MTE 211, Structures of Geometry, 4 credits—Fall 2007

• Detailed syllabus for the course.
  
  
• Place and Time: Tue, Thu at 1:00–2:47 PM in SFH 168.
  
  
• Office hours: Tue 4:00–5:00 PM, Wed: 1:00–2:00 PM, or by appointment (SEB 347).
  During office hours I let everyone who showed up into my office and discuss questions in a round-robin manner.  If you need to meet me at a different time, ask me for an appointment.  According to university policy I will use your official OU e-mail to reply.  If you are using non-OU e-mail, always provide me with your OU e-mail address.
  
  
• Textbook: A Problem Solving Approach to Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, by Billstein, Libeskind, and Lott, 9th Edition (Pearson, Addison/Wesley, 2007). The material will include most of Chapters 9–12.  You are expected to have a copy of this textbook. A copy of the textbook, the student solutions manual, and alternative textbooks are available on 2-hour reserve at Kresge Library at the circulation desk (under MTE 211).  The student solution manual may be helpful, but it is not required for the course.
  Mapping of the textbook between the 9^th and the 8^th edition in html and in PDF format (Chapters 9–12).
  Errata for the textbook.  If you find a mistake in the textbook not in that list, I will give you 1% extra credit (up to 4% maximum).
  
  
• Course Objectives: This course gives an informal approach to geometry including topics from Euclidean and transformational geometries.  Stress is placed on topics close to the elementary school curriculum such as measuring, ruler and compass constructions, symmetries, congruence and similarity, and figures in two- and tree-dimensional Euclidean spaces.
  
  
• Grading Policy: Your course grade will be based on the percentage scores you achieve on the quizzes, projects, midterm exams, and the final exam.  There is no fixed grading scale for this course.  The following list shows the lowest possible grade that a given percentage score will earn (the grade may be higher than this): 95% -> 4.0; 80% -> 3.0; 65% -> 2.0; 50% -> 1.0.
  
  
• Homework assignments: Homework will be assigned regularly, but it will not be collected or graded.  I encourage you to work in groups and discuss the problems and their solutions with each other.  We will discuss those problems in class that many of you indicate to have trouble with.
  

  Week	Date	Reading	Assignment
  14	Dec 6, Thursday	—	—
  	Dec 4, Tuesday	Section 12-3	Section 12-2: 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 24, 27, BT Section 12-3: 2, 3, 4
  13	Nov 29, Thursday	Section 12-2	Section 12-1: 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13a, 16bc, 19, 21, 30
  	Nov 27, Tuesday	Section 12-1	Section 11-5: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 15, 19, 35, 39, 50
  12	Nov 22, Thursday	—	—
  	Nov 20, Tuesday	Section 11-5	Section 11-4: 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14, 27
  11	Nov 15, Thursday	Section 11-4	Section 11-2: 19–21, 26, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 38, 41, 53 Section 11-3: 1, 2, 8, 9, 11, 14, 23, 34
  	Nov 13, Tuesday	Section 11-3	Section 11-1: 23, 25, 28, 31 Section 11-2: 1, 3, 7–9, 12, 13, 16, 17
  10	Nov 8, Thursday	Section 11-2	Section 11-1: 6, 9, 10, 16, 17, 21
  	Nov 6, Tuesday	—	—
  9	Nov 1, Thursday	—	—
  	Oct 30, Tuesday	—	Section 10-4: 24, 25, 29, 31, 35, 42, 44
  8	Oct 25, Thursday	Section 11-1	Section 10-4: 1, 2, 4, 8–11, 16
  	Oct 23, Tuesday	Section 10-4	Section 10-3: 5–11, 24
  7	Oct 18, Thursday	—	Section 10-2: 15, 18, 22, 27, 28, 30, 34
  	Oct 16, Tuesday	Section 10-3	Section 10-2: 1, 2, 5, 7–10
  6	Oct 11, Thursday	—	—
  	Oct 9, Tuesday	—	—
  5	Oct 4, Thursday	Section 10-2	Section 10-1: 17–19, 29, 33, 34, 37
  	Oct 2, Tuesday	Section 10-2	Section 9-5: 1, 3, 7, 10, LA Section 10-1: 1–6
  4	Sep 27, Thursday	Section 10-1	Section 9-4: 13–15, 24, 30 Section 9-5: 1, 3, 7, 10, LA
  	Sep 25, Tuesday	Section 9-5	Section 9-4: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10
  3	Sep 20, Thursday	–	Section 9-3: 26, 31, 33, 34, 36
  	Sep 18, Tuesday	Section 9-4	Section 9-3: 12, 13, 15, 16, 20
  2	Sep 13, Thursday	Section 9-3.	Section 9-2: 1, 2, 4–6. Section 9-3: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9.
  	Sep 11, Tuesday	Section 9-2.	Section 9-1: 13, 14, 20
  1	Sep 6, Thursday	Sections 9-1–9-2.	Section 9-1: 2, 5, 7–10
  	Sep 4, Tuesday	—	—

  
  
• Quizzes: There will be three half-hour quizzes based on the homework assignments.  The tentative dates for them are September 25, October 23, and November 20 (all Tuesdays) at the beginning of the class.  Together they will be worth 10% of your final grade.  No make-up quizzes will be given, but the worst one will be dropped.  Bring a calculator, a straitedge, and a compass for these quizzes.  Scores will be available on Moodle.
  • Quiz #3
  • Quiz #2
  • Quiz #1
  
  
• Midterm Exams: There will be two midterm exams, scheduled on October 9th and November 6th (both Tuesdays).  Each of these exams will be worth 10% of your final grade.  During these exams you may use a calculator but no textbooks or notes.  Scores will be available on Moodle.
  • Midterm Exam #2
  • Midterm Exam #1
  
  
• Projects: There will be two or three projects during the term to provide you opportunity to learn from each other.  You will need to form project teams of two or three students, and then it will be your responsibility to organize meetings so you can work together on the projects.  In case of conflicts or disagreements you may change the formation of teams (splits, mergers, team of one student will be acceptable).  No team is allowed to discuss the projects with another team.  The projects overall will be worth 10% of the final grade.
  • Project 3
    Due date: Thursday, Nov 29, 2007.
  • Project 2
    Due date: Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007.
  • Project 1
    Due date: Tuesday, Oct 2, 2007.
  
  
• Final Exam: The Final Examination is comprehensive and it will be worth 60% of your final grade.  You will need to make an appointment to take it during December 10–14 (Monday–Friday) in 542 SEB.  The Final Exam will have a written and an oral portion, and your grade will be based on both. 
  Topics for the Final Exam.
  The schedule is available on Moodle.
  
  
• Extra Credit: There are two ways to earn extra credit in the course:
  • Find a mistake in the current edition of the textbook not listed in the Errata.  You will get 1% extra credit for each new mistake (up to 4% maximum).
  • Do a mapping for a couple of sections between the 8^th and 9^th editions of the textbook. 
  
  
• Material covered:

  Week	Date	Material covered
  14	Dec 6, Thursday	Questions about Final Exam
  	Dec 4, Tuesday	Section 12-2: All isometries can be obtained from translation, rotation, and reflection.
  13	Nov 29, Thursday	Section 11-5: Mass, Temperature Section 12-1: Isometries of the plane
  	Nov 27, Tuesday	Section 11-5: Volume
  12	Nov 22, Thursday	Thanksgiving
  	Nov 20, Tuesday	Quiz #2, Section 11-4: Surface Area
  11	Nov 15, Thursday	Project 3, Section 11-3: The Pythagorean Theorem
  	Nov 13, Tuesday	Section 11-2: Area
  10	Nov 8, Thursday	Section 11-1: Measurements, conversion, perimeter
  	Nov 6, Tuesday	Midterm Exam #2
  9	Nov 1, Thursday	Section 10-4: Lines to midpoints and altitudes intersect in one point, application of similar triangles
  	Oct 30, Tuesday	Section 10-4: Minimal conditions for similar triangles, dividing a line segment into equal parts
  8	Oct 25, Thursday	Section 10-3: Construction of inscribed circle Section 10-4: Similarity
  	Oct 23, Tuesday	Quiz #2, Section 10-3: Construction of parallel, perpendicular lines and angle bisectors
  7	Oct 18, Thursday	Section 10-2: Properties of quadrilaterals
  	Oct 16, Tuesday	Project 2, Section 10-2: Construction of ASA and AAS triangles, discussion of Midterm Exam #1
  6	Oct 11, Thursday	Section 10-1: Construction w/straightedge and compass, circumscribed circle of a triangle
  	Oct 9, Tuesday	Midterm Exam #1
  5	Oct 4, Thursday	Section 9-5, Walks (paths), Euler tours (Euler Circuit)
  	Oct 2, Tuesday	Section 9-5, Graphs (networks)
  4	Sep 27, Thursday	Section 9-4 Surfaces
  	Sep 25, Tuesday	Quiz #1, Section 9-3: Sum of angles in polygons.
  3	Sep 20, Thursday	Project 1, Section 9-3: Sum of angles in triangles
  	Sep 18, Tuesday	Section 9-2: Polygons
  2	Sep 13, Thursday	Section 9-2: Angles
  	Sep 11, Tuesday	Section 9-1: Lines and planes
  1	Sep 6, Thursday	Discussion of Syllabus Section 9-1: Models of Geometry
  	Sep 4, Tuesday	–

  
  
• Academic honesty:
  Cheating is a serious academic crime.  Oakland University policy requires that all suspected instances of cheating be reported to the Academic Conduct Committee for adjudication.  Anyone found guilty of cheating in this course will receive a course grade of 0.0 in addition to any penalty assigned by the Academic Conduct Committee.  Working with others on a homework assignment does not constitute cheating; handing in a project that has essentially been copied from another team does.  Solutions found on the Internet or similar resource may not be used.  Receiving help from someone else (except possibly me) or from unauthorized written material during the final exam is cheating.
  
  
• Study Habits:
  I can only guide and help you by providing the framework for the course: you are responsible to learn the material. Most of this learning must take place outside  the classroom.  This will usually take two to three hours outside of class for each hour in class, but may take longer in some cases.  Our aim is to be able to apply the material to new situations, hence the focus is on understanding rather than memorizing (especially since understanding actually help remembering).  How can you achieve that?
  • Read the textbook:  This must be done carefully and slowly.  You may need to re-read and analyze sentences, since the text is very dense, unlike a novel.  You should have pencil and paper ready to work with while reading to draw pictures and fill in omitted steps.  Understand and learn the definitions and the important theorems.  Read the relevant sections and work on the homework assignments before we discuss them.
  • Ask questions:  In class, during office hours, or in the Academic Skills Center.  If you have difficulties or get stuck on a problem, get it clarified as soon as possible.  If you make a mistake, rework the problem with the idea that you will avoid similar mistakes later.
  • Do the homework assignments:  This should be done before we discuss them, so that you can ask about the problems you had difficulty with in class.
  • Review the material regularly:  It will take time and practice to digest and really understand the new concepts and theorems.
  • Study with others:  discuss solutions to problems with your classmates, e.g. in study groups.  In such cases make sure that you follow the policy guidelines of the course.
  • Practice taking the exam:  It is very different solving problems using your notes and the textbook in a leisurely manner then doing the same without help under time constraints.  You need to practice solving problems in exam-like conditions to be able to perform well on quizzes and exams.

Last update on Dec 6, 2007.