Math 344: Introduction to group theory and applications, Spring 2025 (CRN 61730)

Instructor:

Derek Garton (email and office: gartondw[at]pdx.edu and Fariborz Maseeh Hall (FMH) 468M).

Graduate assistant:

Dakotah Webb (email: dakwebb[at]pdx.edu).

Lecture place and time:

Fariborz Maseeh Hall (FMH) 417, MW, 11:30am–1:20pm.

Student drop-in hours:

Mondays 4pm–5pm, Tuesdays 2pm–3pm, or by appointment.

Study group with Dakotah:

Mondays 10:00am–11:00am in Fariborz Maseeh Hall (FMH) 416.

Text:

Charles C. Pinter, A Book of Abstract Algebra, second edition, Dover Books, 2010.

Course objectives and student learning outcomes:

At the end of this course, you should be able to recognize, construct examples of, compare, and manipulate groups. More generally, this course will help you read and write mathematics, make conjectures, prove theorems, generalize from examples, and explain your mathematical thinking to others.

I hope this course will be joyful and interesting to everybody. It will be challenging and we will support each other. Please be prepared to take an active, critical, patient, and generous role in your own learning and that of your classmates.

Course schedule:

The course schedule records the material we cover in the text and the homework assignments.

Grading policy:

Homework:

Engaging with the homework is essential, and it will likely require a substantial amount of time and effort. Working on the exercises with classmates is an excellent way to enhance your learning, but write your solutions up yourself. Please try not to look on the internet for answers: struggling with the problems on your own (with the help of the text, your classmates, and the instructor) is part of the learning process. Since everybody has a hard week now and again, I will drop your lowest HW grade.

Discussion group:

Portland State has kindly provided a discussion group for this course. Feel free to use them to talk about math.

These discussion groups serve the role of an email list for the class. Therefore, you must be a member.

PSU care team:

The PSU care team is Portland State University's resource for students experience distress—both academic and nonacademic.

Disability resources:

The required statement on access and inclusion for students with disabilities is bottom menu option of the linked page.

Title IX reporting obligations:

Here is the required statement on Title IX reporting obligations.

The Center for Student Health & Counseling (SHAC):

Here is the required statement about the SHAC.