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Kies de Nederlandse taal
Course module: UCSCIMAT01
UCSCIMAT01
Mathematics for poets, thinkers, and doers
Course info
Course codeUCSCIMAT01
EC7.5
Course goals

After completing this course students are able to:
  • discuss what mathematics is really about on a conceptual level.
  • recognize various methodologies and famous problems within mathematics.
  • think logically and effectively by finding non-computational solutions to various problems in logic and mathematics.
  • formulate rigorous proofs in simple settings.
  • apply logic skills to non-mathematical endeavors such as analyzing an argument.
Content
Doing math should be fun. In this course, students overcome “math anxiety” through pure thought. Rather than memorize formulae and theory, they seek to answer the question “what is mathematics?” by finding solutions to mathematically tinged puzzles and fundamental questions. This course stays away from technical calculations people usually associate with mathematics, but it does provide you with fundamental challenges to be engaged with pure thought and logical reasoning. The real surprise is that these logic exercises prove useful. Eugene P. Wigner, one of the great mathematical physicists of the twentieth century, said as much when he referenced “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.”
 
Format
The course covers a number of themes that correlate to chapters in the textbook: fun and games, geometric explorations, number contemplation, infinite sets and deformable objects, chaos theory or probability theory. Students prepare for each class through reading material and solving problems set to be presented in class to create an interactive problem dialog. They also complete a term project, which consists of studying a mathematical topic of their choice and presenting their work in a short report and a poster presentation for the rest of the class. In addition to the four weekly contact hours, each student is expected to devote ten hours to the course each week, reading the textbook, solving problems and working on their term project.
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Kies de Nederlandse taal