MT140: Basic Mathematics Subject profile

Lecturer

Dr Peter Adams.

You can contact me, or obtain information:

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any difficulties or questions. It is best to resolve any issues promptly, and not leave things until they become insurmountable. I also welcome suggested improvements, or even nice comments if you like what we are doing.

Classes, credit and contact times

MT140 is worth 12 credit points.

The University is moving towards flexibility in teaching subjects. Thus there will be some variation in class contact during some of the weeks. Please read this carefully.

There are nominally about five contact hours scheduled for each week. There are two separate streams for MT140 in first semester. One stream is at the St Lucia campus, and the other is at the Ipswich campus. When reading the timetable information below, make sure you choose the correct campus!

St Lucia campus

Ipswich campus

There are NO tutorials in the first week!

Assessment

Assessment will consist of a mid-semester exam, weekly assignments and a larger exam at the end of semester.

All items of assessment are compulsory. However, your final grade will be calculated as the maximum mark out of the three components, subject to the maximums and minimums described above. What this means will be explained clearly in lectures: if you don't understand, ask!

Let

Then the formula we use is F = max(E, 0.9E+A, 0.7E+M, 0.6E+M+A)

Textbooks

The text book for this subject is called Introductory Mathematics, with authors Petocz, Petocz and Wood.

You can complete MT140 without buying the textbook, however it is a useful reference tool and you may purchase it if you wish: it is likely to be of help to you in various sections of the subject, and gives you an additional source of information. It is especially useful for the second half of the subject, and contains many examples involving calculus. It is designed specifically for university students who have no more than a grade 10 background in Mathematics.

There are three copies available in the PSE library; call number is QA11.P4 1992.

If you wish to read more books on mathematics, then the following ones are recommended for reference. They are all available in the PSE library (Engineering Building).

Calculators

You are welcome to use a calculator, if you like. However, they are not essential. If you can do basic arithmetic, then you shouldn't need one. In the questions, we'll tell you any funny numbers you need. (For example, we might say "Note that sin(30)=0.5".) Certainly, you will not be allowed to take fancy programmable calculators into exams.

Surfing the Web

MT140 is on the web! If you have an internet connection, then you can use your favourite web browser to go to the address

http://www.maths.uq.edu.au/~pa/mt140

This address is the homepage for MT140, and includes such useful things as The MT140 forum is a place of information and enlightenment, in which you can ask questions, and (hopefully) be given answers. You type your question, and it will be sent anonymously (via email) to the lecturer, who will post the question and answer to a list. You can check the list of questions and answers for useful information.

The web page can be accessed from anywhere on the internet, so you can use your own connection, or one at the University. In particular, the Mathematics Department has two computer laboratories (Rooms 5.19 and 4.20) from which you can access these pages. Just walk in when there is not a class there, and run either Netscape or Internet Explorer to start surfing.

It is not essential for you to use the web: all information from there will also be given in lectures. But if you miss something, or want to ask an anonymous question, or just love browsing the web, then this is a useful place to visit.

General comments

The University expects that most students will need to spend about 12 hours per week on this subject, including class contact. A few people may need to take a bit longer, while some might manage with a little less time each week; it will depend upon your mathematical background. You are welcome to attend additional tutorials if you feel it will help.

In practice, some (small) part of the lecture times will probably be devoted to working problems together and clearing up common basic difficulties. The tutorial times will be devoted to working through the exercise sheets individually, going over extra examples jointly, and receiving both individual and group help with problems.

The problem sheets will parallel the lecture work. Answers to exercises from the text book appear in the back of the book. Answers to assignment questions and proble sheets will be available with your marked assignments, when these are returned to you. Copies of the overhead projector slides are also provided as notes. Extra examples will be worked at various times in lectures, and these you may need to copy down.

Subject Outline

The following is intended as a rough guide only. The time spent on each section will vary a bit, and we may add or delete a few sections as semester progresses.

The following extra information may be of use to you.

For students with a disability or special needs

Any student with a disability who may require alternative academic arrangements in the course is encouraged to seek advice at the commencement of the semester from a Disability Adviser at Student Support Services. If you have any special needs or requirements with which I can help, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Purpose or Goal

The aim of this subject is to allow any student to reach a suitable standard of mathematics (roughly equivalent to Senior Mathematics B) in order to enable them to tackle a first level Mathematics subject such as MT150 and then MT151, as well as MT161 and/or MS150. It will also enable students to cope with a reasonable level of mathematics in their other (non mathematics coded) subjects.

Assumed background

The assumed prior knowledge of MT140 is really only basic arithmetic; no knowledge of algebra is assumed, although for those knowing none at all, a significant amount of work early in the subject will be required.
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