MAT 215-800: Intro. to Discrete Math - Spring 2023

Instructor: Elizabeth Wilcox
Class: MWF 8:00 am - 8:55 am
Room: Shineman 132
Syllabus | Calendar | Drive Folder

• MAT 215-810, 820:
• Announcements
• Useful Resources
• LaTeX + Writing Tips
• Student Wellness

Announcements

• No class on Friday, 5/5. Good luck during the last few days of classes and finals week!
• Assignments to turn in:
  • PS#13 (optional), PS#12 rewrites, and PS#11 rewrites can all be turned in on Wednesday, 5/3 during office hours, on Thursday 5/4 during office hours, or in our classroom on Friday 5/5 from 8:45-8:55.
• Office hours remaining:
  • Wednesday, 5/3 from 1:50 - 2:45 in 450 Shineman (Elizabeth)
  • Thursday, 5/4 from 6 pm until 8 pm in OLS (Brittney)
  • Monday, 5/8 from 10:30 - 12 in 174D MCC (Elizabeth)
  • Tuesday, 10 - 11 in 450 Shineman (Elizabeth)
  • Tuesday, 5/9 from 6 pm until 8 pm in OLS (Brittney)
  • Wednesday, 5/10 from 11:30 am until 12:30 am in 450 Shineman (Elizabeth)
• Final Exam: Friday, May 12 at 8 am in 132 Shineman. It's a two-hour exam, same format as the previous two exams ... just a bit longer.

Getting in touch with your instructor...

• Email: I actually read and respond to emails. I check email frequently during the workday but limit my email time after work hours and on weekends. Please be patient, but if I don't reply by the end of the next working day then feel free to email me again – there's always a chance your first email got buried under urgent emails (or spam ...) and I appreciate the nudge!
• Office Hours: M. 1:50 - 3:30 in 174D MCC, W. 1:50 - 2:45 in 450 Shineman, F. 1:50 - 2:45 in 446 Shineman
  Just stop by! You don't need an appointment to drop by my office. If you want to meet over Zoom, you will need to make and keep an appointment, because I am uncomfortable sitting on Zoom with no one there. I am also available over Discord (username in the syllabus, behind the SUNY Oswego login...). Join the Math Club Discord server (link in syllabus) and send me a message! We can use the voice channels and the text channels to stay in contact. Just be aware that if you message me in Discord, I won't respond until I'm free to check my phone ... in person obligations come first.
• Other times: If my office door is open then you are welcome to stop in and ask if I'm available. I may be! If I'm busy, we can make an appointment to meet up later on.

Useful Resources

• an excellent set of translation tips for writing English statements in logical symbols
• a table of symbols and their commands in latex
• Textbook: Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof, Version 2.1 by Ted Sundstrom. This text is available online as a downloadable pdf, or a print-on-demand paper version. There are also a few additional resources in the Course Folder.

Learning Objectives

1. Students learn to state and apply the important definitions of the course.
2. Students learn ways to assess mathematical statements as true or false.
3. Students begin to develop their proof-writing skills.
4. Students learn to apply several proof schema.
5. Students develop comfort in using mathematical notation.

Problem Sets

On each homework set, you'll need to use latex to typeset 1-2 problems. You can either download a latex compiler and editor, or you can use one of the free online editors. The two online editors that I'm familiar with are CoCalc and Overleaf. If you have a Mac, you can download the MacTeX package; this includes the compiler and an editor called TeXShop. If you have a PC, you have to download a compiler (Miktex) and an editor separately (TeXstudio, TeXworks, TeXmaker, ...). If you are "hard core" then you can also write up your .tex files using your favorite basic text editor and compile manually using command line prompts. I use TeXworks, a free editor that with versions for both PC and Mac.

The option you choose depends on how much you enjoy installing and setting up software on your computer. The different editors are pretty much equivalent.

Writing Tips

Writing mathematics well is not as easy as it first seems. Many established mathematicians are poor writers, but even good writers struggle to improve their writing skills every time they write. You can read more about the expectations of good writing in mathematics by checking out this article: A Guide to Writing Mathematics by Dr. Kevin P. Lee. We'll talk about my specific expectations as we work through the semester, but please know that you are always welcome to ask and you will be given options to rewrite and improve your work. We all have room to improve our writing!

Your Writing Assignment grade will be based on (1) typesetting and (2) good writing skills. There will be a separate grade for mathematical correctness. Sometimes people write well but don't actually do the assignment ... other times people can get the right answer but explain it poorly. That's why the grades are separated. Questions? Come talk with me!

Getting Started with LaTeX

There are many online and free ways to access latex, including Overleaf, CoCalc, LatexBase, Papeeria, Authorea, ... Each one is different. There are also the editors/compilers that you can download and install on your own machine (such as MiKTeX and MacTeX for compilers, and editors like TeXworks). Stop by office hours if you want some assistance in getting started.

LaTeX Fun

You can exchange the commands in the box below for your own and render it on demand. It's kind of fun! Press the Render! button when you're ready.

\text{Here is a matrix:}\\ \begin{pmatrix} a & b & c \\ d & e & f \\ g & h & i \end{pmatrix}\\ \ \\ \text{Here is a truth table: } \\ \begin{array}{|c|c||c|c||c|c||c|} \hline P & Q & \lnot P & \lnot Q & P \land \lnot Q & \lnot P \land Q & (P \land \lnot Q) \lor (\lnot P \land Q) \\ \hline T & T & F & & & F & \\ \hline T & F & F & T & & & \\ \hline F & T & & F & F & & T \\ \hline F & F & & & F & F & F \\ \hline \end{array}