MA 423-01: Modern Algebra I

Spring 2007

Section 1

Instructor: John Perry
Office: Southern Hall, 310
Office Hours: TTh 1-2p, 4-5p
Office Phone: 601·266·4293
Email: john.perry@usm.edu
Instructor's web page: http://www.math.usm.edu/perry/
Class web page: http://www.math.usm.edu/perry/mat423sp07/
Class meeting time and location: 2·25-3·40a TuTh, SH 302

• Modern Algebra, a Historical Approach, by Saul Stahl, published by John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
  (This is a text I would also have liked to use for the course, but it is too expensive and too small. I have a copy on reserve at the library.)
• A First Course in Abstract Algebra, by John B. Fraleigh, seventh edition, published by Addison Wesley, 2002.
  (This is the text used in recent years. It's not a bad text, but I prefer the approach of the current text.)

Course Description: Elementary notions in groups, Fundamental Theorem of Finitely Generated Groups, permutation groups, quotient groups, isomorphism theorems, and applications of transformation groups.
(We should cover Chapters 1-9, 16-34. That's not as scary as it looks.)

Prerequisite: MAT 326 (Linear Algebra I) and MAT 340 (Discrete Mathematics).

Grading: The semester grade will be determined by a weighted average, according to the weights listed below.

Because this is an important, senior-level course on the structure of mathematics, the expectations are kept high. Do not despair if your scores are lower than usual, but do make every attempt to improve on them.

Late Assignments: Any assignment turned in past the specified due date and time will receive a grade lowered by ten percent for each school day late.

Attendance: Although I do not give a grade for attendance, missing class, or reporting to class late, directly affects your grade.

Makeup work: I do not give makeup tests/quizzes/etc. without an excused absence. If you must miss class, then you must also produce documentation of the reason for your absence. If you were sick, you can show me the receipt from the hospital or doctor; if you had a sports event, you can show me the schedule; if someone died, you can show me an obituary notice; if the tire on your car blew out, you can show me the receipt from the mechanic.

Homework: I will generally collect the homework for grading, but I will grade only a few random problems, not the entire assignment. It is important for you to understand every problem on the assignment, and I will provide some homework solutions to help you study.
    Many math majors see the purpose of homework as a "verification" that they have learned the material that was presented in class. This course is different. In Algebra, the student is expected to learn a substantial amount of material outside of class. That includes reading the text (twice sometimes), working through the examples and ensuring you understand them, and solving the homework. This is an important point: Solving the homework problems is not enabled by your learning. Solving the homework problems is part of the learning. It is vitally important that you struggle with the problems, consult other students and the professor, and generally consider finding the solutions more important than pretty much anything else. This is a senior-level (or graduate-level) class, and I expect you to do graduate-level work.

A word about tests: Tests will be take-home, open book, and open notes. They will consist of problems that you have not seen in class or in the homework. You should be able to solve them based on what you learned in the course. A good study guide for your tests will therefore consist of (1) reviewing the homework and making sure you understand it, and (2) studying additional problems in each chapter.

Tutoring and study groups: I encourage you to work together on homework assignments, to look at each other's solutions, and to explain answers to each other. I may even assign study groups to work on homework assignments together. This is not the same thing as copying each other's homework. You take the tests alone and without help, so if you cannot explain to your tutor, classmate, or teacher how to solve the problem, then you have not learned how to solve it, and you need to study it more (perhaps by visiting me, the professor).

My philosophy of instruction: I want you to pass this course. You can learn this material, and I am happy to assist any student who genuinely needs help.
    That said, you are the primary agent of your learning. I cannot learn the material for you; I already learned it many, many years ago. It required a lot of work, and sometimes it was difficult enough that I needed help from other people. Today I am a professor of mathematics. If I can learn it, you can, too.

Final Exam Due:
    Friday 11 May 2007, 1·30p

Cell phones: Cell phones should be turned off prior to class. They should be neither seen nor heard during class. If you talk or text on the cell phone during class, you will be expelled from class, and receive an attendance grade of 0.
    The professor does not permit the use of cell phones as calculators. If you look at your cell phone during one test, you will have to surrender the cell phone for the rest of the period. If this happens on a second test, you will fail the test.

Note: The last day to drop a full-semester course without academic penalty is Wednesday, Feb. 28.