Projects for MAT194

This page features tips for your projects.

The best way to understand mathematics is to learn and discover it on one's own.

The best way to describe this project is to imagine that you are responsible for creating a "Mathematical Idea You Really Need to Know".

You will select a mathematical topic outside of (or beyond) those covered in our class, read and teach yourselves any necessary background to understand it, and then write up a four-page description. You are strongly encouraged to work with a partner (only one) on this project: by working together, you can learn from each other and share the burdens and joys of the experience.

• Details on the "paper", which will come in two parts:
  • Text: 4 (type-written) pages.
  • In addition to the four pages of text, you will include a one-page bibliography, including at least three sources in your bibliography (including at least one book, and an article worth citing).
  • An appendix, which may include additional material supporting your work in the four-page "idea" (graphs, charts, images, etc.).

• As I will emphasize in class, you want your work to be attractive. Think flowers and bees! We are going to put our papers together on the web. You want to make sure that your "story" will stand up well against the others that your classmates produce.

• It should also be informative, however, so make sure that you do the research. In particular you will want to use a variety of resources, including some that do not appear on the web.

  Your peers will evaluate your work (as will I, and perhaps other members of the department). During our final exam slot, we'll present our work to each other.

• Whatever you do, don't plagiarize! Whenever you copy something from a source, you need to cite the source; simply changing an adjective here and an adverb there, without citation, is plagiarism.

• Remember interlibrary loan: even if we don't have the article or book in our library, you can borrow it from other libraries via interlibrary loan. Ask your librarians for help: they're here to assist you!