Back to Brice Loustau's web page.

Math 451: Abstract Algebra I (Fall 2017)

Contents

Syllabus

Download the course syllabus here. The syllabus contains essential information about the course (textbook, prerequisites, course description, material covered, etc.).

Note: This is the syllabus for Abstract Algebra I and Abstract Algebra II. Math 451 only covers Abstract Algebra I.

Textbook

The official textbook for this course is: A first course in Abstract Algebra (7th edition), authored by John B. Fraleigh, published by Pearson. See this link for the full reference.

Class time and location & Office hours

Class time and location:

Monday: 2:30-3:50pm, Hill Hall 202
Wednesday: 1:00-2:20pm, Hill Hall 202

Office hours:

Monday: 1:15-2:15pm, Smith Hall 308
Wednesday: 2:30-3:30pm, Smith Hall 308

Course policies

Grading policy

Your overall grade for the course will be a precise combination of:

1. Your global quiz grade $G_1$. There will be about 9 quizzes in the semester. Each quiz grade will be automatically scaled to a grade /100, and at the end all the quiz grades, dropping the lowest two, will be averaged to a global quiz grade.
2. Your global midterm grade $G_2$. There will be two midterm exams, whose grades will be automatically scaled to grades /100, and then averaged to a global midterm grade.
3. Your final exam grade $G_3$. There will be one final exam, whose grade will also be automatically scaled to a grade /100.

Note: Although your homework assignements will not be collected nor graded, they will often provide a basis for the quiz questions.

The formula for your overall grade $G$ for the course will be: $G = c_1 G_1 + c_2 G_2 + c_3 G_3$, where the coefficients $c_1$, $c_2$ and $c_3$ will be around $c_1 = 35\%$, $c_2 = 30\%$ and $c_3 = 35\%$. These coefficients may be subject to marginal change.

Finally, you will be assigned a letter grade for the course depending only on your overall grade $G$, according to the following table:

Note: There will be no exceptions to the grading policy described above.

Attendance & Excused absence policy

Attendance is mandatory: you are required to attend every class.

If you must miss a class for a legitimate reason, you are required to inform me as soon as possible and provide documentation for your absence. If you miss a midterm exam, there will not be automatically a make-up exam if the reason of absence is not serious or the notice is too short. There will be no make-up quizzes, even if you miss a quiz with a valid reason of absence.

Textbook vs Lecture notes

Although we will follow the outline of the textbook very closely, your lecture notes should always be your primary source of information. You can only be expected to know the contents of the lectures, unless you are explicitely asked to review specific segments of the textbook. Nevertheless, the textbook is a great secondary source of information and will be the main source of problems, which are of the utmost importance.

Calculator

You will never need to use a calculator in this course. Calculators will not be allowed during quizzes or exams.

General advice

Our goal is to provide all the resources necessary for you to succeed and learn great mathematics in the process, regardless of your background coming in. Nevertheless, you may find this course very challenging. Attending every class is absolutely necessary to meet the challenge but in no way will it be sufficient. The key to your success rests on yourself: it will require hard work, including hours of study, lots of problem solving, and your active involvement in learning both in and outside of the classroom. Of course, you will be assisted in your efforts, and I encourage you to reach me as often as you need.

Contact

My e-mail is brice@loustau.eu. I encourage you to write with any questions.

My office is 308 in Smith Hall. You are welcome during office hours (see above), you may also see me outside of office hours by appointment (first send me an e-mail).

Course schedule

For general important dates in the semester, see the academic calendar here.

Refer to the course schedule below very regularly. It contains among other things the homework assignments and the past quizzes and exams.

This course schedule is only tentative: it is very much subject to change. Always refer to last version online, and make sure that you refresh the page.