Pre-Test and Post-Test

Through the process of studying for the test, I've finally managed to figure out what the "unwinding" essentially was. Perhaps, I was too tired and didn't pay as much attention to it in class as I should have. By using this technique, I am able to find a pattern in which to formulate a potential hypothesis for a recursive proof. It works for the example taught in class. I've yet to test it on other proofs of this nature but the concept itself seems clear. Would it work on more complex recursive series? I'll try to find examples to test this out.

The test was as I had expected it to be. Unfortunately, on the last question, I was unable to determine what the value of k was, in the n>k question. In fact, in an attempt to find the value of k, I evaluated various natural numbers and plugged them back into the equation to find a number that would satisfy the equation. I went up to 5, thinking that we wouldn't have been required to go too far. If I had only gone one step further, I would have had the correct value of k. It was a mistake that I know I could have avoided had I have observed the pattern of the other values I was getting. Perhaps, if there was just a few more minutes, I would have gotten to it. Overall, I thought that the test was fair but I could have been more prepared.

Preparing For Test 1

So, the first test is just a few days away and I'm reviewing my notes and trying to reiterate the proofs and concepts that were taught in class. What I find slightly confusing is the material that we covered in the past several lectures that involves unwinding zpf's. Personally, I never was a big fan of recursion despite that fact that it makes things a lot easier. I find it sometimes difficult to think recursively and then apply it towards a logic proof.

This past lecture we were introduced to "Define sets with Induction" and were told that it might be confusing. It was very confusing to me! This is yet another area I will need to focus my time on when preparing for the upcoming test. Given that the test will only be 50minutes, I'm speculating that it would contain several large proofs of some sort using the techniques that we were taught. I'm really hoping that there isn't anything complex or things that i've only recently are beginning to learn.

In any case, I hope it goes well.

A1 Completed

Now that assignment 1 has been submitted, I'm a little relieved althought I'm a bit concerned as to how rigourous the marking would be. My group mates and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out question 3, especially part b which asked us to prove the irrationality of root-5, using part a which was to prove that the golden ratio was irrational, essentially, using the principle of well-ordering.

We decided that there had to have been some relation between the golden ratio and root-5, so we tried to prove it in that way. It was sort of difficult to assess to what degree of detail we were required to have in each of our solutions. The structure of the proofs in this course is suppose to be more relaxed than in CSC165 and upon hearing that I was very glad, however, I feel like I may have been use to the formal structure because looking at a two paragraph answer with minimal mathematical terms makes me slightly uneasy. I guess it's just a matter of getting use to it.

Next week is the midterm! How quickly time goes by. It might be a good time to go back and do some review to make sure I understand everything up to this point.

Assignment 1 & Notifications

So, this is the beginning of the third week of classes and assignment one is due in exactly a week. The assignment is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be but i'm still in the midst of trying to understand all of the questions. Given the amount of time we have to complete this assignment, overall, it seems fair. The second problem set has already been posted and is very similar to what we have done in class so hopefully, it can be used as a tool to test my understanding of the material taught.

I wish that we got e-mail notifications every time a new assignment is posted as I do for many of my classes, instead of checking the bulletin board every day to make sure that there aren't any new announcements. I suppose, it's also our responsibility to stay on top of these things but it could be laid out in a more efficient manner, rather than having assignments embedded in threads within a bulletin board.

Back to classes: First week

During the first week of classes, I was very thankful for the general overview of some of the basic concepts that were originally taught in CSC165. (ie: induction) It seems that over the summer, I've forgotten a lot of the mathematical concepts involved but after some review, I was eager to see how the course would progress. My initial thoughts on the course was that it was going to be more difficult than all the other first year CSC courses due to its theoretical nature. So far, things are going at a relatively nice pace and I like that.

Another thing I wanted to comment about is Danny's chosen method of teaching. One thing I get absolutely annoyed about with chalkboard teaching is that after the first board has been filled and erased, the subsequent boards are so much harder to read due to the grayish undertone that the chalkboard eraser leaves. So, teaching with his tablet, I find is very effective. However, I would have personally preferred the writing in white.

I haven't yet started on the assignments for the course, but I will very soon, seeing how the first one is due Friday. Slowly, the assignments are beginning to pile up in all of my courses so hopefully, I'll be able to prioritize my time effectively!

Alright, that's it for now.
Until next time...