MA244 Combinatorics
Spring 2001

Meeting times: Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00am - 12:15pm
Prerequisites: MA 118 Calculus II and MA 114 Discrete Mathematics

Text: Applied Combinatorics, 3rd Ed. by Alan Tucker, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

HEY!  We now have some Homework Solutions for you to look at! Also, here are the Homework Assignments and Extra Credit, or at least most of them!

Policy:  This will be a READING course!  Each class you will be expected to have read the section in assigned for that day.  And if you didn't understand parts (or any) of it, then guess what?  You get to ask questions about it in class.  The point of this is to teach you how to read math texts, which is a very difficult and valuable skill.  As a result, there will be almost no lecturing in class.  Instead, class time will be devoted to (1) answering questions, (2) discussing the text, (3) going over examples, and (4) students or groups of students presenting solutions to problems.

In addition to doing the reading you will be required to try a few (usually 2) homework problems before each class.  These are required!  No, you won't be handing them in, but I'll be checking everyone off to make sure they do them.
 

The following is the reading assignments for the first almost the whole course:
 

#1  Jan 18, Thurs : First Day of class.  Introduction, what's going on, and some funness.

#2  Jan 23, Tues : Read section 1.1.  Do problems 2 and 4 for class.

#3 Jan 25, Thurs : Read section 1.2.  Do problems 2 and 6 (b) and (c) for class.

#4 Jan 30, Tues : Read section 1.3.  Do problems 2, 6 for class.

#5 Feb 1, Thurs : Read section 1.4.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#6 Feb 6, Tues : Read section 2.1.  Do problems 2, 10, 15 for class.

#7 Feb 8, Thurs : Read section 2.2.  Do problems 2, 16 for class.

#8 Feb 13, Tues : Read section 2.3.  Do problems 1, 9, 10 for class.

#9 Feb 15, Thurs : Read section 2.4.  Do problems 2, 10 for class.

#10 Feb 20, Tues : Read Appendix A.4 (page 419).  Do problems 2 and  8 for class.

#11 Feb 22, Thurs :  ******   Test #1 !!!

#12 Feb 27, Tues : Read section 5.1 AND 5.2.  Do problems 2, 6 (page 176) and 4 (page 189) for class.

#13 Mar 1, Thurs : Read section 5.3.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#14 Mar 6, Tues : Eeeeek!  We had a snow day!  GARRRR!

#15 Mar 8, Thurs :  Read section 5.4.  Do problems 2, 6 for class.

#16 Mar 13, Tues : Read section 6.1.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#17 Mar 15, Thurs : Read section 6.2.  Do problems 2, 14 for class.

Spring Break!

#18 Mar 27, Tues : Read section 6.3.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#19 Mar 29, Thurs :  Read section 6.4.  Do problems 2, 6 for class.

#20 April 3, Tues : Read section 7.1.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#21 April 5, Thurs : Read section 7.2 and 7.3 .  Do problems 3 and 6 in 7.3 for class.

#22 April 10, Tues :  ******  Test #2 !!!

Easter Break!

#23 April 17, Tues : Read section 8.1.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#24 April 19, Thurs : Read section 8.2.  Do problems 2, 4 for class.

#25 April 24, Tues : Read section  10.1.  Do problem 2.

#26 April 26, Thurs : Read section 10.2. Do problem 2 for class.

#27 May 1, Tues :   Last Class!  Read section 10.3.  Do problems 1 and 2 for class.

May 8, Tuesday: The Final Exam! Whooo-hoo!