SEF026: Essential Foundation Mathematics (EFM) 2011/2012

This webpage is maintained by the lecturer Dr Ivan Tomasic and contains information relevant to the running of the course in 2011. A summary of practical details and assessment arrangements can also be found in the course information sheet.


Noticeboard (most recent first)


Official Details | Timetable | Course Outline | Sample Exam Papers

Official Details

Timetable

Note that attendance at lectures and tutorials is compulsory – absences will be recorded and persistent offenders may be deregistered from the course.

Course Outline

This is a foundational course which tests the ability to perform computations in basic arithmetic and algebra, without a calculator. The syllabus is based on the following web-book which explains methods and provides examples:

Essential Mathematics by Franco Vivaldi
(This is a PDF file which you can either read online in your web browser, or download to read offline/print.)

To prepare for the EFM tests and examination you should attempt all the exercises in this web-book up to, and including, those flagged by a single star. The structure of the EFM course assumes that you invest considerable time in such self-study (see here for some advice).

To help you understand the material there are weekly lectures covering topics from the web-book as outlined below:

Links in the table will become active as the term progresses. You may need to refresh the web page to pick up the link.

Lecture date Web-book sections Exercises Feedback/Solutions
28.09.2011 I.1 Sheet 1 Solutions 1
05.10.2011 I.2 Sheet 2 Solutions 2
12.10.2011 I.3 & I.4 Sheet 3 Solutions 3
19.10.2011 I.5 Sheet 4 Solutions 4
26.10.2011 I.6 Sheet 5 Solutions 5
02.11.2011 II.1 & II.2 Sheet 6 Solutions 6
09.11.2011 TEST WEEK! TEST TIMETABLE
16.11.2011 II.2 & II.3 Sheet 7 (wk8) Solutions 7
23.11.2011 II.4 & II.5 Sheet 8 (wk9) Solutions 8
30.11.2011 II.6 Sheet 9 (wk10) Solutions 9
07.12.2011 II.7 Sheet 10 (wk11) Solutions 10
14.12.2011 TEST WEEK! TEST TIMETABLE
27.04.2012 REVISION CLASS 2pm, Laws 2.10
May 2012 EXAM EXAM TIMETABLE

Each lecture contains a practice "mini-test" (5 questions under exam conditions) and there are also a number of related homework exercises. The solutions to these test and homework questions are discussed in the tutorial the following Monday. The answers to the homework exercises are not formally marked but you should be prepared to explain your solutions in front of the tutorial group.

Sample Exam Papers

The tests and exam will be similar in format and standard to the examples below: Further past papers are available on the library website.


Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any problems/queries. Full contact details can be found on my homepage.