Math 464 (sect 001) - Theory of Probability -
Prof. Kennedy - Fall '14
Course home page:
www.math.arizona.edu/~tgk/464_f14/index.html
Instructor:
Tom Kennedy (Professor, Mathematics)
email: tgk@math.arizona.edu
(Please include 464 in the subject line)
Office: Math 718, Phone: 626-0197
Office hours:
There will be office hours held by both the professor and by
an undergraduate teaching assistant. They
will be announced in class and
posted on the web.
Course place and time: TR 2-3:15, ENGR 308
Textbook:
The text for the course is
Probability - An Introduction by Geoffrey Grimmett and Dominic Welsh.
I will also post my lecture notes on the web.
Some other probability books
Material covered: Roughly chapters 1-8 of Grimmett and Welsh.
A more detailed syllabus will be on the web.
Prerequisites: The official prerequisite, Math 322 or 323,
is meant to insure that you have the "mathematical
maturity" needed for the course. If you have not had one of these course
you must talk with me.
Homework: Homework is the most important part of the course.
The only way to learn mathematics is by doing it. Homework
assignments will be posted on the web as a pdf file.
You should feel free to work together on the homework.
I encourage this, provided you are truly working on it together.
Just watching someone else do it and then copying the answers
will almost surely lead to a disaster when you take the exams.
Google can probably find the answer to just about every homework problem
I can make up, but I strongly discourage looking up solutions on the web.
Homework grading:
Homework will be assigned almost every week. It will typically be assigned on
Thursday and due the following Thursday at the start of class.
No late homework will be accepted. Your lowest
two homework scores will be dropped. If you do not turn in a homework
for any reason including illness, it counts as one of your two dropped
homeworks.
Exams: There will be two in-class exams and a comprehensive
final. The final is Wednesday Dec 17 from 3:30 to 5:30
in the same room as the classes. Under no circumstances will the
final be given earlier to any student.
The in-class exams are tentatively scheduled for Oct 9 and Nov 20.
Grading:
The weighting for course grades will be
- 20 % for the homework
- 20 % for each of the two in class exams
- 40 % for the final
An overall course average of 90% or better will be an A,
80% or better will be at least a B, 70% or better will be at least a C,
and 60% or better will be at least a D.
Missed Exams: If you miss one of the two in-class exams for
a legitimate reason, your grade will be computed by weighting the
homework 25 %, the other in-class exam 25 % and the final 50 %.
A make-up exam will not be given for one missed exam.
In the highly improbable event that you miss both in class exams for
legitimate reasons,
I will give a make up for the second exam at my convenience.
For a missed exam I will ask for documentation
of the legitimate reason, e.g., a note from student health if you are sick.
Dropping the course:
Monday, Sept 8 is the last day to drop without a W.
Sunday, Nov 2 is the last day to withdraw through UAcess.
After Nov 2 you need the Dean's signature to withdraw and
this requires extraordinary circumstances.
Incompletes: The University General Catalog says that incompletes
may be awarded only at the end of the semester, when all but a
minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed.
It should not be awarded if the student must repeat the course.
I will vigorously enforce this policy.
In this course, the only scenario I can envision that would
lead to a grade of incomplete is that you cannot take the final exam
due to illness.
Attendance: You are responsible for all announcements made
in class including announcements of exam dates, homework due dates,
as well as all material covered in class.
Code of Academic Integrity :
Students are responsible to inform themselves of University policies
regarding the
Code of Academic Integrity
and
Student Code of Conduct
Accomodations based on disability:
Students planning to use accommodations based on disability for this course
should privately identify themselves to the instructor by the end of the
first week of class. These students must also provide the instructor with
a letter of identification from the Disability Resource Center.
This letter should include information about any accommodations you will
need for the class, including accommodations for test taking.