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COMBINATORICS
(MATH 3166-001, Spring 2019)

Instructor: Gábor Hetyei
Office: Fretwell 335F, Phone: 687-1045, E-mail: ghetyei@uncc.edu
Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00-4:30 pm and Tuesdays 4:30-5:20 pm, or by appointment.
This syllabus is subject to minor corrections and updates at any time! Office hours were updated on Sunday, January 13, 2019.
Text: Combinatorics, a Guided Tour by David Mazur. ISBN: 978-0-88385-762-5. There is also an electronic version.
Prerequisite: MATH 2164, or consent of the department.
Topics: We will focus on basic counting principles (Chapter 1), combinatorial proofs (Chapter 2), algebraic tools (inclusion-exclusion, recurrences, generating functions; Chapter 3) and famous number families (binomial coefficients, Fibonacci and Lucas numbers, Stirling numbers; Chapter 4). Time permitting and depending on interest we may look into counting equivalence classes (Chapter 5) and partially ordered sets (Chapter 8).
Test Dates:
Test 1 Tuesday, February 12, 2019.
Test 2 Tuesday, March 26, 2019.
Final Exam Tuesday, May 7, 2:00 -4:30 pm. (Double-check in the UNCC Exam schedule !)
The final exam will be cumulative, consisting of two parts. The first part will be mandatory, covering only material taught after Test 2. The second half will contain questions reviewing the material taught before Test 2. This part will be optional, if left unanswered, I will substitute the average of your test scores.
Attendance: Required. Each absence reduces your total score by 1% (not to exceed 3%). Furthermore, having 8 or more absences results in an automatic course grade of F!
Homework: Homework will be assigned nearly every day, and will be usually collected on Mondays. I will make an effort to regularly post the homework on the webpage
http://webpages.uncc.edu/ghetyei/courses/3166/hw.html
In case of discrepancy, what I said in class is "official". A random selection of the assigned exercises will be graded. Past due assignments will be counted at the rate of 90% of their value. No credit will be given for solutions submitted after we discussed them in class.
Evaluation: Grades will be based on: 3% for attendance, 20% for the homework, 22% for each of the tests, and 33% for the final (22% for the mandatory part, 11% for the optional part).
Tentative grading scale: 90 - 100 % A, 75 - 89% B, 60 - 74% C, 50 - 59 % D, 0 - 49% F. (This scale is applicable only if you have 7 or less absences.)
Use of Canvas: Absences, homework and test scores will be posted on Canvas. The main purpose of posting these numbers is to provide continuous feedback during the semester and help avoid clerical errors. Students are expected to report such errors as soon as they detect them. The formulas built into Canvas will not be used. It will be the student's responsibility to compute their estimated course grade, using the percent weights stated in the previous section. To avoid any confusion, the "final grade" on Canvas will be set to zero and it is to be disregarded! After the final exam, course grades will be posted directly on Banner!
Class meeting: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 - 3:45 pm in Denny 215
Homepage: http://webpages.uncc.edu/ghetyei/courses/3166/index.html
Disabilities: UNC Charlotte is committed to access to education. If you have a disability and need academic accommodations, please send me your accommodation letter as early as possible. You are encouraged to meet with me to discuss the accommodations outlined in your letter. For more information on accommodations, contact the Office of Disability Services at 704-687-0040 (Fretwell 230).