COMP 280: The Mathematics of Computation

Spring 2003; see most recent

Course Information
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Course Information

This course provides an introduction to the use of mathematics in modeling and reasoning about problems in computer science. The course will focus on ideas and techniques that are widely used in Computer Science, and will present these ideas in action. Emphasis will be given in linking the material of the course with applications. The class will cover Mathematical Induction and Recursion, Methods for Proofs, Logic, and selected topics from Counting and Computability.

Prerequisites

All students should have taken COMP 210 prior to taking 280. If you have not had COMP 210, please see the instructor at the beginning of the semester.

Class: DH 1064, TTh 10:50 -- 12:05
Instructor: Ian Barland
Course Newsgroup: rice.owlnews.comp280
Text (required): Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications (5th edition) by Kenneth Rosen (publ. McGraw Hill; ISBN 0-07-242434-6).
We'll cover most of the material in this great classic. Lots of exercises and solutions.
Text (optional): Nuts and Bolts of Proofs, Cupillari (publ. Academic Press; ISBN 0-12-199451-1).
A nice little book with lots of helpful examples.
Text (optional): The (New) Turing Omnibus, Dewdney (publ. W.H.Freeman; ISBN 0-7167-8271-5 ).
Two-page write-ups to let a Comp upperclassman competently discuss all cocktail-conversation CS topics, even if they never took a class in (say) neural nets or randomized algorithms. (More in-depth than what the average layperson probably wants.)
Supplementary material will be provided for the Logic part of the course.

Course Requirements and Grading:

Grade
Homeworks (roughly weekly) will comprise 50% of your grade; a midterm and final will each be worth 25% of your grade. Homeworks may involve writing small programs.

The class is not graded on a curve. That is, it's possible for everybody to get an A ... (or, nobody :-o). At the end of the semester, I calculate all the points. I have a pretty good idea of what quality of homework corresponds to what grade, so i take a sampling of students, look at their work, and conclude "ah, such-and-such points represents B work", etc. Usually the cutoff for an A (of any sort) is somewhere a few %s below 90%, and goes down by 10% after that. But this formula may vary a bit from course to course.

There may be small amounts of extra credit; this is truly extra. i decide where the grade cut-offs will be without looking at any extra credit. So even if everybody else does extra credit except you, that can't possibly lower your grade.

Homework Policy
Homeworks and exams in this class will be graded for correctness, clarity, and style.

You are encouraged to discuss the homeworks with your fellow students and the class staff.
However, you need to write down your own solutions, 30min+ after any such discussions, and without referring to any scratch work or notes from such discussions. (Class lecture notes are okay, of course.)
Copying homework, or knowingly allowing somebody to copy your homework, is verboten.
Clearly list the names of all your collaborators (excluding class staff).
Do not refer to previous years' exams or homework solutions, unless they are posted on this semester's web page (~comp280/03fall/); practice problems will be distributed.
Exams are individual work with the standard honor pledge; no collaboration will be tolerated.

Late Policy
Homeworks will be accepted late for up to three 24hr days (incl. weekends), with a penalty of 10% of the points-possible per day (or fraction of a day). (Exception: the first 3hrs late is only 5% off (from the start of class). Turn in late homeworks at Professor Barland's office, with the late-penalty clearly marked, and you must include a pledge that you did not access in any way the solution set posted for that homework.

Occasional individual extensions might be granted, if you talk with me at least two days before the deadline; this will not be a regular occurence. Without such prior arrangement, no exceptions will be made except for (of course) exceptional reasons, e.g. severe sickness or a family emergency. "Projects due in my other classes" is not sufficient.

Disabilities

Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours; all discussions will remain confidential. Additionally, students will need to contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.

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Course Staff

	Name	Email	Phone	Office	Office hours (* = also by appt.)
Instructor:	Ian Barland	ian@	x3843	Duncan 3117	Tu 13:30-14:30, We 15:00-16:00 (*)

TAs & Labbies:	Kostas Bekris	bekris@	x2286	Duncan 3111	Tues. 15:00-17:00 *
	Andrew Ladd	aladd@	x3889	Duncan 3119	MW 13:00-14:00 *
	David Schwarz	dschwarz@	x2286	Duncan 3111	Tues. 12:15-14:15 *
	Venkat Chandrasekaran	venkatc@	--	Ryon 102 (back)	Sun. 19:00-20:00, Mon. 20:00-21:00
	Jett Jones	fnjord@	--	Ryon 102 (back)	Tu. 19:30-20:30

Email sent to comp280@ will go to all the above. Any changes to the office hours will be posted on the newsgroup and reflected on the course homepage.

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