MATHEMATICS 605-4    Mathematics in Context


Spring semester 2008			Instructor:  Dr. Peter Borwein
	                      	 	Office:  IRMACS
Tuesdays 16:30 - 20:20			Phone: 291-4376 (Office)
Location:  IRMACS 10908 
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Course Description

This course is one of the required courses for students enrolled in the
M.Sc. program in secondary mathematics education.  It will also be
suitable for other students with acceptable mathematics qualifications
who are interested in teaching secondary school mathematics or who wish
to explore the issues of this course.

The course will focus on topics and issues related to doing and
discovering mathematics. It is a course in  the "how, who, why and what"
of mathematical research.  It will include particular examples in the
flavour of the presentations in "Proofs from the book" by M. Aigner
and G. Ziegler (Springer 1998).  It will also include explorations of
available computational resources including Maple.

Specific assignments will depend on the background and interests of
students enrolled in the course.  There will be several in class
presentations. 

In addition to specific assignments each student will be expected
to complete  projects related to his or her own interests, as negotiated
with the instructor.

P. Borwein