Course Syllabus
Math 112 - Cryptography
Section 51
Fall 2013
Learning Outcomes: Learning outcomes for this course include the following:
Workload: Expect to spend at least 6 hours per week outside of class working on this course. Many students will require more time than this to keep up. Also be aware that the workload may vary somewhat from week to week.
Ghost Map: As part of the Natural world LLC we will be reading the book Ghost Map. We will typically be reading one chapter a week which we will discuss on Mondays. See the course calendar for details.
Each discussion day, every student will be expected to have read the selected chapter and be ready to discuss. If for some reason you have not read you must bring me a note saying so and I will not call on you during discussion. If you fail to bring a note but are not ready to discuss or if you bring a note more than once during the class you will lose participation points. Questions about the book may appear on quizzes or exams.Participation: Each student is expected to be a productive member of the class. This means you should expect to attend each class period and be prepared to discuss the material. Excessive absence or unpreparedness will result in deduction of points in this area. Participation will be worth 50 points of your final grade.
Preceptorial Requirement: The Center for Student Success offers over 20 different presentations specifically designed for incoming freshman and to be a companion to the preceptorial program. A schedule of these workshops can be found at www.sandiego.edu/usdcss/programs/workshops/. In addition, there will be several seminars and presentations related to the book The Ghost Map. A tentative schedule is located at http://www.sandiego.edu/documents/cee/2013GhostMapSchedule.pdf and more details will be given later. You will be required to attend 3 of these events (any combination of Student Success workshops or events related to the book) during the semester and for two of them write a one-page reflection about what you learned or think about the topic. You must do one of these early in the semester and the reflection is due October 18 and the other two may be done at anytime and are due on the last day of class (Dec. 14). However, you should not put this off to the end of the semester as you will probably be busier then. You must complete these to receive any participation points. You may (but are not required to) use the forms provided by USDCSS located at http://www.sandiego.edu/usdcss/programs/workshops/session_reflection/. These will be part of your participation grade.
Homework: Besides the reading homework mentioned above there will also be written exercises. The written problems will be posted on the course website and turned in once a week. You are allowed and indeed encouraged to work on your homework with other people, however what you turn in should be your own understanding of how to do the problems and should not just be a copy of someone else's work. Copying someone else's work (whether it is another student's or a published solutions manual) is plagiarism and will be dealt with as such. Your homework will be expected to be neat, clear and complete. Make sure to show all your steps and it should be clear how to get from one step to the next.
The written homework will generally be collected on Fridays.
I understand that sometimes things will come up, such as illness or a major project in another class, that will prevent you from doing a homework set. I will therefore drop one homework set. I will not, however, accept late homework.
The homework for the course will be worth 100 points of your total grade.
Quizzes: There will be at least 3 short quizzes during the course. The date of each quiz will be announced ahead of time. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. Make-up quizzes will not be given, but one missing score will count as the score that is dropped. Each quiz will be worth 40 points.
Exams: There will be three one hour-long exam given on Oct. 23. Please make sure you will be in class those days. If you have a legitimate excuse you may use your final exam score to make up for missing exam scores. The material covered on the exam will be announced on the website and in class at least two class periods ahead of time. The exam will be worth 100 points.
There will be a comprehensive 2 hour
final given on
Friday, December 20 at 11:00 AM.
The final is worth 150 points.
Project You will each be part of a group of 2-3 students working on a research project in cryptography, history of computing, or a topic inspired by the Ghost Map. You will write an 8-12 page write up of your project and put together a poster to present as part of an LLC-wide dinner and symposium on December 10 from 4-6 PM. Please put this on your calendars so that you will be able to attend this event. More details on deadlines will be given during the semester. The project will be worth 50 points.
Grading: A tentative grading scale is as follows:
| Range | Grade | Range | Grade | Range | Grade |
| 93%-100% | A | 90%-92% | A- | ||
| 87%-89% | B+ | 83%-86% | B | 80%-82% | B- |
| 77%-79% | C+ | 73%-76% | C | 70%-72% | C- |
| 60%-69% | D | 0%-59% | F |
This scale may be lowered if it is deemed to be unfair, but is guaranteed not to be raised.
Calculator: You may use a non-programmable (so non-graphing) scientific calculator for all exams and quizzes. If you do not have one you can rent one from the mathematics department. It cost $15 to rent and you get $10 back when you return it.
Disability: For accommodations due to a disability please contact me within the first 2 weeks.
Academic Honesty: Cheating and plagiarism are in violation of USD's academic integrity policy and are taken very seriously. Make sure you are aware of this policy. See http://www.sandiego.edu/honorcouncil/integrity.php for more information.
Getting Help: If you are falling behind in this class please see me immediately. This class moves quickly and you will find yourself helplessly lost if you fall too far behind. For day-to-day help, see me in my office hours or work with another student in the class. There is a free math tutoring center in Serra 310. For more information see: http://www.sandiego.edu/cas/math-cs/student_resources/math_center.php. Also lists of individual paid tutors are available in the mathematics department. If you cannot come to my office hours, you can make an appointment with me as well.
Have a Good Semester!