Math 154

Spring 2021, Lecture A00 (Dumitriu) MWF 2:00-2:50pm

Discrete Math and Graph Theory


Course Information

  Instructional Staff

Name Role E-mail Zoom meetings
Ioana Dumitriu Instructor idumitriu@ucsd.edu MW, 2-3:30pm; F, 2-3pm; Thu, 4-6pm (shared OH with Math 170A)
Qingyuan Chen Teaching Assistant qic069@ucsd.edu Th, 11-11:50am (A01), 10-10:50am (A02); TBA
Nathan Liittschwager Teaching Assistant nliittsc@ucsd.edu Th, 1-1:50pm (A03); Th, 12-12:50pm (A04); TBA
Shubham Sinha Teaching Assistant shs074@ucsd.edu Th, 11-11:50am (A05); TBA

Calendar

This is a tentative course outline and might (probably will) be adjusted during the quarter. The chapters refer to textbook chapters. In all likelihood, we will not cover every subchapter, but will focus on the main topics and theorems.

Week Monday Wednesday Friday
1 Mar 29
Chapter 1 		Mar 31
Chapter 1 		Apr 2
Chapter 2
2 Apr 5
Chapter 2 		Apr 7
Chapter 2 		Apr 9
Chapter 2
3 (Quiz week)
 Apr 12
Chapter 3

Apr 14
Chapter 3

Apr 16
Chapter 3
Quiz 1
4 Apr 19
Chapter 3
 Apr 21
Chapter 5		 Apr 23
Chapter 5
5 (Midterm week)
 Apr 26
Chapter 5

Apr 28
Midterm Review
Midterm
 		Apr 30
Chapter 5

6 May 3
Chapter 6		 May 5
Chapter 6		 May 7
Chapter 6
7 (Quiz week)
 May 10
Chapter 6

 May 12
Chapter 7

 May 14
Chapter 7
Quiz 2
8 May 17
Chapter 7
 May 19
Chapter 7 		May 21
Chapter 7
9 (Quiz week)
 May 24
Chapter 8

May 26
Chapter 8

May 28
Chapter 8
Quiz 3
10 May 31
(Presidents' Day; no lecture)
June 2
Chapter 8 		June 4
Final Review
11 (Finals week)


June 11
Final Exam (4-6pm)

Zoom Meetings / Synchronous Time / Office Hours

Date Time
A00 (Dumitriu) Monday, Wednesday (class time +30mins)
 2-3:30pm

Friday (class time)
2-3pm

Thursday
 4-6pm (shared with Math 170A)



Discussion A01 (Chen) Thursday (discussion session)
 11-11:50am
Discussion A02 (Chen) Wednesday (discussion session)
 10-10:50am
Additional (Chen) Monday
 12-2pm
Additional (Chen) Wednesday
 11-12pm



Discussion A03 (Liittschwager) Thursday (discussion session)
 1-1:50pm
Discussion A04 (Liittschwager)
 Thursday (discussion session)
12-12:50pm
Additional (Liittschwager) Wednesday
 11-1pm



Discussion A05 (Sinha)
 Thursday (discussion session)
11-11:50am
Additional (Sinha)
 Thursday
 5-6pm



Midterm Exam Wednesday, April 28
 time TBA (2-3pm)
Final Exam Friday, June 11
 time: (4-6pm)

Top




Lecture Notes

I have typed-up somewhat informal notes for our lectures. Use them as a supplement, in addition to the videos. Watch and read, and then make sure to attend the Zoom Meetings so you can ask questions, etc.

Syllabus


Here is a copy of the syllabus. Please read it!

Prerequisites: MATH 109 or MATH 31CH. Please note that credit is not offered for MATH 154 if MATH 158 is previously taken. If MATH 154 and MATH 158 are concurrently taken, credit is only offered for MATH 158.


Lectures:  The lectures will be delivered in video format and will be made available of Canvas. Watching the videos is a fundamental part of the course; you are responsible for material presented in the video lectures whether or not it is discussed in the textbook. You should expect questions on the exams that will test your understanding of concepts discussed in the video lectures.


Discussion sections:   Participation in discussion sections is greatly encouraged. Make use of the time that your TAs offer! Attend the discussions to see more examples, work through problems, and talk to your TAs in a small-group setting.


Homework:  Homework assignments are posted below, and will be due at 11:00pm on the indicated due date.  You must turn in your homework through Gradescope. A PDF or picture is required to upload; if (and only if) you have clean and neat handwriting, it is permitted to turn in pictures/scans of homework done on paper. Assignments should be in a single PDF file before being uploaded, or as a picture for each question. It is allowed and even encouraged to discuss homework problems with your classmates and your instructor and TA, but your final write up of your homework solutions must be your own work.

Lowest score:   There will be 8 homework sets, but the first one will only be graded for completion. Only the 7 highest scores will be counted towards your grade.


Midterm and Final Exams:  There will be two synchronous opportunities each to take the midterm and final; the "regular" exams will take place during class time, respectively, during the scheduled final time, and there will be a later opportunity scheduled on the same dates, during the evenings, mostly for people who are now geographically located in Asia or who have conflicts. If additional exam opportunities will be deemed necessary due to unavoidable conflicts, they will be offered. The dates are listed in the calendar. Both opportunities will be completed in 1 hour for the midterm and 2 hours for the final.


Quizzes:  They will be held at the date and time stated above. Once started, the quizzes will have to be completed in 30 minutes.

Administrative Links:    Here are two links regarding UC San Diego policies on exams:

Regrade Policy:  

Grading: Your cumulative average will be the best of the following two weighted averages:

Your course grade will be determined by your cumulative average at the end of the quarter. Grading will not be curved. You will need roughly 85% to get A- or above, roughly 75% to get a B- or above, and roughly 55% to get a C- or above. This is guaranteed, meaning that you will not get a worse grade than specified above. However, you will not get a pass (or P) unless you get a C- or above score, so aim for at least 55%.

Etiquette

In addition, here are a few of my expectations for etiquette (updated for the era of remote teaching).

Accommodations:

Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) which is located in University Center 202 behind Center Hall. The AFA letter may be issued by the OSD electronically or in hard-copy; in either case, please make arrangements to discuss your accommodations with me in advance (by the end of Week 2). We will make every effort to arrange for whatever accommodations are stipulated by the OSD. For more information, see here.

Academic Integrity Policies


UC San Diego's code of academic integrity outlines the expected academic honesty of all students and faculty, and details the consequences for academic dishonesty. The main issues are cheating and plagiarism, of course, for which we have a zero-tolerance policy. (Penalties for these offenses always include assignment of a failing grade in the course, and usually involve an administrative penalty, such as suspension or expulsion, as well.) However, academic integrity also includes things like giving credit where credit is due (listing your collaborators on homework assignments, noting books or papers containing information you used in solutions, etc.), and treating your peers respectfully in class.

To ensure that Academic Integrity is upheld during any and all exams (quizzes, midterm, and final), at the beginning of each exam you will be signing a pledge that you will submit alongside your solutions, whereby you will agree to obey all the rules that have been outlined. In addition, you will agree to the following: In case the instructor suspects academic misconduct in completing the exam, you will be invited to defend your solutions during a short Zoom session with the instructor and/or the TA. If you decline to meet, or if you accept but fail to defend your solution(s) to the instructor’s or the TA’s satisfaction, the instructor will refer your case to the Academic Integrity Office for an investigation. If you accept to meet and defend your solution(s) satisfactorily, the case will be closed and you will receive a grade for the exam and for the class.

About Gradescope
We will be using Gradescope for the grading of both homework and exams.
  • Your login is your university email, and your password can be changed here. The same link can be used if you need to originally set your password.
  • Please make sure your files are legible before submitting.
  • Most word processors can save files as a pdf.
  • There are many tools to combine pdfs, such as here, and others for turning jpgs into pdfs, such as here.
  • If you have not yet been added to the course, the Gradescope entry code is  Use your UCSD email!

Homework

Weekly homework assignments will be posted below. Homework is due by 11:00pm on the posted date, through Gradescope. Late homework will not be accepted.

Write-up Guidelines. Unless specifically told otherwise, you should always prove your assertions; sometimes, this may take the form of a list or a computation, but some form of justification will always be required. If submitting hand-written solutions, write all solutions clearly and very neatly; else, type them up using LaTeX or a similar typesetting package. Remember: you cannot get credit for solutions your graders cannot read.

Collaboration policy. We encourage you to collaborate on homework and study together. Feel free to discuss solutions and come up with arguments, as long as you write up your own submissions independently. Do not share written solutions with other students before the homework deadline! If you decide to collaborate on a homework, please provide a complete list of your collaborators.

Outside sources. Do not look for solutions to the homework problems online or in other textbooks/sources. If you accidentally find a solution to a homework problem in an outside source, you need to cite that source, and you still need to explain the solution in your own words. DO NOT seek help on homework from websites not associated with the course. If you ask for help from your instructor or TA, you will get help legitimately; posting your homework on websites not associated with the course to ask for help is NOT permitted.