m310project

The following is a long list of what I am calling "Miniprojects". These are problems that are intended to be interesting, fun, and perhaps challenging, and might also preview later topics in this or other courses in Math or Computer Science. Some of the topics are just fun and games, some are very mathematical, a few are very applicable to computer science, so your interest level in each miniproject will vary depending on your own personal interests and on what you want to get out of this course. Therefore, I do not expect you to do every one of these miniprojects (although you certainly may if you wish!). The "Miniproject" component of your grade will consist of the best two scores you get on the miniprojects that you submit for each block of material, and the next best ten scores overall. There will be five blocks of material, which is determined by the content on each of the five regular exams, so twenty miniprojects will be counted towards your grade. Although I haven't written miniprojects for the entire semester yet, I do expect to write two or three for each section, sometimes more, which will mean that there will be somewhere between sixty and ninety choices available to you over the course of the semester. You may do as few as twenty miniprojects if you wish, or you may do all of them, or any number in between. This also means that if you do poorly on some of them, you may do extras to replace the poor score, although at least two scores will be kept from each block of material. If you want to minimize your work for the end of the semester, you are free to do the ten "freely chosen" miniprojects in the first part of the semester.

I intend for this part of your grade to pique your interest, be at least a little enjoyable, and to help your grade overall. However, in order for that to occur, you do have to keep up. I would expect each one to take anywhere from thirty minutes to complete to a couple of hours, depending on your interest, prior knowledge, and sometimes creativity. But this means that you won't be able to do all of your projects in the last week of the class, at least not if you wish to pass any of your final exams. Therefore, I will institute some due dates. The miniprojects for those sections covered on an exam will be due the class day after the exam. For example, Exam 1 will be on Friday, September 10 and I expect it to cover sections 1.1-1.5. Therefore, any of the miniprojects from sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, or 1.5 will be due on Monday, September 13. I chose this for the due date because you would otherwise have little to do (for this class anyway) at that time. However, to make the most efficient use of your time I would suggest that you look at the miniprojects for the sections as we finish the section, and do any that you like immediately. You may turn in the miniprojects early if you finish them early (I am not likely to grade them early, but I do promise not to lose them!). There will be five exams, so this will break the miniprojects into five chunks. A good rule of thumb is to do at least five miniprojects per exam. This will cover the minimum of two, the average of two of the "freely chosen" ones, and a spare in case of a bad grade. Note: The fifth regular exam is the last day of class before the final. Because I want to be able to return the projects to you with their grades, I am going to have the last bunch of projects due on Thursday, December 9th, by 4:30 pm (turned in to my office). They will be graded by Monday, Dec. 13, if you want to pick them up before the final exam on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

Your solutions must include a printout of the problem (or at least the first page) as a cover page, so that I know which one you are doing, and should be well-written and legible. If your handwriting is atrocious, this means that you might want to type them, but I do not require that they be typed, only neat and legible. My guess is that it will be rare for you to turn in your initial work - you will most likely have to clean up the scratch work, dead ends, etc. for a copy that is appropriate for grading.

Minimum requirement is at least two per exam.

Minimum goal is at least five per exam.

Extras will replace low scores, with at least two counting per exam.

Two will count per exam, and then the next best ten overall, for a total of twenty miniprojects.

Due the day after the exam on the relevant section.

Well-written, legible solution (not just an answer).

Include a printout of the miniproject statement.

Projects: This list is now complete.

Section 1.1 - Logic problem (note: You need to write out a solution, not just give the answer. See the handout for #65 for an example.)

Section 1.3 - Lewis Carroll (Note: You may submit this project two times if you wish.)

-----------------Any of the above miniprojects that you wish to do are due on Monday, September 13, by 4:30 pm. ------------

Section 4.1 - Modular Arithmetic

-----------------Any of the miniprojects from 1.6 through 4.1 that you wish to do are due on Thursday, September 30, by 4:30 pm. ------------

Note: This miniproject is worth up to four miniprojects. See the project description.

-----------------Any of the miniprojects from 8.1 through 9.2 that you wish to do are due on Monday, October 25, by 4:30 pm. ------------

-----------------Any of the miniprojects from 9.3 through 10.1 that you wish to do are due on Monday, November 15, by 4:30 pm. ------------

-----------------Any of the miniprojects from 10.3 through 11.4 that you wish to do are due on Thursday, December 9, by 4:30 pm. ------------