The Advanced Writing Requirement in Mathematics

SECTION 2: The Junior Year

Proficiency in technical or analytical writing in mathematics is the goal of the requirement in the junior year. The marks or characteristics of this type of writing are below. As with the sophomore requirement, essential parts of the writing process include writing for an audience of peers, acting as a peer editor, and revising papers in accordance with the suggestions made by the teacher and a peer editor. Therefore, some of the writing assignments given during the junior year will involve review and revision.

Additional Writing Skills to be achieved at the junior level:

• Proof Making: The proofs written by the student are correct in formatand content. Mathematical language is used correctly and ideas are expressedclearly and succinctly.
• Professional Writing: The reports written by the student follow a professional
  format or organization. The arguments and conclusions/recommendations are accurate and expressed clearly in the appropriate language.

The mechanics of meeting the requirements:

At the end of the fall semester, each junior will submit a selection of her best
writing; the precise nature of the selections is determined by the teachers of the
junior courses. The teachers of juniors will meet over the semester break to determine how the students are progressing in their writing. Each student will receive a written evaluation of her writing, noting, in particular, the aspects of her writing which need improvement. She should devote particular attention to solving these problems as she prepares her spring semester writing assignments.

At the end of the spring semester, each junior will again submit a selection of her best writing with the precise nature of the selections being determined by the teachers of the junior courses. The teachers of juniors will meet again to determine which students have met the departmental standards for sophomore writing. Each student will receive an evaluation of her writing, indicating if she has met the department standards as well as aspects of her writing which need improvement. The student will be notified of the decision by June 1. If a student's work is judged to be satisfactory, a sample will be placed in her portfolio. Any student whose writing is not yet satisfactory will be instructed either to revise an assignment completed during the junior year or to complete another assignment deemed appropriate by the instructors. The final submissions must be acceptable by the following fall break.

Consequences of missing the deadline for completion of the requirements:

If, by fall break, a student does not meet the requirement outlined in herwritten evaluation, she will receive a notice of deficiency in ALL hermathematics courses. If she does not meet the requirement by the end of the fall semester, she receives an incomplete in all her mathematics courses.

Writing Home Page

Criteria for Good Writing in Mathematics

Mechanics of completing the Requirement

The Portfolio

The Process of Preparing the Fortfolio

Requirements and Mechanics for the Sophomore level
Requirements and Mechanics for the Junior level (Current Page)
The Senior Comprehensive Paper

Progress Reports

Overall Assessment
Standards

Resources for Mathematical Writing

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8/21/06