Math 412A: Algebra for Teachers

Professor William McGovern;  TA Mark Contois
Winter 2010



Phone: 206-543-1149
Email: mcgovern@math.washington.edu
Office Hours: W 10:30, Th 1:30 and by appointment
TA Office: Padelford C-430
Office Hours: W 2:45-3:45 Th 4-5
Instructor:
Monty (or William) McGovern
Office: Padelford C-450
Lectures:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 1:30-2:20 p.m., Miller Hall 302A
Required Text:

Integers, Polynomials, and Rings by Ronald Irving (Springer, 2004)

Prerequisites:
2.0 in Math 411 or the equivalent. 
Exams:

1st Midterm: Friday, January 29, in class.
2nd Midterm: Wednesday, February 26, in class.
Final: Monday, March 15, 2:30 p.m. (Note: this is one hour later than our normal starting time.)

Grading:
Your grade will be based on homework (40%) and two midterms and a final exam (each 20%).The final exam will be comprehensive. If you must miss an exam because of illness or emergency, I would very much appreciate advance notice. The homework will be done in groups in class; the groups will turn in their assignments jointly. Each problem counts 10 points; if your group receives less than 7 points for any problem, then it will have the opportunity to redo and resubmit it for more credit. In all tests you may use two letter-sized pages (one sheet front and back of notes in your own handwriting). .
Incompletes and Drops:
The grade of Incomplete will be given ONLY if a student has been doing satisfactory work until the end of the quarter and then misses the final exam for a documented illness, religious reason, or family emergency.
What to Expect:
This course is the second of a two-quarter sequence. In this quarter we will try to get through what we can of the last eight chapters of the book, omitting some topics along the way. The main theme will be the extension to polynomials of what we did last quarter for integers: division with remainder, Bezout's Theorem, congruences, and ``prime polynomials" (actually called irreducible). The format will be very similar to last quarter's: some but not much time lecturing, most of the class time spent working on problems in groups.

             Homework

Due:
Problems:
Jan 8
Exercises 9.3-7: read 9.1-3
Jan 15
Exercises 9.8-12: finish Chapter 9
Jan 22
Exercises 10.2,5,9,10,14: read 10.1-3
Jan 29
study problems, first midterm: Exercises 11.5,6,7,11,13,17: read 11.2,3
Feb 5
Exercises 10.40, 11.11, 12.1,4,5: read 10.7,11.4,12.1
Feb 12
Exercises 12.6-10: finish Chapter 12
Feb 19
Exercises 13.1,4,7,9,11: read 13.1-3
Feb 26
study problems, second midterm: Exercises 13.10,13,17,18,19; read 13.4
Mar 5
Exercises 14.3,4,18,21,25: SKIM Chapter 14
Mar 10 (no regrades)
Exercises 16.9-13: read Chapter 16


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