illinois.edu
Office phone: 244-4128
Office hours: Mondays and Tuesdays 3:00-4:00, Thursdays and Fridays 1:00-2:00.
You are welcome to drop in during office hours without an appointment, or to make an appointment for another time.
Textbook: Geometry with Geometry Explorer by Michael Hvidsten (McGraw Hill 2005). The CD which comes with this book has the Geometry Explorer software which we will be using several times for homework and labs. This software is available in the 239 Altgeld computer lab, so it is not absolutely necessary to have the CD.
Course content: The course will cover parts of Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 of the textbook. Course material will include the historical development of Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry as axiomatic systems, models of non-Euclidean geometry, symmetries and isometries in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry. The coursework will involve both exploration/experimentation to develop geometric intuition and rigorous proofs of geometric theorems.
Exam dates: There will be three 50 minute exams during the semester and a final exam. Books, notes, calculators are not allowed on exams.
Exam #1, Fri. Sept. 19,
Exam #2, Wed. Oct. 15,
Exam #3, Wed. Nov. 12,
Final Exam, Thursday, December 18,
The final exam will cover the entire course. Please arrange any travel, etc., so that you can take the final on this date. Math 402 has a non-combined final exam. There will be no conflict exam given except for those few individuals who meet the official university criteria given in the student code http://www.admin.uiuc.edu/policy/code/article_3/a3_3-201.html
Missed exams: If you miss an exam, you will receive a 0 for your exam grade. The only exception is if you have a valid excuse for missing, such as a significant illness or a serious emergency. In this case, you must inform me before the exam, or, if this is physically impossible, then as soon as possible afterwards. In this situation, you will be given a make-up exam as soon as possible.
Assignments: Written homework will be collected a graded, approximately once a week. Assignments will be posted on the course webpage. I normally do not accept late homework, except in the case of a valid excuse (see Missed exams). You should inform me ahead of time in this case. Oversleeping, getting too busy, etc. don`t count as valid excuses.
Projects: Each student will do a project on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor. The project grade will be based on a written report and a poster presentation. Students may work alone or with one other person. In the case of two people working together, they will collaborate on a single written report and class presentation and both will receive the same grade for the project. More information about the project assignment can be found on the course webpage.
Course grade: Your course grade will be determined as follows:
Homework, 20%
Project, 15%
Exam #1, 15%
Exam #2, 15%
Exam #3, 15%
Final Exam, 20%
You will be able to check your homework and exam grades at Score Reports, which is the Math Department`s gradebook program. There is a link to it on the course webpage. This will be available about two weeks into the semester. Please check Score Reports regularly to make sure everything is correct and tell me promptly about any errors. You are responsible for keeping all of your graded work so that any discrepancies in recorded grades can be settled.