Mathematics 1100: The Nature of Mathematics

This course is to introduce students to some historically important concepts in mathematics. There will be very few formulas to learn, and almost no "plugging in" to produce numerical answers. The emphasis will be on learning to use these concepts effectively to guide everyday thinking. Clear thinking is intimately connected to clear oral and written expression, and issues of spoken and written expression will be addressed in this course as mathematical issues. The course material should broaden students' viewpoint of what mathematics is, and why it is useful. This should be useful as students formulate ideas to help their tutoring efforts. The tutoring experience should be fun, help engage a sense of civic engagement and social responsibility, and be a real service to the community. In addition, this experience should broaden students' understanding of how they themselves learn mathematics.