Jim Loats, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematical Sciences,
Metropolitan State College of Denver, Denver Colorado
Office Hours: Tues. 12-1pm. Tues. & Thurs. 4 -5 pm (except Feb. 3 - March 5) and for Abs Alg. II: T,R 6:30-7pm before class
Office Hours By Appointment: Tues. Thurs. mornings 9-11:30am.
Other Office Hours: Other times can be available. Email me to set up the arrangements.
Office: Science Building 125 C,
Phone: 303-556-3109
Fax: 303-556-5381
Email Address: loatsj@mscd.edu
Mail Address:Campus Box 38, P.O. Box 173362, Denver CO 80217-3362
Education: B.A. Oklahoma State
Univ., M.S. Ohio Univ., and Ph.D. in Logic
& Set Theory, Univ. of Colorado Boulder
Areas of Interest: Mathematics
Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Welcome to my courses for Spring 2009:
MTH 1110 - 09 College Algebra will meet Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 - 3:50 pm in Science 111.
Click here to access the Course Materials page for College Algebra.
The usual text for this course is optional in this section. Instead, students will download materials from this website regularly through out the spring semester. I recommend using a 3-ring binder - not a spiral - to organize all the materials that you'll download. Every student must have their own supply of graph paper and a graphing calculator: TI-83 or a T-84 and bring them to class everyday.
MTH 4110 Abstract Algebra II will meet Tuesday & Thursday, 7:00 - 8:15 pm in Science 115.
The text will be: Abstract Algebra, An Introduction, by Thomas Hungerford, , Second Ed., 1997 by Saunders,
There will be regular Help Sessions right before class at 6:30 in the Student Lounge near our classroom. Click here to access and down load various course materials. Here is the course syllabus.
MTH 4600 Seminar in Problem Solving meets Tuesdays from 1:00 to 1:50 in Science 226a.
There is no required text. It'll be good to know Geometer's Sketchpad and have a graphing calculator. Click for the course syllabus.
Metro's Rural Mathematics Project courses will meet on-line Tuesdays, Thursdays 4:00 - 5:30pm for 5 week in Fall of 2009 provided that funding comes through. More information will be posted here as soon as we know.
I'd like to introduce you to the books I have co-authored:
Algebra Unplugged is a fun, easy to read, non-text for beginning algebra. It is a lively introduction to the concepts of algebra for readers who like to laugh while they learn. It has lots of stories that explain the basic ideas well but without any of those annoying exercises. A great gift ... after you finish reading it yourself. If you are a teacher, experiment with recommending sections of the book to your students. While many of us (especially math teachers) learned math by listening to our teachers and doing problems in the textbook, often some of us learn best by reading well crafted and interesting explanations. This book has those explanations! That was our main reason for writing it the way we did.
Calculus For Cats provides a vivid introduction/review of the topics in beginning calculus using silly stories and analogies involving cats, mice and other animals. Its style is similar to Algebra Unplugged - both supply all the words that are missing from most math textbooks. Some readers who had already taken calculus, reported gaining insight about what it was all about! Enjoy.
Some other items that are available:
Here is a link to the History of Mathematics class web site that I co-teach for UCD each summer. In addition to the course materials that we use in teaching the class, you can also see many cool classroom implementations that our teachers created - a great resource if you'd like to bring History of Math to life in your middle or high school classroom.This page of Principles of Mathematical Thinking is one of the best descriptions of my goals for math students of all ages.
Here is the set of questions from NCTM that has been very helpful to me in learning to teach a student-centered classroom.
Here is a collection of materials that I have assembled for teachers of mathematics.
The best way to reach me is by using the email address: loatsj@mscd.edu
Thanks, Dr. Jim