Some guidelines and comments on your projects, any change here supersedes what the syllabus says.

Paragraph 1 Draft Paper

  1. Due at 2 PM, Monday, April 7.
  2. Change: send me a PDF by email to course address, and print me one copy, single-sided, stapled.
  3. Must be written in \(\LaTeX\) or \(\TeX\).
  4. Pages should be numbered. Ten pages, single-spaced, if using sensible fonts and margins (12 point, 1 inch).
  5. “Rough” draft must be substantially complete. I will read this version carefully and make extensive comments. If it is not complete, your score will begin at the estimated percentage of completeness.
  6. Audience: your fellow students who have taken the same upper-division courses that you have.
  7. Everything about good writing that applies in any other course, applies equally well here. No contractions, an introduction, a conclusion, etc., etc. Writing mathematics does not release you from any of this.
  8. You will likely have some proofs, but you do not need to include a proof of every result you need to state.
  9. Grades on rough draft will be largely about completeing this stage properly.

Paragraph 2 Final Paper

  1. Due at 2 PM a week before your presentation, or sooner if there is not that much time.
  2. Print me one copy, single-sided, stapled. Include your rough draft, which has my comments on it.
  3. Send me a PDF by email to course address. I will post these on the course page. You must include copyright and license information within the text of this paper (on title page, typically). This is required, details will be discussed in class.
  4. I will be considering if you have taught yourself something new, and synthesized information and approaches from a variety of sources. Grades will be determined by evidence of substantial self-study and effective communication of your chosen topic. I will not be making extensive corrections on this version.

Paragraph 3 Presentation

  1. Must be created using the Beamer package for \(\LaTeX\).
  2. Send me a PDF by email to course address by 2 PM the day before your presentation, which I will post.
  3. Be sure to practice timing and the number of slides you have available. Running too short or too long will impact your grade.
  4. Your presentation should look like a subset of your paper. Simple, but informative, examples are a must for a presentation.
  5. Your slides should contain key phrases or formulas that would take a long time to write on the board. it should not contain long paragraphs, and you should not just read your slides.
  6. Audience: a wide range of upper-division mathematics majors. Some are graduating, some just finished Math 290.
  7. Plan on having half of a class session, but include time for questions within the 25 minutes.
  8. Arrive to class on-time as a courtesy to the speaker.
  9. Material from these sessions will be covered by the third quiz.
  10. I will be considering if you have taught your audience something new and accurately represented the results of your project within the limitations of the presentation format.