BA Major - Problem Solving

MATH 2386  Problem Solving

Prerequisites:

MATH 1037, MATH 1046, and MATH 1056

Hours:

Three hours of lecture per week for one term.

Credits:

3

Description:

This course focuses on improving students' ability to solve problems from a wide variety of mathematical fields. Techniques involving direct and indirect reasoning, proof by contradiction, symmetry, etc., are illustrated through numerous examples and problems. Ideas from areas such as analysis, probability and algebra are used in ways that are unexpected. Much of the learning occurs in an heuristic manner. At the end of the course, students may take part in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition.