AMS 300, Writing in Applied Mathematics

Catalog Description: See below.

Prerequisites:WRT 102; AMS major; U3 or U4 standing.

1 credit, S/U grading

Course Coordinator: Alan Tucker

WHO NEEDS TO TAKE AMS 300.

You do not need to take AMS 300 to satisfy the AMS major writing requirement if any of the following situations apply.
a) You are a double major and satisfied the writing requirement in your other major.
b) You wrote a paper in an AMS or other quantitative course.
c) You wrote up observations of classroom teaching for an MAE course.
d) You did technical writing as part of a job or research project.
In these cases b), c), d), submit your written work to Prof. Tucker (with e-mail address on the cover page). He will review this writing and ask for revisions, if necessary.
If none of the above situations apply to you, you must satisfy the AMS major writing requirement by signing up for AMS 300 with the AMS undergraduate secretary.

I. Nature of Writing. AMS 300 students are expected to write four 3-page papers (or three 4-page papers) of a mathematical nature. The recommended source is one's class notes from AMS courses. Take sections of these notes, such as the discussion of conditional probability in AMS 310 or Hamiltonian circuits in AMS 301, and expand these discussions in good English into a short paper to explain the topics to the reader.

II. Class Organization. AMS 300 has no formal meeting time. AMS 300 is coordinated by AMS Undergraduate Program Director Alan Tucker . Each student enrolled in AMS 300 is assigned a faculty reader to whom papers should be submitted. The assignment of readers will be emailed to students and posted outside the AMS office during the third week of classes. Students submit their papers to their reader, either by email or by hard copy. Include your e-mail address on the front of each paper.
The faculty readers will assess the writing of a paper and email the students about the status of the papers. The readers will give papers to the AMS undergrad secretary for the students to pick up. If extensive corrections are needed, a reader may arrange to meet with his student. Otherwise, the student corrects the paper and re-submits it.
Faculty readers will normally contact students about the status of their papers within a week of receiving them.

III. Timetable. The first two papers are due by the 7th week of the semester. Revised versions of the first two papers should be completed by the 10th week. The final paper should be submitted by the 12th week and revisions completed by the last day of classes.
When all papers are accepted, a student will be given a grade of S in AMS 300. A, I or U grade may be assigned to a student who has not submitted all papers by the 12th week in the semester.
Grading Note: While AMS 300 is an S/U graded course, if a student is given an I and does not complete the work, the I will turn into an F, not a U, affecting the GPA.

Assistance with Proper English Usage Proper English Usage