The Organization of this Course, Spring 2011

7jan10


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Here is just a summary of the administrivia,
and you'll need to dig deeper into these webpages for more detail.


Homepage



http://new.math.uiuc.edu  
is the portal homepage for my geometry courses and many other things. 
You only need to remember "new.math.uiuc.edu" and you might set the browser
in your lab account to this address.  From there, links lead to the other 
pages, including his one. Find the administrivia for the most
recent intramural blended  
version of  MA403  here. For this
extramural online edition of the course certain modifications are described
here.  All course pagese are  accessible to anyone on the web, but some 
links are password protected.


Syllabus


The syllabus for the course is a variable document. The current subject matter
is announced in detail. Details on future events are filled in as we get
closer to them. Consult the syllabus frequently to see what is going on in the
course.


Online Lessons


All course material is in \textbf{these lessons} on the web.
The approach to the material and the exposition in these lessons
is the \textbf{official one}. Information contained in the textbook
or that you find online at other websites are useful supplements, but they are no substitute.


In the extramural course it is essential 
that you study the lesson well before attempting to do the
exercises to leave time for consultation with your mentor.
You earn class-participation credit for submitting questions 
about the lesson on \texttt{Classcomm>Messages}. The more specific
and apt you make the initial subject line the more points.  This helps me
and the mentors to optimize our time to discussing only those parts of the 
lesson you did not understand. 

Labs


In the intramural course, Friday \textbf{quiz and computer labs} 
are supplementary to the course. For the extramural course it may be possible 
to arrange for some simultaneous, interactive online sessions 
in \textit{Elluminate} provided a common time can be determined. 
Be sure you indicate your timezone on the 
weekly schedule in the 
infosheet. For the rest you should set aside a block of time per 
week to learn and practice the the mechanics of LaTeX for submitting 
homework and how to use KSEG for constructing geometrical 
figures to illustrate your work. 
Specific lab assignments will require you to submit the LaTeX and/or 
KSEG source file for detailed inspection and help.



Homework


Homework is due on the day for which it is 
assigned. Late homework should be submitted, but may earn reduced credit. 
All homework should be done on scratch paper and entered by hand into your 
journal prior to composing it in texWins. 
You should obtain and keep a 
printable (.pdf) file of the homework. When the \texttt{Classcomm submission} 
feature has been enabled, you will upload the .pdf file, and any other 
files requested. Your mentor can process it from there.  
When consulting your mentor, have your journal handy. 
The homework will be graded and returned with comments via Classcomm.
There is a 2 week grace period during which time you may submit your 
homework in any readable manner you wish. But thereafter it must conform
to the announced specifications.  



Classcomm


This is the course management system we use for the course. You have password
protected access to this. Except for the public forums, your transactions with
Classcomm is available only to you and your course mentor.


texWins


This is a web-based tool for writing up homework and reports in
LaTeX, which is the standard mathematical typesetting system used in all modern sciences and 
technologies. In it you compose text
with mathematical notation, which you can preview until you get it right.
You upload figures you made with KSEG, and texWins will insert these into
the LaTeX .pdf document. You should fetch this document and submit it to
Classcomm for grading.


Journal



This is a good quality, bound notebook,
 different from your class and lab notes,
which contains information you thought about and entered by hand. The journal
purpose is to have a record of your homework independent of Classcomm, and
summaries of course content, entered in a timely fashion. You journal is not
only a great souvenir of the course, but a study aid for the exams and final.
You may bring only your journal to the midterm and final examination for
reference.


More Advice



You will find more detailed advice on how to do things in this class in
the \textbf{Advice} pages on this website.










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