CMSC203 Discrete Structures, Sections 0201, Fall 2006

News Archive

• [Wed Dec 27 14:37 2006]  The final exam scores and the letter grades for the course have been uploaded to the Blackboard site.

• [Tue Dec 19 11:18 2006]  Scores from everything except the final exam have been uploaded to Blackboard. Please check the scores against your own records and notify the instructor of any discrepancies ASAP.

• [Mon Dec 04 11:20 2006]  Homework 13 posted.

• [Mon Nov 27 23:39 2006]  Homework 12 posted.

• [Tue Nov 21 12:40 2006]  Oops forgot to post HW11, here it is: Homework 11.

• [Thu Nov 09 11:48 2006]  Two slides from lecture this morning showing an algorithm and the proof for finding a vertex x in a connected undirected graph G such that removing x from G does not disconnect the graph: slide1.jpg (70kb) and slide2.jpg (64kb). Actually, it's 1 slide and 1 page from my sloppily written notes. In any case, observe how using loop invariants simplifies the argument that the algorithm really works.

• [Thu Nov 09 01:11 2006]  Homework 10 posted.

• [Wed Nov 01 19:12 2006]  Recall from the syllabus that no new homework will be assigned this week, so you can concentrate your efforts on the midterm exam.

• [Tue Oct 31 11:38 2006]  Midterm Exam: The midterm exam will be given next Tuesday, November 7 (as scheduled). Please be on time. The topics of the questions on the exam (and the estimated time allotted to each question) are:
  1. Knights vs knaves puzzle (10 min)
  2. Indirect proof (10 min)
  3. Proof by induction (20 min)
  4. True/False questions on functions, sets and big-O notation. (10 min)
  5. Graphs: work with a new definition (10 min)
  6. Graphs: short proof (15 min)

• [Mon Oct 30 21:38 2006]  Syllabus updated to reflect slippage in the schedule.

• [Thu Oct 26 11:40 2006]  Trace your intellectual heritage on the Mathematics Genealogy website. Start here and work back to Gottfried Leibniz (who "invented" calculus), although there is a weak link between Lagrange and Euler. A second branch leads back to Carl Gauss (C. Felix Klein had two PhD advisors.)

• [Thu Oct 26 11:32 2006]  Homework 9 posted.

• [Thu Oct 19 11:46 2006]  Some external links mentioned in today's lecture:
  
  
  • Here's a web page with a Java applet that shows the embedding of K_3,3 on a torus (1-holed donut): url.
    The applet lets you turn the torus to see how the vertices are connected.
    
    
  • Some video clips showing a sphere being turned inside out:
    
    
    • From the Geometry Center at the University of Minnesota: url
      This is an earlier method.
      
      
    • A newer method has "minimal energy". Here's a link to a RealPlayer streaming video (with narration): url
      
      
    • England vs Croatia: Gary Neville/Paul Robinson's own goal: url

• [Thu Oct 19 00:26 2006]  Homework 8 posted.

• [Tue Oct 17 11:50 2006]  [This note was also sent out by email. -R.]

  Your scores in this class so far have been uploaded to the class Blackboard site. If you log into Blackboard, you should be able to see the individual scores for HW 1-5, Quiz 1 and Quiz 2. Please check these scores against your own records especially if you have turned in late homework or requested a regrade. If you notice any discrepancies, please let me know ASAP.

  Disclaimer: I am not using the Blackboard site to record your grades. I will only upload the scores every few weeks. Uploading the scores from my Excel spreadsheet is a cumbersome process. My spreadsheets are the "master" copy of the scores.

  So far we have 5 homework assignments graded. At 2 points each, the 5 homeworks are worth 10% of your final grade. The two quizzes are worth 7 points each, for 14% of your final grade. Thus, we have 24% of your final grade in place.

  The "weighted total" field of your grades should report a value between 0 and 24, reflecting the points you have accumulated so far. (You should not see a "Total" field, but if you do, the value is not meaningful.) For your convenience, these are the values for 90%, 80%, 70% ... of 24 points

       100% of 24 points = 24.0 points
        90% of 24 points = 21.6 points
        80% of 24 points = 19.2 points
        70% of 24 points = 16.8 points
        60% of 24 points = 14.4 points
        50% of 24 points = 12.0 points
        40% of 24 points =  9.6 points
  

  FYI, the class average (for the 32 students who took Quiz 2) is 18.54 points (= 77.27% of 24 points). The standard deviation is 3.44 points (= 14.32%).

• [Thu Oct 12 13:43 2006]  Here's the link to the slides on "Reasoning About Code" that I "borrowed" from the MIT course on Java programming.

• [Thu Oct 12 13:27 2006]  Homework 7 posted.

• [Wed Oct 04 16:16 2006]  Homework 6 posted.

• [Thu Sep 28 14:04 2006]  Syllabus updated to reflect slippage in the schedule.

• [Thu Sep 28 00:28 2006]  Homework 5 posted.

• [Wed Sep 20 23:04 2006]  Homework 4 posted.

• [Thu Sep 14 00:39 2006]  Homework 3 posted.

• [Wed Sep 06 23:10 2006]  Homework 2 posted.

• [Thu Aug 31 11:35 2006]  Homework 1 and the pirates/pizza write up is available in PDF: hw1.pdf.

• [Wed Aug 30 22:06 2006]  Course description and syllabus available in PDF: handout1.pdf
  A hard copy will be distributed in class on the first day.

• [Wed Aug 30 21:50 2006]  Note: Be aware of the schedule of in-class quizzes listed in the syllabus!

• [Wed Aug 30 22:50 2006]  Office hours on Tuesday, September 5 has been moved to 12noon-1pm.

• [Wed Aug 30 21:45 2006]  Web page up.