MTH2132: Nature and Beauty of Mathematics

10 x weekly problem sets (30%)
These were engaging and enjoyable, and very easy to get good marks on with a reasonable understanding of mathematics
Lecture polls in every lecture (10%)
This was a new assessment, replacing an essay. It was very easy to get these right as the lecturer would go through the answer and allow you to change your answer if it was wrong. They are only open during the lecture and there is no way to answer them without actually being in the lecture. The question wasn't on the poll, only a spot for the answer, with the question being displayed on the slides.
Exam (60%)
*40% hurdle for exam and 40% hurdle for in-semester assessment*

I really loved this unit. It made many difficult, high-level maths concepts accessible to anyone with a year 12 level of maths. We did heaps of practical demonstrations (at least one every lecture) such as magic tricks, bubbles, and juggling. There was usually a small practical task in the weekly assignment that we had to take a picture of for bonus marks. I'm not studying education but I would highly recommend this unit to anyone who is, as you not only increase your understanding but also learn many activities that you can run in your classes. Burkard is clearly incredibly passionate about what he does, and runs an organised unit. After each week, he sends out lecture notes which are really detailed and include great diagrams.

The exam format was 80 marks, 10 questions worth 8 marks each, and 4 sub-questions for each question, worth 2 marks each. Although they were all worth 2 marks each, they varied from simple answers to full-blown proofs. Something I didn't realise before going into the exam was that we were given a list of questions and a script book, and we just answered the questions in the script book (by far the strangest way I've done a maths exam). I'm still not sure if we were meant to do them in order, although I didn't and still did well, so as long as the questions were clearly labelled I assume it would be ok. The best way to do well on the exam is to do all 120 questions (this takes longer than you think so start early), and to attend the revision lecture. During the revision lecture, he often hints at questions that might be on the exam, and questions that you definitely don't need to bother with.

These are easy marks, you really need to attend the lectures to get them though. This was a new assessment so I'm not sure if it will be included again. They added up to 10% and you got half of that automatically for doing 70% of the polls, and one extra percent for every 10% correct you got above 50%. Eg. Answering 70% polls, and getting 80% of them correct would get you 5+3=8%.

Prof. Burkard Polster (also Unit Coordinator)

There were no past exams. We did, however, receive a document of 120 practice questions, and 80% of the exam was made up with questions directly from the document.

5 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture. I would note however that whilst the lecturer uses the document camera for the many practical demonstrations, this cannot replace actually attending the lecture.

There are no 'recommended' textbooks, however much of the content is similar to the content of 'The Heart of Mathematics: An invitation to effective thinking'. This book was in no way necessary, but I found it useful to refer to sometimes (and is available at the library). Another resource to make use of is Burkard's 'Mathologer' YouTube channel.

These are out of 10. They are due before the Friday lecture and get handed back in the following Friday lecture. Not every question was marked on these, but you have no way of knowing which will be marked beforehand, so you have to do them all. I spent ages formatting mine and making meticulous diagrams, but my friend did them by hand somewhat roughly and got the same marks, so it's the work that's really important. I would recommend checking answers with someone before handing them in as it was easy to make mistakes.

One 1-hour lecture and one 2-hour lecture every week

Sem 1, 2019

94 HD

I think there were 6 assessments spread out across the semester each weighing the same.

This is a piss easy subject that has a low mathematical component and is great for filling up electives while undertaking your course.

This is a very interesting unit which places mathematics in a more artsy perspective (probably designed for art students whose maths is not their strong point haha). Philosophical topics surrounding maths are raised but lightly delved in so don't be put off by that, the assignments are fairly easy but more importantly the material is interesting. Talks about the Golden Ratio all the way to the shape of the universe and mobius strip explained so that layman can understand. Some of the later assignments can get a little tricky but just ask Burkard (he urges you this thru out he entire semester) and he is happy to explain with all too many hints.

I thought the exam was a bit harder than the assessments he gave us and there was quite a lot to cover for the time given. I'm pretty lazy tho but if you put in some effort this is almost a guaranteed HD

Dr Burhard Polster

Not when I did it. We were given exam preparation materials.

6 out of 5

No

Each topic gets handed out relevant materials, no textbook necessary.

Two 1-hour lectures and one 1-hour support class per week

2010, it was also coded MTH1122

68

25% - Weekly Problem Sets which are handed in during the next week's 2 hr lecture
25% - 1500 word 'Essay' - It's more of a maths article where you pick something you're interested in, talk about it, explain it and show the maths
50% - Exam

This has been the most enjoyable unit that I've completed so far, and it'll take a fair bit to top it, (I really think it'll stay my most enjoyable unit). While the maths itself in the unit isn't hard (basic maths really as a lot of students from other faculties take it as an elective, e.g. arts comm e.t.c), the approach to learning is different than most units. It's not just a 'here's the method/formula, plug and chug/apply', it requires more out of the box thinking in some situations.

Each week you'll get a problem set due in the next week's 2 hr lecture. These problems aren't too hard, and since there was more people taking the unit this year only one or two problems were marked out of the 4 each week. We weren't told which problems though, so you still had to do all of them really. Some of them will be a little... shall we say, different from what you're used to. That is you might have a basic algebraic manipulation from some kid of diagram to prove something, or you might need to take a photo of yourself with a hexaflexagon to prove you've made it, or even making a cube withing a cube with bubbles (you get the ingredients for the mixture you need to make). This may sound all odd, but there are mathematical principles behind it all, and really it's a lot of fun as well. There was a cool trick that you could do with the bubble mixture, setting your hands on fire without actually setting them on fire, which some of you might have seen ended up on Stalkerspace.

For the essay, don't make it hard on yourself, start early. At least have a good idea and do a bit of an investigation into it early on in the semester. Pick something your interested in and try and find a bit of math in your everyday life. It's due just before the midsem break (so that he can mark them over the midsem break).

Throughout the semester Burkard will show you a fair few mathematical movie/tv clips, which you'll find a few of them here http://www.qedcat.com/movieclips/index.html
Also you should check out his and Marty's (one of the guys who takes UMEP, also Burkard takes MUEP classes) website, always good for a bit of thought provoking procrastination: http://www.qedcat.com/.

Finally the exam itself, while the unit is not a hard unit, you'll need to remember a fair few theorems and concepts/ideas for the exam. I left it until a bit too late to start memorising and committing these to memory, start early if you can. Doing the list of questions he gives you is good practice for the exam (as half of them are the actual exam questions). Also the questions that were on the problem sets may come up again in the exam, my friends and I kinda assumed that they wouldn't since they were already on the problem set, and well lost a few marks when the popped up on the exam as we didn't revise them.

All in all, a great unit, I'll list the topics as follows.
• Symmetry (regular solids, tilings, Escher, ruler-and-compass, origami)
• Fibonacci numbers and Golden Ratio
• Optimal design (soap bubble maths, minimal networks)
• Mathematical soul capturing (the maths of juggling and lacing shoes)
• Visualising the 4th dimension
• The shape of space (Möbius bands, Klein bottles, "pacman" spaces)
• Infinity.
I should point out that he uses a lightsaber as a pointer, and the content and demonstrations will always keep you interested. Anyways, check out a juggling demonstration that he did for open day this year (you'll get to see it again during lectures), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zabtIAUKVXY.

A/Prof Burkard Polster

Not exactly a past exam, but a list of 120 questions. 80% of the exam will be these exact questions. (No solutions or answers to them though).

6 Out of 5 (not a typo)

No.

Don't have to buy anything, but Burkard's book 'Q.E.D.: Beauty in Mathematical Proof' is pretty good for what I've seen of it.

1x1 hr lecture and 1x2 hr lecture a week (that's it!)

Semester 2 2013

86 - HD