MATH 5200 Problem Solving - Fall Winter 2002-2003
assigment no 4, comments
assigment no 5, comments
assigment no 6
assignment no 7, comments
assigment no 8
Suggested Projects
Instructor: Martin
Muldoon,
N513 Ross, e-mail:
muldoon@yorku.ca
Schedule: The classes are from 6 to 9 pm on Thursdays,
in S525 Ross from
September 19 to November 14 and January 9 to April 17. There will be a class in
Reading Week (Feb 20) but not in the School Break (Mar 13).
This is a course in the
MA Program in Mathematics for Teachers
Calendar Description:
This course aims to develop the student's problem
solving ability by examining a variety of challenging problems from famous
collections. Emphasis will be placed
on problem-solving techniques of wide applicability, such as recursion and
iteration methods, generating
functions and power series, transformation methods, vector methods (both
geometric and algebraic), and
congruences.
As well as specific mathematical techniques, we will discuss general approaches,
typically a list such as: "Guess and Check", "Look for a Pattern", "Make A
Systematic List", "Make A Drawing Or Model", "Simplify the Problem". There will
be an emphasis throughout the course on teaching problem solving and items in the
school curriculum will be looked at from a problem-solving point of view. We will
use the MAPLE computer algebra to generate special solutions to help in
discovering solutions in more general situations.
The following books will be helpful in giving
an idea of the contents of the course.
Web resources related to the course
Evaluation: There will be assignments
due as follows
worth a total of 50%, a
major project
(worth 30%). Here are some
suggested projects.
Attendance and participation will count for 20%.
Further information will be posted here as it becomes available
Revised April 13, 2003