MATH 23B-1: Introduction to proofs

Hi everyone,

As you have probably already discovered, I posted final grades on sage and LATTE last week. Here are some more details about the final and the course overall. 

It was a low-scoring final, with a mean score of 70.31% and a median score of 71.25%. The highest score was 109/120, and only two students scored higher than 90%. The question that most people did well on was the one proving a sequence converges to a given limit. The hardest questions were the one on combinatorics (this can be solved using induction, or by a combinatorial argument), and the one about finding errors in the given proof using the well-ordering principle (the proof was correct, there were no errors). 

The median grade in the course is 88.53 without extra credit, and 91.26 with extra credit. Here is a histogram of the course grades without extra credit. 

Two students got an A+ in the course (you can see their scores show up in the extreme right of the histogram above). For the other grades, the extra credit scores came in to play. The cutoffs for the other grades are (considering extra credit):

93+: A

89+: A-

86+: B+

81+: B

79+: B-

76+: C+

71+: C

There were no lower grades. 

I truly enjoyed this semester of proofs with all of you. Together we tried several new things -- some of them worked and some of them didn't. Thank you for participating in all of these experiments. My goal for the semester was to give you a taste of what working in advanced mathematics is like - it consists of working with other people, often disagreeing with them, learning new things by reading on your own, and more writing than you probably expected. I hope that this was achieved. 

Lastly, I hope you all have wonderful summer breaks, and hope to see you next year! 

Aru 

Hi everyone,

Here is one last request to fill out course evaluations for 23b on sage. Your feedback, especially any comments, are really valuable for me going forward as a teacher as well as for Brandeis and future employers to evaluate my teaching. The deadline for submitting evaluations is 5p tomorrow (May 12). 

The current response rate for our course is just 64%; I hope we can get it up to 100%! 

Thank you to everyone who's already filled out the evaluations, and thanks in advance for everyone about to do it later today! 

Best,

Aru

Hi everyone,

I've now updated your scores from the course (other than the final) on LATTE, including your extra credit points. Please take a moment to look over them and let me know if you spot any discrepancies. Note that LATTE does not add the extra credit points even though they are listed. Also, the GW scores take the peer evaluation into account. 

I'm about to start grading your finals, and I will post final grades tonight or tomorrow morning. 

Aru

Hi everyone,

It turns out that I will not be back in time for the final tomorrow. 

Our TA, Shahriar, will proctor the exam. He will be able to answer any questions. If for some reason he cannot, which I do not expect to happen, he will also be able to get in touch with me. 

The format of the exam is much like the midterm -- you should do the True/Falses on the exam sheet itself, and then staple the exam sheet to the other pages where you do the other problems. I've double checked that the questions are written clearly. My last piece of advice to everyone is to make sure to look at your previous PSs and GWs, and the practice problems. 

In the meantime, please feel free to send me questions on Piazza/email. I will also be responding tomorrow morning before the final. 

I'm sorry that I won't be there for the final tomorrow. It looks like I will be back in town by tomorrow evening, and in that case I'll be posting final grades by Thursday evening. 

Best of luck tomorrow!!!

Aru

Virtual office hour starts now! For the next 3 hours, I'll be online answering your questions on piazza. 

Virtual office hour starts now! For the next 75 minutes, I'll be online answering your questions on piazza. 

Hi everyone, 

I will be holding virtual office hours through Piazza over the weekend at the following times:

Saturday, May 7: 1230-145p

Sunday, May 8: 3-6p

By 'virtual office hour' I mean that I will be at my computer responding your Piazza questions as you ask them. I will also have office hours on Monday and perhaps Tuesday. I will announce the times soon. 

Other than these times, you are of course welcome to ask questions on Piazza/email at any time and I will address them promptly. 

Hope you're all having good finals!

Aru

Hi everyone,

I just posted solutions to PS6 on Piazza. Please take a look, particularly at questions 4,5,6, which had many common errors. I also posted PS6 grades to LATTE. Let me know if you would like to see your PS6 (I will then email them to you).

Title: PS6 solutions
http://www.piazza.com/class_profile/get_resource/ijbtl4aq2jc6ke/inv44ptal9y20d

You can view it on the course page: https://piazza.com/brandeis/spring2016/math23b1/resources