Syllabus for Math 461, Section C13-14 and D13-14

• Instructor: Richard Sowers
• Office: 347 Illini Hall
• Phone: (217) 333-6246
• email: r-sowers@illinois.edu. Note: this email may be forwarded to an off-campus email address.
• Home page: https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~r-sowers (this syllabus can be found there)
• Office Hours: M 8-10 and by appointment
• Class meets: C13 meets MWF 10--10:50 in 156 Henry and D13 meets 11-11:50 in 2 Illini Hall

Text: Ross, A First Course in Probability, 2010 (8th ed.), Prentice Hall
Course topics: Introductory Probability (see also the Course Catalog Entry for Math 461.

Grading policy: Final grades will be determined on the basis of the total numerical score (0-500 points) achieved on exams and homework. Relative weights are:

• Final exam: Final for C13-14 is 7-10 PM, Monday, December 13, and final for D13-14 is 8-11 AM, Thursday, December 16
• Hourly exams: September 22, October 29, and November 17. These exams will be given in class.
• Quizzes: There will be 12 surprise quizzes, each worth 10 points. The two lowest scores on these quizzes will be dropped. Quizzes will regularly be motivated by homework problems or the previous lectures. There will be NO makeup quizzes (don't even ask). Note: a very useful habit in college is to be in your seat and thinking about a subject when a class starts. Although it is of course unsettling for the students, having surprise quizzes at the beginning of a class is a very simple way of ensuring that this happens.
• Homework: Homework will be assigned frequently and collected (or get them to my mailbox by the end of class). A random subset will be graded. Homework questions will be a preferrred source of quiz questions. Late homework will not under any circumstances be accepted (don't even try). I realize that the answers are in the back of the book. You will not get credit for simply repeating this answer; I want you to explain how to get this answer. I will attempt to announce new homework and other things on my Twitter Feed.
• This class moves fast. This is bad for the students and the instructor. However, we have to cover what we have to cover so that you won't be shortchanged in other classes which use this material. If you lose focus for more than about 2 days, it becomes really difficult to catch up.

Richard Sowers Department of Mathematics College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 273 Altgeld Hall, MC-382 1409 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 USA Department Main Office Telephone: (217) 333-3350 Fax (217) 333-9576