Mathematics Senior Seminar I
MAT 4880
1 credit
Fall 2024
Meeting Times: Wednesdays, 10:00 - 11:40 (see schedule below)
Location: Natural Sciences 3052
Instructor: Professor Abdul-Quader (or just “Athar”)
Email: athar.abdulquader AT purchase DOT edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 9 - 10 AM NSB 3003
Inclement Weather Hotline: 914-251-7500
Course Description
“Explores advanced topics in selected areas of mathematics. Includes required oral presentation by students. Required for seniors majoring in mathematics/computer science.”
The above description is from the department webpage. What does this mean?
The goal of this course, which is one of the two required seminar courses, is to help you to organize your work on your senior project, as well as to improve your presentation skills and academic writing style. New topics in Mathematics and Computer Science are also presented by students and, if time permits, guest lecturers.
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of this course students will be able to…
- demonstrate the ability to conduct research by, for example, designing computer programs, or applying mathematical or statistical knowledge;
- produce a senior thesis draft with proper use of references, tables, figures, appendices, etc.;
- present senior research progress report in the form of an oral presentation;
- provide constructive feedback on a classmate’s academic writing and oral presentation;
- improve writing skills;
- be effective in written and oral communication;
- ask meaningful questions and provide useful responses.
Policies
Academic Integrity Policy
The Purchase College academic integrity policy explicitly forbids cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is the appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or thoughts of another person and the representation of them as one’s own original work. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the definition of plagiarism and the acceptable methods of attribution.
Accessibility
The Office of Disability Resources collaborates directly with students who identify documented disabilities to create accommodation plans, including testing accommodations, in order for students to access course content and validly demonstrate learning. For those students who may require accommodations, please contact the Office of Disability Resources as soon as possible, 914-251-6035, ODR@purchase.edu (Student Services Building, #316A), www.purchase.edu/odr.
Mental Health and Well-being
University faculty and staff recognize that mental health and stress can impact college performance and interfere with daily life activities. At Purchase, Counseling & Behavioral Health Services can provide support if you’re struggling with feeling overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, lost, stuck or in a crisis. Please call (914)251-6390 or visit our website for more information. CBHS services are free and confidential.
We support all students experiencing emergencies. Services include therapy, support groups, stress reduction at the Harbor Center, and other activities. The Counseling Center in Humanities Lower Level is open M-F, from 9:00a.m.– 5:00p.m. for appointments and walk-up scheduling, or call (914) 251-6390. The Harbor Center Sanctuary in Fort Awesome is available for stress reduction, mindfulness and meditation training, free drop-in classes and support groups, and relaxation.
Student Conduct
All students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with Purchase College’s Student Code of Conduct. Any repetitive or disruptive behavior, including but not limited to outbursts, intoxication/drug use, personal or physical threats, damage to property, etc., may result in the professor requesting the student to leave class, contacting University Police, and/or notifying the Office of Community Standards.
Learning Center
All students at Purchase College can take advantage of our tutoring services in the Learning Center and the Einstein Corner. These are free, 45-minute, peer-to-peer tutoring sessions in a variety of subjects and in writing across the disciplines. Sessions can happen in person or through the Online Writing Lab up to 3x/week. The OWL allows students to submit a paper draft and get written feedback by email within 48 business hours. We strongly recommend face-to-face meetings for first-year students and multilingual writers. I encourage you to take advantage of this service to help you excel in this class, as well as your other courses. Please visit the Learning Center and Einstein Corner websites for more information.
Attendance
- Attendance and punctuality are mandatory for every class.
- Your presence is vital for participation in varied learning activities and small-group work.
- Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class.
- Late arrivals (more than 10 mins), early departures (more than 10 mins), long breaks (more than 10 mins) may result in 50% deduction in attendance category.
- If you miss class, please don’t ask me if you missed anything important; each class covers important material.
- If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out from classmates what you missed and submit assignments on time.
Senior Project
As stated above, the goal of this course is to help you complete your senior project. That work needs to be done, primarily, independently, with the supervision of your project sponsor. All students should have registered for Senior Project I (or II) with their sponsor already. Please make sure you are meeting and/or exchanging emails with your senior project mentor regularly. It is in your best interests to make sure your senior research goes well and in the right direction. Feel free to share with the class interesting topics related to mathematics and CS. Be proactive! Don’t stop questioning! Read, write, and revise!
For this course, the assignments have been designed (with deadlines!) to make sure you have sufficient time to complete your senior thesis during your last two semesters at Purchase.
Presentations: You will be required to give two presentations on the progress of your senior project. The presentations should describe your senior project idea, goals, preliminary/intended and/or final work. Duration of the presentations is 15-20 minutes.
Senior thesis drafts: You will be required to submit two draft versions of your senior thesis. The second draft should build upon the content of the first draft, incorporating revisions, feedback, and additional material.
Forum posts / replies: Each student is supposed to post 8 times: 4 of these should be original posts and the other 4 replies should be responses to classmate posts. I read each post, but I don’t comment, unless there are factual errors or there is confusion about an idea.
Feedback implementation: Throughout the course, you should seek feedback on your senior thesis drafts from multiple resources, including classmates, the Learning Center, and myself. This feedback is important in helping you enhance your understanding and performance. You will implement this feedback by reviewing provided comments and suggestions.
In general, it is a good idea to ask your peers to read your thesis periodically and make presentations in smaller group settings. To improve your writing, I strongly recommend making the most of the tutoring support available at the Learning Center and Online Writing Lab (OWL). Don’t hesitate to use it beyond the required session.
Grading Rubric
- 10%: Attendance
- 10%: Forum posts / replies
- 40%: 2 Presentations (2x20%)
- 30%: Thesis drafts (2x15%)
- 10%: Feedback implementation
Course Outline (Tentative)
We will likely modify this depending on the breakdown between Seniors 1 (graduating Spring 2025) and 2 (graduating Dec 2024) this semester.
| Week (date) | Topics | Assignments (due before class) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (8/28) | Intro to course / goal setting | |
| 2 (9/4) | Practicing public speaking: self-introduction; Writing workshop: thesis structure, Word / LaTeX, formatting tables / pictures / references | Forum 1 posts |
| 3 (9/11) | No class | |
| 4 (9/18) | Writing workshop: chapter outline, lit review | |
| 5 (9/25) | No class | Forum 2 posts |
| 6 (10/2) | No class | Reply to at least 2 classmates in Forum 2 |
| 7 (10/9) | Presentations | Senior thesis draft 1 |
| 8 (10/16) | Presentations | |
| 9 (10/23) | No class | Forum 3 posts |
| 10 (10/30) | Guest Lecture: Peter Dearing (Learning Center) on Time Management / Writing skills | |
| 11 (11/6) | No class | |
| 12 (11/13) | Writing workshop: peer feedback | |
| 13 (11/20) | Presentations | Forum 4 posts (due Friday) |
| 14 (11/27) | No class (Thanksgiving) | Reply to at least 2 classmates in Forum 4 (due Friday) |
| 15 (12/4) | Presentations | Senior thesis draft 2 |
| 16 (12/11) | Finals week: meet from 9:30-11:30 |