Who should take this class?: This course satisfies Divisional Studies in the MCS Division of CAS and mathematics/quantitative reasoning requirements of some other colleges in the University. If you are not a CAS student, be sure to check with your advisor or the advising office of your college to make sure this course will satisfy the requirements you need.
Prerequisites: No specific prerequisites beyond high school mathematics.
Goals: Our goal is to introduce the essential nature of three areas in the Mathematical Sciences: Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science. This course is neither a "techniques" class, nor a review of high school math. We will illustrate the types of problems addressed in the Mathematical Sciences and show how mathematics differs from the physical sciences.
Academic Conduct: Your conduct in this course, as with all BU courses, is governed by the BU Academic Conduct Code. A copy of the code is available here.
Some rules are obviout ("Don't copy from your neighbor's exam") while some are, perhaps, unexpected ("Submitting the same work in more than one course"), so it is worthwhile to review the code.
If there is a "Golden Rule" of academic conduct then it is to "Give Credit Where Credit is Due". That is, if you use or consult a source, including a book, journal, web page or person, then cite that source (i.e., give sufficient information so that someone reading your work could determined what information you used and be able to find the source). The details of the form necessary in citation varies greatly from subject to subject and even from assignment to assignment.
If you have any doubt about any aspect of academic conduct, ASK.
Text: None. Materials will be distributed to class and readings will be available on line or in the library. This implies that attending lecture is extremely important--you will not be able to read the book to catch up.
Technology: If you are reading this, you have successfully signed onto the course "moodle" page.
Go to HERE
Assignments, notes, and all other course information will be distributed via moodle and you will be responsible for the information posted here. You are encouraged to use the discussion forums to ask and answer(!) questions, make contact with other students for study groups or just discuss.
Information about office hour times and locations will be posted on moodle.
Grades: Your grade for this course will come from the following:
The course grade will be computed using the following: