Instructor
Prof. Marco Varisco,
[email protected]
(how to email a professor),
www.albany.edu/~mv312143/
Office: ES-120C,
Office Hours: M 2:45–5:35, W 2:45–4:05, or by appointment.
Schedule
W 4:15–7:05 in ES-143.
Prerequisites
AMAT 220 and AMAT 326/327, or equivalent courses.
Description
The algebra of polynomial and rational expressions, equations and inequalities has long been the core of school mathematics, and will be the core of this course. The main goal of the course is to enable you to articulate connections between algebraic topics taught in secondary school and more advanced topics in modern algebra, not all of which you will have seen before this course. In particular, you should be able to describe how various topics in the secondary curriculum represent special cases of more general algebraic theories. The course should help you build a knowledge base to critically examine the content of secondary school textbooks and curriculum materials, to respond to unexpected student questions about the course content, and to be able to explain to your students connections between content in the secondary curriculum and relatively recently discovered applications in the real world. But perhaps the most important goal of the course is that you should gain a greater appreciation for the subject you will be teaching.
Textbook
A Concrete Introduction to Higher Algebra, Lindsay
N. Childs.
Third Edition, Springer, Undergraduate Texts in
Mathematics, 2008.
[Remarks and errata]
Content
Chapters 7, 13–18, 23–27.
Grading & Examinations
- 1/3 – Class presentation on a topic related to the course material.
- 1/3 – Quizzes.
- 1/3 – Final project.