Course Info: NS-0216
Course | NS-0216 Math Experiments/Reasoning I |
Long Title | Mathematical Experiments and Reasoning I |
Term | 2017F |
Note(s) |
Textbook information |
Meeting Info | Cole Science Center 3-OPEN on M,W,F from 1:00-2:20 |
Faculty | Geremias Polanco Encarnacion |
Capacity | 13 |
Available | 6 |
Waitlist | 0 |
Distribution(s) | |
Cumulative Skill(s) | Quantitative Skills |
Additional Info | In this course students are generally expected to spend at least 6 to 8 hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time. |
Description | This course focused on skills rather than content. The skills emphasized were the essential ones needed to work in any area in which a quantitative background is required. We focused on the following: using computers to gain insight and develop intuition and to discover new patterns and relationships; using graphical display to suggest mathematical principles; testing and falsifying conjectures; exploring a possible result to see if it is worth a formal proof; suggesting approaches for formal proof; learning how to construct formal proofs; replacing lengthy hand-derivations with computer-based derivations; and confirming analytically-derived results. The topics studied were the means to our desired end: obtaining the skills described above. They came mostly from Number Theory. |