Wikipedia talk:School and university projects/Discrete and numerical mathematics/Learning plan/Academic year 2017-2018

Welcome
Dear student: My name is Juan Miguel León Rojas and I will be one of your teachers during the second semester of the 2017-2018 academic year. I would like to welcome you to the course "Further Mathematics", aimed at the study of basic concepts of Discrete and Numerical Mathematics. Now, I briefly introduce you to the course. As you know, you have the possibility of taking it in Spanish or English. In both cases, I will try to use a clear and simple language without forgetting the university environment in which we work.

The course program (sheet 12a)
You can consult the course program (sheet 12a), here:


 * https://zurbaran.unex.es/cloud/index.php/s/f9F4qmIhwMADiPf

The learning plan for the course
The aim of the learning plan, published on Wikipedia, is to successfully carry out the course program (sheet 12a):


 * School and university projects/Discrete and numerical mathematics/Learning plan

You should devote attention to:


 * Specific information of the course;
 * WP+: Paths on Wikipedia, bibliography (theory and proposed and solved exercises), multimedia and even more;
 * Sample exam questions, instrumental and relational, and some answers;
 * Past real exams with some solutions;
 * Tentative course outline (chronogram for the academic year 2017/2018) (it includes references to the sections of the texts to be studied and lists of exercises). (Under construction at the time and therefore subject to change. Please excuse the inconvenience.)

The project "Discrete and numerical mathematics"
The learning plan includes, as an optional out-of-class practical activity, the learning project "Discrete and numerical mathematics". This project starts on Thursday, February 1. You can read a descriptive web page here:


 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:School and university projects/Discrete and numerical mathematics

Once you have read that web page, and if you are interested in the project and you have queries or need help to do what you have been told (on that web page) to do or want to help your colleagues to do it or want to share questions, concerns or suggestions about the project, you can attend the day referred to above, i.e., on '''Thursday, February 1, at 4:00 p.m., to Room C8 (meeting will finish at no later than 5:30 p.m.). (Bring a computer if you need help). (This meeting will be in Spanish).

It is important that you become aware that joining the university project "Discrete numerical mathematics" is optional. Therefore, it is entirely up to you to do it. But if you do it, remember, you must:

 (a) use your true identity on free, open and public access web pages (Wikipedia) — although you can use an alias as your username, you must report your real identity (first, middle and last name) on your user page —; (b) be polite and respect diversity; (c) comply with the rules and obligations laid down by the professor for this project (browse the descriptive page of the project); (d) help your fellow students as much as possible; (e) above all, commit yourself to you. 

Assessment of your work in the course
You are offered two ways in which your work in the course could be assessed. You may choose: (a) to take only the final exam or (b) to take the final exam and collaborate in the project described above. Your work will be assessed according to the way you opt for, since attendance at the classes is not mandatory. None of these two ways involves any kind of discrimination with respect to the other in relation to the maximum grade that you can achieve.

Only the final exam
In addition to what has been said in the course program (sheet 12a), you can consult the following public discussion:


 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia talk:School and university projects/Discrete and numerical mathematics/Learning plan/Academic year 2016-2017#About the final exam

Furthermore, as mentioned above, you have access to past real exams with some solutions, here:


 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:School and university projects/Discrete and numerical mathematics/Learning plan#Past real exams with some solutions

On this way, the final exam score will constitute the 100 percent of your final grade in the course (except for the case of grading with distinction).

The final exam plus the project
In addition to the previous links, corresponding to the final exam, consider the following. After crossing reference similar projects by other university professors, a student involvement in our project may represent up to 45 percent of their final grade. Thus, the following partial qualifications would form part of such final grade. For the current academic year:  (a) Individual work ( IW ) (i.e., as a "one-person team"):  (1) for having done a mandatory minimum of 4 major contributions, at least one per each header topic, up to 30 % of the grade (that is to say, if you would make exactly one major contribution per topic, it would correspond to 7,5 % of the grade per topic);</li> <li>(2) for having substantially contributed to an article in such a way that it be quality marked by the English Wikipedia community, up to 7,5 % more.</li> </ul></li> </ul>

<ul style="list-style:none;padding-left:1.75em;text-indent:-1.75em;"> <li>(b) Collaborative work ( CW ) within a two or three-person team: <ul style="list-style:none;margin-left:0;padding-left:1.75em;text-indent:-1.75em;"> <li>(1) for having done a mandatory minimum of 4 major contributions, at least one per each header topic, up to 30 % of the grade (that is to say, if they would make exactly one major contribution per topic, then each team member could earn up to 5 % of the grade per topic (although these members could distribute the total percentage gained as a team according to its own team self-evaluation);</li> <li>(2) for having achieved that their contribution as a team has been quality marked by the English Wikipedia community, up to 7,5 % more (up to 1,25 % per each member or the inner percentage distribution they could make);</li>  <li>(3) for having worked as a team, 1,25 % more for each member (or the inner percentage distribution they could make).</li>  </ul></li> </ul>

<ul style="list-style:none;padding-left:1.75em;text-indent:-1.75em;"> <li>(c) Final exam ( FE ), up to 55 percent.</li> </ul>

The final grade of the course
Given the above, the final grade would consist of:

<ol type="lower-alpha"> <li>If you collaborate in the project, individually and within a team: $$ \begin{align} FE + IW + CW &= \left(\leqslant 10\right) + IW + CW \\ &= \left(\leqslant 10\right) + \left(\left(\leqslant 3\right) + \left(\leqslant 0,75\right)\right) + CW \\ &= \left(\leqslant 10\right) + \left(\left(\leqslant 3\right) + \left(\leqslant 0,75\right)\right) + \left(\left(\leqslant \overline{0,5}\right) + \left(\leqslant \overline{0,125}\right) + \left(\leqslant \overline{0,125}\right)\right) \end{align} $$ where $$\overline{\mathit{n}}$$ denotes the "fuzziness" of the number $$\mathit{n}$$, due to the possible inner percentage distribution of some grades. For example, if you gain, say, 3 points because of your collaboration in the project, it would be enough for you to obtain 7 points on the final exam to earn a 10 as the final grade.<li>

<li>If you decide to limit yourself to individual collaboration: $$ \left\{ \begin{align} CW &= 0 \\ FE + IW &= \left(\leqslant 10\right) + IW \\ &= \left(\leqslant 10\right) + \left(\left(\leqslant 3\right) + \left(\leqslant 0,75\right)\right) \end{align} \right. $$<li>

<li>If you decide not to collaborate within the project: $$ \left\{ \begin{align} IW &= 0 \\ CW &= 0 \\ FE &\leqslant 10 \end{align} \right. $$<li> </ol>

Grading with distinction
One of the rewards for a hard and well-done work is to grade with distinction — you can be given this mention if you have obtained a final grade equal to or greater than 9.0 and you have been able to prove your effort and dedication to the course, although its granting is always at your professor's discretion (the number of students eligible for this mention is limited by statute to less than 5 percent the number of students enrolled in the course in the corresponding academic year unless the number of students enrolled is less than twenty, in which case, the distinction could be given to only one student) (see art. 9.3 in [UEX Assessment Regulations] [in Spanish]) —. Regardless of whether you opt for taking only the final exam or for taking it in conjunction with collaborating with the project, you could grade with distinction.

Once the introduction of the course has been made, it only remains to reiterate my welcome and encourage you to participate fully in the collaborative project with Wikipedia. I am sure it will help you gain confidence and trust in yourself, understand teamwork as well as assuming a commitment. Finally, let me remind you that on January 31 we will have our first class meeting, which we will dedicate to Propositional Logic. May you receive a cordial greeting, Jmleonrojas (talk) 10:36, 1 February 2018 (UTC). P.S.: Good luck with upcoming exams.

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