Discrete Mathematics
Hans Georg Schaathun

General Information

Discrete Mathematics

General arrangements and requirements

The module will be based around the following learning activities:

Videos (lectures) for home study
Typically 5-10 minute chunks. The total volume may vary, with varying amounts of supporting material. The core material will typically amount to ½h per session. In some cases, the slides may be available additionally as PDF. (more info)
Exercise sheets.
This is the most important means of learning, and the exercises can be used individually or in groups.
Class room sessions, 2h each, three times a week
We will discuss selected problems from the exercise sheets as well as any questions arising. The sessions assume that the assigned videos have been watched.
Student-led tutorials (compulsory assignments)
Every Tuesday session (except the first one) will be used for student-led tutorials, where every student has to solve practice problems ahead of class and be prepared to present them to the rest of the class. This is compulsory work; see the complete requirements for details.
Textbook
A textbook is recommended as a supplementary activity. You should get one of the two recommended books in the reading list.

Feedback is welcome whether it concerns technical or paedagogical issues. I can revise the teaching material if you tell me about the problems. By experience, technical faults (like missing sound), incomprehensible teaching, and incompatible file formats all occur. I expect to have to fix them on short notice, so please just ask.

The module is worth 10 ECTS credits. By official standards, that corresponds to a workload of 250-300 hours. The weekly load may depend a little bit on the exam date, but 16-20 hours per week is a fair assumption. You can just as well schedule that much in your timetable, or expect to fail.

In particular, it is important to watch assigned videos prior to each session, to be prepared for discussion and problem solving. You will not always understand everything in the video; much will come to you as you work on exercises and engage in class.

All the teaching material is covered by copyright and related legislation. Redistribution in any form or forum is prohibited. You may use it as you like for personal purposes only.

Read the detailled requirements carefully.

Technical issues

Please alert me ASAP in the event of technical problems. In most cases I can sort it out quickly.

The exercises are presented both on the web pages and in PDF documents. The web version uses MathML, and unfortunately most browsers lack sufficient support. Mozilla Firefox is widely recognised as having the best MathML support. If you cannot use Firefox (or Iceweasel) you should check the maths rendering against the PDF files, and use the PDF files in the event of discrepancy.

Calendar

The module is planned with a twelve-week syllabus. Weeks 13 and 14 will be used for exam revision. There will be 13 student-led and compulsory exercise class, including one which considers past exam problems (17 November).

The module is structured in twelve one-week chunks, starting with homework for Wednesday and ending with the student-led (compulsory) tutorial. Thus we have six stages per week.

  1. Homework for Wednesday
  2. Wednesday class
  3. Homework for Thursday
  4. Thursday class
  5. Practice problems for the student-led tutorial
  6. Student-led tutorial on Tuesday
The very first Tuesday is used for practical information about the module.


Hans Georg Schaathun / hasc@hials.no