Course syllabus
(If this page is the only page you can see, please go to the Home page in the menu to the left. If you cannot do so, but you should be registered on the course, please contact Dag Wedelin - see below for mail address.)
About the course
The course is mainly intended to strengthen your mathematical thinking, and your ability to apply such thinking in applications, and in your continued studies. The focus in not on mathematical knowledge in the traditional sense, but on the often implied abilities needed to effectively be able to apply any mathematics you already know, and efficiently be able to learn new mathematics. The most important parts are mathematical reasoning, problem solving and mathematical modelling. Important aspects such as using the computer to support your mathematical thinking, and to be able to communicate with and about mathematics are also integrated in the course. It is our experience that independently of your prior level of experience with mathematics, the course provides a deeper perspective in all these areas.
The core of the course is a number of carefully selected problems, where you by working in an investigative way develop your abilities. We also have lectures which provide a broader understanding, follow-up and perspective. The problems will engage you in mathematical thinking both within mathematics itself and in different realistic applications, and in this way the gap between mathematical theory and relevant applications is bridged.
The overall structure of the course is given by the weekly modules:
1. Introduction
2. Functions, equations and geometry I
3. Functions, equations and geometry II
4. Mostly optimization
5. Mostly dynamic systems
6. Mostly probability and statistics
7. Mostly discrete mathematics
8. Conclusion and final report
The learning objectives are found in the official course plan. The course plans for the different course codes are similar.
For detailed information about the modules see the Modules page.
Contact details
Dag Wedelin (examiner and course responsible) dag at chalmers.se
Alexey Pavolotskiy (teacher modules 3 and 4)
Birgit Grohe (teacher) birgit.grohe at cse.gu.se
Kiana Kade (TA) kiana.kade at chalmers.se
Lovisa Hagström (TA) lovhag at chalmers.se
Denitsa Saynova (TA) saynova at chalmers.se
Anton Matsson (TA) antmats at chalmers.se
Karl Griphammar (TA) gusgripka at student.gu.se
For administrative questions about assignments, groups etc., contact NN (first see the general instructions).
Student representatives:
TKGBS Isa Wessén isawessen at gmail.com
TKGBS Jakob Westerback jakobwest98 at gmail.com
Information about being a student representative.
Schedule
In 2021, the course will be campus-based, although there will be elements of blended learning, with prerecorded lecture clips etc. The schedule varies slightly from week to week, see the TimeEdit schedule and the specific information for each module. There will be some common lectures with another course with the same overall structure, while the problem modules and their supervision - which form the core of the course - will be adapted to each course. Please be attentive to the schedule for your course.
Examination and grading
The course is examined continuously module by module through submissions and by attending compulsory activities.
Each module is graded based on a qualitative assessment. Within the course we use the informal scale (Sufficient/Good/Very Good) and intermediate combinations. For a description on what we expect for different grades, see the general information on the Modules page.
Grades are assigned as follows. For the first two modules, we will just use pass/not pass. For subsequent modules, the qualitiative grades Sufficient, Good and Very Good are related to the Canvas numbers and the Chalmers/GU grades as follows:
- Sufficient (40-59 in Canvas/3/G)
- Good (60-79 in Canvas/4/G)
- Very Good (80-100 in Canvas/5/VG)
The Canvas numbers are a way to numerically encode the qualitative grade in the Canvas grade field, and have no direct relationship to any proportion of correctly answered questions. For a normal Sufficient grade we would write 50, but the lowest possible passing level for a module is 40. We will typically grade the modules in steps of 5, so for example 75 indicates an upper-level "Good" and 80 indicates a borderline grade between Good and Very Good. Additionally, we may write the code 8 when your submission has not yet passed, and 9 to indicate that the main submission passed.
To pass the course all modules must pass. The final grade is based on a weighted sum of the graded modules, where the final report is given a slightly higher weight than the other modules. The weighted sum is translated to a final course grade according to the table above. If you are close to a grade boundary, you can discuss with the main teacher at the end of the course, and you will be given an opportunity to improve (there is no point in doing this as the course proceeds, only at the end). Please note that before all assignments have passed, the final Canvas score may be misleading.
If you should not complete the course in time, and need to come back next year, it is in your best interest to keep copies of your solutions to enable future assessment.
Course literature
There is no compulsory course literature. Reading instructions will be provided in connection to the modules.
Changes made since the last occasion
Main changes 2021:
- The course is again given on-campus.
- We allow both two- and three-person groups.
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|