Math 464 (sect 002) - Theory of Probability - Prof. Kennedy - Fall '18

Course policies and general information

Course home page and D2l: All course materials will be at
www.math.arizona.edu/~tgk/464_f18/index.html
The course has a D2L site which will only be used to record grades.

Instructor: Tom Kennedy (Professor, Mathematics)
email: tgk@math.arizona.edu (Please include 464 in the subject line)
Office: ENR2 S318, Phone: 626-0197 (do not leave a message, email instead)
Office hours: posted on the web.
Course place and time: MWF 1:00-1:50, Bio West 210

Course communication: You are responsible for any announcements made in class or sent by email to your official university email address.

Classroom behavior policy: I am supposed to write something obvious here like don't talk on your cell during class. More importantly, please ask questions in class! If you don't understand something, a lot of other students probably don't either, so ask about it.

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 can be found here
Material covered: Roughly chapters 1-8 of Grimmett and Welsh. A more detailed syllabus is 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.

Course objectives and learning outcomes: By the end of the course students should understand the concepts, definitions and theorems listed on the syllabus page. They should be able to solve conceptual problems involving these topics. This ability is measured by performance on homework sets and exams.

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 find or make up, but I strongly discourage looking up solutions on the web.

Homework submission: A hard copy of your homework must be turned in by the start of class on the day it is due, either in class or under my office door. Please do not turn it into my mailbox in the MATH building. You may submit one homework by email during the semester. If you do this by taking a picture of your homework, I must be able to read it!

Homework grading: Homework will be assigned almost every week. It will typically be due on a Friday and assigned at least one week before the due date. 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 in-class exams are Friday, Oct 5 and Friday, Nov 16.
The final is Monday, Dec 10, 1:00-3:00 in the same room as the classes. The in-class exams are not yet scheduled.

Grading: The weighting for course grades will be 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.

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.

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. DRC site

Absence and Class Participation Policy You should be aware of the UA policy concerning Class Attendance, Participation, and Administrative Drops. . UA policy regarding absences for any sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice will be accommodated where reasonable. Absences pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean Designee) will be honored. UA policy

Threatening Behavior Policy The UA Threatening Behavior by Students Policy prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to oneself. UA policy

Change to these policies With the exception of policies related to course grades and missed homeworks and exams, these policies may be changed with reasonable advance notice.