General

  • General

    • Welcome to Foundations of Discrete Mathematics

      This is the course website for Foundations of Discrete Mathematics (MS-A0402) is given in Period IV on Spring 2022. Discrete Mathematics is the mathematics of finite and countable structures, or loosely speaking the mathematics of sets where there is no notion of "convergence". Methods from discrete mathematics play a large role in many other subjects, in particular in computer engineering and data science. In this course we cover the foundations of discrete mathematics (graphs, enumeration, modular arithmetic) as well as as the foundations of all mathematics on university level (set logic and proof techniques). We also study some modern applications of the theory, in cryptography and networks theory.


      For whom? The course is suitable for all Aalto students; no other prerequisites than high school mathematics are necessary. 

      Lecturer: Tuomas Sahlsten

      Course assistants: 

      • H01 Online Zoom group(meeting ID :625 6727 0245)- Rahinatou Njah (rahinatou.njah@aalto.fi) - Head Assistant
      • H02 - Teemu Tasanen (teemu.tasanen@aalto.fi), Tuesdays classroom R001/M240, Undergraduate Centre and Fridays classroom R001/M240, Undergraduate Centre
      • H03 - Noora Puputti (noora.puputti@aalto.fi), Mondays classroom R001/Y228b, Undergraduate Centre, and Wednesdays classroom R001/U358 AMER SPORTS, Undergraduate Centre (we had to change the Wednesday class to another class as the size of the class was increased)

      Registration: Sisu. When you register for the course on Sisu, remember to also register for one (and only one) exercise group.

      Resources: Please see the Materials

      Laskutupa: Free math tutoring center. Follow the link for a schedule and other details. 

      Assignments: See Assignments

      Grading policy: The grade for the course will be determined by

      Max{H*60 + F*40  ,  F*100%}

      where

      H = Homework, F = Final exam

      Final exam and re-take exams: The final exam on April is only organised on campus, we cannot organise both virtual and on-campus examinations for a course. For the re-take exams later in the year, the exercise points will not count towards to the final grade. However, if you cannot attend the first exam on April (please contact me if you cannot and you plan to come to exercise classes), you can take a re-take exam later in the year when you are in Finland, which will also be on campus, there will not be separate virtual exams. In this case, if you had not attended the first exam on April, the exercise points will count towards the final grade (so you can also pass the course also with the 60% assignments, 40% final exam rule in addition to the 100% final exam grade), but you need to first contact me that you are planning to do this as a priori I will the re-take exams will be marked with 100% grade from the final exam. If you already attended the April exam, then the exercise points will not count towards to the final grade you would get in the re-take exam.




    • Structure of the teaching


      How is the course taught? 

      • This course will be delivered in the traditional style with in-person scheduled lectures on campus (8:15 - 10 am on Wednesdays and Thursdays). These lectures will follow lecture notes I have put to Materials section. Into the Lecture journal section I will gather what pages of the lecture notes we have covered in each lecture. For students who cannot attend, I have put out also last year's online videos and lecture slides into the Further materials section. 
      • We will also have two weekly exercise classes for each group, the group H01 will be online. Attendance to the classes is not mandatory but highly recommended. Here you can also work on some of the exercises, get advise and feedback.
      • Assignments that will weight 60% of the final mark, and a final exam that weights 40%, see Assignments section for more info about homework.



    • Contacting lecturer and assistants: Zulip Chat


      • This forum will be used in an essential way during the course: you should aim to use it for all contact with the lecturer and the assistants for questions. It is possible to send a private message or put a public questions which could be helpful for other students of the course
      • https://ms-a0402.zulip.aalto.fi (log in with your Aalto credentials)


      Laskutupa (math help center)


      Lasutupa is Aalto's math tutoring center that is run by the Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis. 
      Feel free to ask the tutors there for help any time. Since it's online you can post your questions any time. 


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