INSTRUCTOR:  Prof. Peter Magyar   magyarp@msu.edu   Zoom   517-353-6330 (office)

MAIN PAGE:  Notes, assignments, announcements.

LECTURES:  Mon, Wed, Fri 9:10-10:00am in Wells A-334. Recorded videos from a previous semester are available on Kaltura. I expect students to attend all lectures, unless you have a documented reason, and you make prior arrangements with me.

OFFICE HOURS:  Mon, Wed, Fri 12:30-2:00pm in Wells D-326 & Zoom, and by appointment. Check my phone or Zoom anytime to see if I'm in.

TEXT:  Harris, Hirst, and Mossinghoff, Combinatorics and Graph Theory, 2nd ed., available free online from MSU library. The Springer site also offers a $40 hard copy. We will first cover Chapter 2, then selections from Chapter 1. Syllabus and links on the Main Page.

GOALS: This is a problem-based course on combinatorial theory. Students will learn to solve problems about enumeration, binomial coefficients, generating functions, recurrences, counting with symmmetry, graphs, trees, planar graphs, and graph coloring. Students will also practice writing proofs in a couple of hand-in homeworks.

GRADES:  Based on:

Quizzes	150
Midterm exam	100
Final exam	150
Total	400 points

Tentative Grade Scale:   ≥90% = 4.0 ,   ≥85% = 3.5 ,   ≥80% = 3.0 ,   ≥75% = 2.5 ,   ≥70 = 2.0 ,   ≥60 = 1.0.

QUIZZES:  First 10 minutes of each class, with questions based on the previous lecture's homework problems. I will assume you have done the homework, so that you can do a similar quiz problem quickly.

There will be 35 to 40 quizzes, each worth 3 or 4 points, and two Hand-In Homeworks each worth 10 points in the Quiz score. Missed quizzes will count as zero, and I do not normally give makeups. But I will add an extra 15pts to your quiz average in the final grade, to compensate for about 4 absences.

Do the HW carefully to prepare for quizzes. Collectively, they count as much as the Final Exam, and they usually track exam scores closely. If you fail several quizzes, you are headed for failing the course, and should arrange with me to get help.

MIDTERM EXAM:  Tentatively Wed Feb 21 in class. No makeup will be given unless you make arrangements before the test (with a documented reason).

FINAL EXAM:  Tue Apr 23 at 12:45-2:45pm, in our usual classroom. No makeup will be given unless you make arrangements before the test (with a documented reason).

DAILY HOMEWORK:  I will not collect homework, but it is an essential part of the course. It is the crucial step in learning, and quiz and test problems will be difficult to impossible unless you have already done the corresponding homework problems.

Daily assignments are listed on the Main Page, with solutions. Each problem you give up on is a lost opportunity to learn: only look at the solution after a serious effort. If you need the solutions for most problems, you should arrange with me to get help.

I will give two Hand-In Homeworks during the semester. You may also hand in problems marked Extra Credit.

To repeat: the key to success in this course is to solve (not just read solutions to) all the daily HW problems. You cannot learn mathematics by watching it any more than you can learn to play a sport: you must practice it yourself.