Class Information

Course Title Math 455 (Section 001): Logic

Instructor Kameryn Williams

Website http://kamerynjw.net/teaching/2020/math455/

Email kamerynw [ at ] hawaii ( period ) edu

Class Hours Monday/Wednesday/Friday 13:30–14:20

Room Keller Hall 301

Office Hours Monday/Wednesday/Friday 13:30–14:00 via Zoom Monday/Wednesday 14:30–15:30; Friday 9:00–10:00

Office Do not come to my physical office. Physical Science Building 305

Textbook Mathematical Logic, 2nd ed., Ebbinghaus, Flum, and Thomas (ISBN: 978-1-4757-2357-1)

Course Description A system of first order logic. Formal notions of well-formed formula, proof, and derivability. Semantic notions of model, truth, and validity. Completeness theorem.

Prerequisite 321 or graduate standing in a related field or consent. Recommended: 454.

This syllabus has undergone significant changes due to the coronavirus. I reserve the right to make additional changes as necessary.

Grading Policy

There will be four portions of your final grade: one midterm exam, one final exam, and homework, and blecture participation. The breakdown of your overall grade is as follows.

  • 30% Final

  • 30% Midterm

  • 30% Homework

  • 10% Blecture participation

Grades will be assigned based upon the standard F to A scale. I do not anticipate this happening, but I reserve the right to make later adjustments to the scale.

  • [93,100] A;

  • [90,93) A-;

  • [87,90) B+;

  • [83,87) B;

  • [80,83) B-;

  • [77,80) C+;

  • [73,77) C;

  • [70,73) C-;

  • [67,70) D+;

  • [63,67) D;

  • [60,63) D-;

  • [0,60) F.

Attendance Policy

As we have moved to online-only, traditional lectures will be replaced with asynchronous blectures (= “web lectures”, compare blog = “web log”). You are expected to participate in these, and this participation will account for 10% of your overall grade for the class.

The pace will match that of the pre-coronavirus class, with three blectures per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each blecture will consist of a reading augmented with short videos, and this will be communicated to you via the Laulima site for the course. Each blecture will also ask you to answer a few questions about the material. You must turn in your answers by 11:59pm of the day of the blecture to receive the grade for participation.

You are expected to attend every class, for that is an important part of learning the material. I advise you to exchange contact info with classmates so that you can share notes in case you have to miss class.

Exams

There will be one midterm and one final exam. The format of the exams will be announced later.

  • Midterm: (tentatively) Friday, Mar 13

  • Final: Monday, May 11, 14:15–16:15

Homework

Assigned homework can be found on the course website. Homework will be collected once a week, on Fridays. The work you turn in is expected to be your own.

Each homework assignment will be graded on the following rubric.

  • 8 points: Mathematical correctness. To get full points you should demonstrate mastery of the concepts. Your proofs should be largely correct, with any errors being minor.

  • 2 points: Mathematical communication. Doing mathematics is not just about having a valid argument, but also presenting it in a way that a reader can follow. To get full points your arguments should be presented clearly, showing competency at mathematical writing.

Occasionally, I may assign an optional, more difficult “reach” exercise as part of a homework assignment. A correct write-up of a solution to the reach exercise will be worth a bonus 1 point for your grade for the homework.

Collaboration is both allowed and encouraged. However, you should write your own solutions. It is okay to discuss the ideas with your fellow classmates, but simply copying their solution constitutes cheating. If you do collaborate on a problem, state so at the beginning of your solution. If you consult additional references or books, you should list them as well.

Problem sets will not be accepted past their deadline. If you will not be in class, then arrange to turn in your homework by email or through a classmate, or get it to me earlier. If you do not fully finish, then turn in your partial solutions. It may be that you do not see how to completely solve a problem, but you see how it could be solved if you could prove an intermediate result, or you can prove a special case of the problem. In this case, clearly indicate the nature of your partial solution. This may result in partial credit or, for the really tricky problems, full credit. On the other hand, just writing something does not guarantee credit. You must demonstrate understanding of the material.

That said, I understand that life gets in the way and sometimes homework doesn’t get done on time. To accommodate this, I will drop your lowest one homework score from the final calculation for your grade. If there is something that will cause you to miss more than one week of homework, please get in contact with me as early as possible.

Here is a short example of how I would like to see homework written up. In case you want to use it as a template, here is the .tex source file.

Virtual Office Hours

Virtual office hours will be held via zoom thrice a week at 1:30–2:00 Monday/Wednesday/Friday. See the Laulima site for information on how to access.

Academic Honesty

Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.

KOKUA Program and Accessibility

Students with disabilities are legally entitled to reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to education. Any student who feels they may need accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the KOKUA Program, the UH Mānoa office for students with disabilities. I am committed to providing students with equal access to this class, and am happy to work with you and KOKUA to ensure reasonable accommodations in my course. Because the accommodations offered are usually forward-looking modifications rather than mitigating poor grades you may have already received due to your disability, it is important to get in touch with the KOKUA Program as soon as you can. Further information and contact details can be found on their website.

The ADA defines a disability as a medical condition that substantially limits one or more major life activities—including things like walking sleeping, taking care of yourself, learning, and regulating your emotions—or major bodily functions. If you have a medical condition—including mental health conditions—that significantly interferes with your schoolwork, you probably qualify. You do not need to disclose your condition to your instructors to receive accommodations.

Counseling and Student Development Center

The Counseling and Student Development Center offers confidential counseling services to support students with personal, academic, or career concerns.

Food Vault Hawaiʻi

Groups on campus have organized a food pantry, free to use for students at UH Mānoa. All registered students with a valid student ID may access the food pantry. Further information, including location and schedule, can be found here or on this facebook page.