MTH 190 "Topics in Problem Solving"

Course Number	Time	Location	Instructor	Office Hours	E-mail
33248	M 16:50-18:05	1106A Hylan Building	Dan-Andrei Geba	MW 9:15-10:15 or by appointment, 806 Hylan Building	dangeba@math.rochester.edu

Description

This class is primarily aimed at students with an interest in the problem solving approach to mathematics, and, in particular, at participants in the college-level mathematics contests taking place this fall:

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition (79th edition, 12/1, 10:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00);
Virginia Tech Regional Mathematics Contest (40th edition, 10/27, 9:00-11:30).

Our main goal will be to discuss and solve challenging, non-standard mathematical problems, which rely mostly on the material covered in the MTH 171-174 course series. We will particularly work on improving:

our background of problem-solving techniques;
our reaction time to decide upon a suitable strategy to solve a certain type of problem;
our writing skills needed for mathematical arguments.

Grading

The grade for this course is entirely based on classroom attendance (35%), a number of written assignments (50%), and participation in the Virginia Tech competition (15%). Since the problems discussed in this class might be hard to be solved on one's own, each written assignment will be graded strictly on effort, i.e., students need to submit complete solutions or ideas for these problems.

In determining the letter grade, the regular scale will be used: A for 90% and above, B for at least 80% and below 90%, etc.

You are responsible for knowing and abiding by the University of Rochester's academic honesty policy. Any violation of academic honesty will be pursued according to the specified procedures.

Extra resources

1. The following books on problem solving will be on reserve at the Carlson Library reserve collection:

"Putnam and Beyond" by Razvan Gelca and Titu Andreescu.
"Problem-Solving Through Problems" by Loren C. Larson.

2. You might also find useful the largest online forum dedicated to problem solving, The MathLinks Forum, organized by Valentin Vornicu.

Weekly schedule


Date	Lecture	Written assignment
9/10	Warm-up problems
9/24	Polynomials	Due on 10/8: write partial/complete solutions or ideas for three problems from the polynomials handout.
10/8	Calculus	Due on 10/22: write partial/complete solutions or ideas for three problems from the calculus handout.
10/22	Sequences and series	Due on 11/5: write partial/complete solutions or ideas for three problems from the sequences and series handout.
11/5	Number theory	Due on 11/19: write partial/complete solutions or ideas for three problems from the number theory handout.
11/19	Linear algebra	Due on 12/3: write partial/complete solutions or ideas for three problems from the linear algebra handout.
12/3	Discussion of the 2018 Putnam contest