SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH

MATH132

Introduction to Mathematical Thinking

2013 (1/3)

Course Content
This course introduces skills and techniques required to pursue university-level mathematics. It
will also touch on the history of these techniques and how they have evolved. The course will
begin with elementary pre-calculus algebra and arithmetic, and conclude with an informal introduction to differential and integral calculus. Specific topics covered will include: arithmetic
of the natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, and real numbers; representing numbers in
various bases, elementary algebra; solution of simple equations and inequations; coordinate geometry; exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions; an informal discussion of differentiation and integration, and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. There will be an emphasis
on deriving concepts and definitions from first principles.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course you should have the technical skills required to study university-level
mathematics. This means you should be able to perform symbolic manipulation of algebraic
and arithmetic expressions, you should have knowledge of elementary functions and their properties, and a grasp of the basic ideas in differential and integral calculus. You should be able to
demonstrate these skills in assignments, tests, and exams. You should have some understanding
of the reasons that mathematics has evolved in the way it has: in other words, you should not
only be able to apply mathematical rules, but you should understand why those rules exist.

Lecturers
Dillon Mayhew is the course-coordinator and lecturer.
Name:

Dillon Mayhew

Room:

Cotton 435

Phone:

463-5155

To call a VUW phone number from an internal line, omit the 463.
Steven Archer (Cotton 363, phone 463-5233 extension 8316) is the administrator for first-year
courses. He is the person to contact if you have a missing assignment.
Any VUW staff member can be contacted using the standard email address: firstname.
lastname@vuw.ac.nz.

Lectures and Tutorials

Trimester 1 runs between Monday 4 March and Friday 7 June. There are breaks from Thursday
28 March to Wednesday 3 April and from Monday 22 April to Friday 26 April. During the

trimester, there will be 30 lectures, which take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays,
between 3.10pm and 4.00pm, in Cotton Lecture Theatre 122.

Tutorials
There will be four or five tutorials per week, held at times that will be advised in the first week
of lectures. Tutorials will start in the second week of lectures. Tutorials will be spent working
through exercises, and give you a chance to ask questions about material you find confusing.
You do not need to sign up for tutorials, and can go to as many as you like. It is strongly advised
that you go to at least one.

Helpdesk
The helpdesk schedule shows when staff members and graduate students are available to offer
one-on-one assistance with undergraduate courses, including MATH132. The timetable for the
helpdesk will be posted on the website early in the trimester.

Withdrawals
If you choose to withdraw from the course, you should do so before the deadline of Friday 15
March, or you will be liable for course fees. More information is available at http://www.
victoria.ac.nz/home/admisenrol/payments/withdrawlsrefunds.aspx

Terms test
There will be two terms tests, held in normal class time, from 3.10pm to 4.00pm, on Friday 12
April and Friday 31 May.

Assessment
Assessment will be based on ten weekly assignments, the terms tests, and the final exam.
The final grade will be based on the maximum of the following:
(i) The mark from the final exam; or,
(ii) 65% of the mark of the final exam, plus 25% of the mark of the terms tests, plus 10% of
the marks from your nine best assignments.
Assignments will be handed out at the Friday lecture and posted on the website at the same time.
Completed assignments are due at 3.00pm on the Friday a week later. The first assignment will
be due on Friday 15 March. Each assignment will receive a mark out of twenty. Assignments
may be submitted by posting them in the box in the corridor of the Cotton building (third floor).
If you choose to nominate a tutorial on your assignment cover sheet, then your marked assignment will be returned to you in that class. Otherwise, you can pick up your assignment from the
school office (Cotton 358), but only during the times listed at http://msor.victoria.ac.
nz/Main/MarkedAssignments.

Marks for assignments and the test will be posted on blackboard. (But all other information will
be posted on the course website.)
The final exam will be 3 hours long, and will take place during the examination period between
Monday 10 June and Wednesday 3 July.
In the event of an aegrotat application, assessment will be made on the basis of the weekly
assignments and the terms tests. You are strongly advised to complete fully and on time all
assignments. Work submitted late may not be marked. If you need an extension you must see
the lecturer as soon as possible.

Mandatory Course Requirements

To complete the course requirements you must:
(i) Hand in at least nine of the ten weekly assignments;
(ii) Sit the terms tests; and
(iii) Sit the final exam.

Workload
Although the workload will vary from week to week, you should expect to spend approximately
10-12 hours per week on the course. This includes time spent in lectures and tutorials, completing assignments, and reviewing notes.

A note on learning mathematics

Mathematics is an intrisically difficult subject to learn. Gaining mathematical maturity requires
understanding abstract concepts that the human brain is not well-evolved to deal with. Almost
everybody encounters obstacles and hurdles. When it happens to you, the important thing is not
to become frustrated, but to ask for help. You can do this in many ways. The simplest is just to
ask a question during a lecture (remember, if you are confused, then probably other people in
the class are too, and they might appreciate it if you ask for further explanation). You can also
ask questions during tutorials, or at a help-desk session, or write a post on the course forum.
You could also consider looking for a private tutor. The critical thing is to ask for help as soon
as you need it, and not to fall behind. Sometimes even a little bit of extra explanation can make
a big difference.

Notices website and forum

All notices will be posted on the course website http://msor.victoria.ac.nz/Courses/
MATH132_2013T1/. Handouts, assignments, model solutions, and details of tutorials will also
be posted there.
In addition, you can ask questions about the course and its contents at the course forum: https:
//ecs.victoria.ac.nz/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=MATH132_2013T1. The teaching staff will monitor the forum, and respond to any questions that havent been covered by
your classmates. The course homepage contains a link to the forum.
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Recommended Reading
You are not required to own any textbook for this course. The course will be self-contained,
and you will be provided with printed notes (which you are required to study). We are not
going to follow any textbook exactly, however, you may find it useful to do some supplementary
reading. Any textbook that covers high-school pre-calculus will have material that overlaps with
this course. A recent New Zealand textbook is Essential Maths and Stats for Higher Education
by David Barton and David Cox. Performing exercises is an important way to develop your
mathematical muscles. Schaums Outline Series are a long-standing series of textbooks that
contain a huge number of exercises, most with solutions. The textbook in the series that is most
relevant to MATH132 is Theory and Problems of Elementary Algebra by Barnett Rich. Some
supplementary exercises may be made available in classes. For an online collection of videos
and exercises, look at https://www.khanacademy.org/.

Class Representative
Your class representative is available if you come across problems and for any reason the issue
cannot be resolved directly with staff. The name and contact details of the class rep will be put
on the course webpage.

Information about the School

The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research (SMSOR) is located in the
Cotton Building on the Kelburn Campus.
The School Office is in CO358, on the 3rd floor of the Cotton Building. The office is open
from 8.30am-5.00pm
The School website is http://msor.victoria.ac.nz
Hand in boxes for assignments are on level 3 of the Cotton Building
Assignments can only be collected from the office at certain times, listed on the Marked
assignments page: http://msor.victoria.ac.nz/Main/MarkedAssignments
There is a noticeboard opposite the School Office where students seeking and offering
private tuition in mathematics and statistics can put requests and advertisements.

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity means that university staff and students, in their teaching and learning are
expected to treat others honestly, fairly and with respect at all times. It is not acceptable to mistreat academic, intellectual or creative work that has been done by other people by representing
it as your own original work. Academic integrity is important because it is the core value on
which the Universitys learning, teaching and research activities are based. Victoria Universitys
reputation for academic integrity adds value to your qualification. The University defines plagiarism as presenting someone elses work as if it were your own, whether you mean to or not.
Someone elses work means anything that is not your own idea.
Find out more about plagiarism, how to avoid it, on the Universitys website: http://www.
victoria.ac.nz/home/studying/plagiarism.html
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Where to find more further information

Find key dates, explanations of grades and other useful information at http://www.victoria.
ac.nz/home/study. Find out about academic progress and restricted enrolment at http:
//www.victoria.ac.nz/home/study/academic-progress.
The Universitys statutes and policies are available at http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/
about/policy, except qualification statutes, which are available via the Calendar webpage at
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/study/calendar.aspx (see Section C).
Further information about the Universitys academic processes can be found on the website of
the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about_
victoria/avcacademic/default.aspx.