Fall Quarter 2001. UCSD.
Time: M-W 1:25-2:15
Room: Petersen 108
Instructor: Rick Grush (rick@mind.ucsd.edu)
Office Hours: W 2:30 - 3:30. (and by appointment) HSS 7038
Office Phone: 822-4440
NOTE: This class is being covered by AS Lecture Notes.
[ Schedule
]
[ Grades ]
[ Exam Statistics ]
[ Email list ]
| TAs | Sections | Office Hours | Office |
| Erik Jackiw erikstotle@juno.com |
2 - M 3:35 - 4:25 CSB 005 3 - Tu 1:25 - 2:05 Peterson 103 |
Th 2-3 |
HSS 8088 |
| Eric Peterson peterson@helix.ucsd.edu |
1 - M 2:30 - 3:20 CSB 005 5 - W 5:45 - 6:35 Peterson 103 |
W 2:30 | @ HSS |
| Jason Thibideau jthibode@ucsd.edu |
4 - F 8:00 - 8:850: Peterson 103 6 - F 10:10 - 11:00: Peterson 103 |
F 9-10 | @ HSS |
Short Description:
Content.
This course consists of two parts. In the first part (about 2/3 of the course) we will cover the basics of formal sentential logic, including transaltions into formal notation, truth tables, and proofs. In the second part (about 1/3 of the course), we will study informal reasoning, focusing on ways that it can commonly go wrong.
Structure.
There are two lectures per week, and one discussion section. Grages are based on exams given in class, and problem sets assigned and collected in sections.
Text and other materials.
The text for the course is Basic Sentential Logic and Informal Fallacies (BSLIF), which is available at UCSD bookstore.
In addition to this text, there is a logic website for this course, that has additional exercises with solutions, practice exams with solutions, and other things that might be useful. This website requires a username and password, which I will announce in lecture.
Finally, there will be notes on my lectures available at AS Lecture Notes (next to Soft reserves).
Schedule:
Each session number is followed by the date of the lecture, and then the sections of the text that correspond to the lectures. Some sessions have a 'PS##' listed, which indicates the rough due date of problem sets. The problem sets will be collected in section, and so your section leader will tell you exactly when they are due.
Session 01 (09.24): BSLIF 1.1
Session 02 (09.26): BSLIF 1.1, 1.2. PS01.
Session 03 (10.01): BSLIF 2.1. PS02.
Session 04 (10.03): BSLIF 2.2, 2.3.
Session 05 (10.08): BSLIF 2.4. PS03.
Session 06 (10.10): BSLIF 2.5.
Session 07 (10.15): Midterm One
Session 08 (10.17): BSLIF 3.1. PS04.
Session 09 (10.22): BSLIF 3.2.
Session 10 (10.24): BSLIF 3.3. PS05.
Session 11 (10.29): BSLIF 3.4.PS06.
Session 12 (10.31): BSLIF 3.5.
Session 13 (11.05): Midterm Two
Session 14 (11.07): BSLIF 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4
11.12 Veterans Day Holiday
Session 15 (11.14): BSLIF 4.5, 4.6, 5.1, 5.2.
Session 16 (11.19): BSLIF 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6. PS07. [ Additional exercises for PS07 ]
Session 17 (11.21): BSLIF 5.7, 6.1, 6.2.
Session 18 (11.26): BSLIF 6.3, 6.4. PS08. [ Additional exercises for PS08 ]
Session 19 (11.28): ???
Final Exam: 12.07 11:30-2:30
Grades:
There are 1000 points possible for the course. This is broken down as follows: 200 for each of two midterms exams, for a total of 400. The final is worth 500 points. And the section grade, based on homework, is worth 100 points.
The final exam's 500 points are broken down as follows. 125 will correspond to material from Midterm One. 125 will correspond to material from Midterm 2. The reamining 250 points will cover material covered in the last third of the course: everything after Midterm Two.
No make-up exams will be given. If you miss a midterm exam for a legitimate reason, such as serious medical injury or illness, then the points will be made up in the following way: The final exam has sections that correspond to material from Midterm One and Midterm Two -- each worth 125 points. If a student misses a midterm exam for a legitimate reason, then the points that the student earns on that section of the final that corresponds to the missed exam will be multiplied by 1.6, and that number used for the student's exam score (because 125 x 1.6 = 200). For students who miss a midterm for a reason that is not good (e.g. I slept through my alarm, my car ran out of gas, my snake ate bluebook, I thought I was going to drop the course but then found out that I couldn't, etc.), the multiplier used will be 1.4 rather than 1.6.
In order to help accomodate students with scheduling issues, an early version of each exam, including the final, will be given, usually 4 - 7 days before the normally scheduled exam.
Exam Statistics:
I will post exam averages here when that information is available.
| Exam | Average |
| Midterm One | |
| Midterm Two | |
| Final |
There are email distribution lists for this course, one for each section:
logicM230@mind.ucsd.edu
logicM335@mind.ucsd.edu
logicT125@mind.ucsd.edu
logicF800@mind.ucsd.edu
logicW545@mind.ucsd.edu
logicF1010@mind.ucsd.edu
It is required that you subscribe to the list for your discussions section. Do it IMMEDIATELY. You can always unsubscribe later if you drop the course or change sections. The purpose of the list to allow me and the TAs to distribute information regarding due dates for assignments, changes of schedule, etc. Some of this information is crucial, and some of it will be distributed eraly on.
To subscribe, you simply need to send a message to the following address (the message must be sent from the account that you want to be subscribed) NOTE that the address to which you send an email in order to subscribe is NOT the same as the address of the list to which you will be subscribed:
To subscribe to logicM230@mind.ucsd.edu
send a message to sub-logicM230@mind.ucsd.edu
To subscribe to logicM335@mind.ucsd.edu send a message to sub-logicM335@mind.ucsd.edu
To subscribe to logicT125@mind.ucsd.edu send a message to sub-logicT125@mind.ucsd.edu
To subscribe to logicF800@mind.ucsd.edu send a message to sub-logicF800@mind.ucsd.edu
To subscribe to logicW545@mind.ucsd.edu send a message to sub-logicW545@mind.ucsd.edu
To subscribe to logicF1010@mind.ucsd.edu send a message to sub-logicF1010@mind.ucsd.edu
The subject line and any content in the message are ignored. You only need to send the message to the appropriate address from the account that you want to be subscribed.
Messages sent to these lists are not only distributed to all subscribers via email, but are also archived. The archives can be accessed at the following pages:
The logicM230 archives are here.
The logicM335 archives are here.
The logicT125 archives are here.
The logicF800 archives are here.
The logicW545 archives are here.
The logicF1010 archives are here.
How to do well in this course:
Attend the lectures, and read the corresponding chapters of the text before the lecture. Attend the discussion sections, and do all homework assigned by the TA. Use the homework, and other non-assigned exercises (in the text or on the website) to determine for yourself how well you have mastered the material. If you need additional help, ask your TA or myself. We have office hours. The earilier you get clear on some issue that is giving you trouble, the better it will be for everybody.
For each exam, I will provide 2 practice axams available from this website. I recommend that before the actual exam, you administer one of the exams to yourself, giving yourself only 45 minutes. Then grade your exam (answers will also be provided on this website). This will allow you to find what material, if any, you need to work on some more. Consult myself or the TA, or simply do more excercises of the type you need to improve on until you feel you have mastered this material. Repeat the proceedure with the second practice exam.
This will be a very manageable class IF you simply keep up with the material, regularly practice by doing exercises, and ask for help as soon as you need it.
Many students end up getting grades much worse than they expect because they do not follow the above advice. The material looks easy when you read through it or watch someone else work a proof or truth table, and many students then think "That looks easy, I'll be able to do that on a test." But as many students learn the hard way, watching someone do it is a lot easier than doing it yourself. Furthermore, the exams are long. Purposefully long. Most students do not finish them. The only way to get to the point where you can do the problems quickly and accurately is to do a lot of practice. [Amazingly, I give people this advice every time I teach this class, and every time a large chunk of students still fall into exactly these traps.]