Outlining Style

• Outlines must be typed. You will turn in a copy electronically before midnight on the due date. Your outline must have the following sections:
  • Your name, the textbook section numbers, and the due date
  • A list of questions about things you did not understand fully, or were not sure you understood fully, from the readings.
  • The outline itself.
  • Some reading assignments may also include answering some short questions; do these after writing the outline, not before.
• The length of the outline can vary, from as short as a page to as long as a half dozen pages. You should strive to include enough detail that you could use the outline to study for an exam.
• Allow ample time to complete each reading and outlining. Each assignment could take 3 to 4 hours. You should read each section at least twice: once, fairly quickly, so that you get a high-level view of what the section is about, and a second slow and careful reading, where you follow each argument in detail.
• When a proof is presented, ask yourself why each step follows from the previous step.
• Write down questions about anything you do not understand or are not completely sure you understand.
• Your outline should include all important concepts and definitions. Lengthly examples should be briefly summarized or simplified.
• You are encouraged to discuss the readings with other students, but you must write your outlines on your own. Do not read anyone's outline before writing your own, and do not collaborate with others in writing the outlines.
• You have two choices for writing the outlines:
  • Type plain text using any word processing, and save your work as plain text (txt) file. Do not save in MS word or Open Office. Here are examples of ways to type common mathematical symbols. You can use other notation as long as you are consistent.

    

  • Create a PDF file using any word processing system. I recommend you use Google Documents. An advantage of using Google Documents is that it is very easy to create simple drawing in Google Draw and to insert the drawings in your notes. (Note: the best way to copy a drawing from Google Draw to a document is to select it, click on the "web clip board" icon to copy it, and then in your Google Document paste it by again clicking on the "web clip board" icon. Don't spend a lot of time with formating or inserting special characters, it is fine to use text abbreviations like the ones above.
  • You can use MS Word, Latex or any other word processor, but please do not spend a lot of time struggling to format text and formulas.