Version 1.1 of Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof

With the fall semester now in full swing, I am finding it very difficult to find time to think about topics for this blog and to write posts for this blog.  So this one is short.

I have released Version 1.1 of the textbook Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof.  There is no difference in content between this version and Version 1.0.  I have made only two changes:

I have added a "Note to Students" that comes before the preface.  I do not know why this took me so long, but it is quite clear that students do not read the preface.  So I wrote a short note that explains the features of the textbook to the students and what they can do to effectively use the book.  Please use the link above to download this note and let me know what you think.

Study Guides for Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof

In a post on August 25, I indicated that I was working on study guides for each section of Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof.  I have now completed study guides for the book through Chapter 5.  These can be downloaded on the website for the book at https://sites.google.com/site/mathematicalreasoning3ed/.

I hope students will find these useful tools to help them with their study.

LaTeX Workshop in Class

In a post on this blog on August 14, I indicated that I was going to require my students in the introduction to proofs course to use LaTeX.  This is the first time I have done this.  I am quite nervous about requiring the use of LaTeX because I am not sure how the students will react to this.  Students seem to be quite comfortable using a word processor and it is usually not too difficult for them to then incorporate the use the equation editor.  Most students have used MS Word and some used Open Office.  I am not fond of the equation editors in these two word processors, and I often encourage my students to use MathType, especially with MS Word.