This is a semester-long course. Each week, there are two hours of lectures and one hour of problem-solving sessions. Students are divided into two working groups to attend the problem-solving classes. In addition, two seminars will be held, totaling 5 hours.

The specific language and content of mathematics courses can make individual study challenging for students; therefore, it is essential to make the most of both the theoretical explanations and the practical classes.

The lectures are intended to introduce the basic concepts, clarify ideas, and provide the tools needed to successfully tackle problem solving. These lectures will continuously include examples and exercises to help illustrate the theoretical concepts.

During the problem-solving classes, students will work on exercises from lists provided by the course instructors. It is highly recommended that students read and attempt the proposed exercises beforehand. This will make participation in the problem sessions and the assimilation of course content more effective. Since only one hour per week is allocated to problem-solving classes, the most representative problems will be presented in class, serving as models for solving the remaining exercises.

Regarding the seminars, two seminar sessions are planned, totaling 5 hours. Questions and problems will be assigned for students to solve and will be assessed. Optionally, students may work and submit their solutions in groups of up to three people.

The Moodle classroom within the Virtual Campus will be of vital importance for following the course. It will be the primary communication channel between students and instructors. Students are encouraged to check the Virtual Campus regularly.

The instructors’ office hours will be announced.

Note: Fifteen minutes of a class session, within the timetable established by the School or Degree Program, will be reserved for students to complete the surveys evaluating both the teaching performance of the instructors and the course itself.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Continuous Assessment Activities

a) Assessment Process and Scheduled Activities

• Activity S1: consists of a first seminar at the beginning of the first semester, comprising a series of assessable problems that may be submitted in working groups. It accounts for 15% of the final grade.
• Activity S2: consists of a second seminar, comprising a series of assessable problems that may be submitted in working groups, held midway through the first semester. It accounts for 15% of the final grade.
• Activity P: consists of an exam at the end of the first semester, accounting for 70% of the final grade.

Each of these assessable activities will receive a grade between 0 and 10, denoted respectively as S1, S2, and P.

To pass the course through continuous assessment, students must obtain a grade of at least 2 in exam P.

The continuous assessment grade will be calculated as follows:

QC = 0.15·S1 + 0.15·S2 + 0.70·P

The continuous assessment is considered passed if QC is equal to or greater than 5.

b) Scheduling of Assessment Activities

The schedule of assessment activities will be published through the Virtual Campus.

Some exam dates and classroom locations will also be available on the School of Engineering website, in the examinations section.

c) Resit Process

A resit examination (R) covering the entire syllabus of the first semester will be scheduled for students who do not pass through continuous assessment.

Students are not required to meet any specific conditions in order to sit the resit examination.

The final grade will be calculated using the following formula:

QF = max {QC, R}

Students who have obtained a QC grade of 5 or higher and wish to improve their grade may also take the resit examination under the same conditions. The same formula (QF) will apply to these students.

d) Procedure for Reviewing Grades

For each assessment activity, a place, date, and time for grade review will be announced, during which students may review the activity with the teaching staff or carry out the review online.

Within this framework, students may submit appeals regarding the grade awarded for the activity, which will be evaluated by the instructors responsible for the course. If a student does not attend the review session, the activity will not be reviewed at a later date.

The review of the final grade follows the same procedure as that of continuous assessment.

e) Grades

Honours Distinction (Matrícula de Honor). The awarding of an Honours Distinction is at the discretion of the instructors responsible for the course. UAB regulations state that this distinction may only be awarded to students who have obtained a final grade of 9.00 or higher. Up to 5% of the total number of enrolled students may receive this distinction.

A student will be considered Not Assessable (NA) if they do not sit either the first partial exam or the second partial exam.

f) Student Misconduct, Cheating, and Plagiarism

In recent years, a significant increase in cheating during written assessments has been observed. Although it is difficult to determine exactly how it is carried out, it is often noticeable in mathematics-related subjects. The School requires the inclusion of the following statement, which will be strictly enforced this academic year:

Without prejudice to any other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, any irregularities committed by a student that may lead to an alteration of the grade awarded for an assessment activity will be graded as zero. Therefore, cheating, plagiarism, deception, allowing others to copy, etc., whether partially or entirely in any assessment activity, will result in that activity being failed with a grade of zero. The implications of such a grade on the possibility of passing the course will be assessed by the teaching team after consulting the individuals involved.

If the teaching team detects a student cheating in any assessable activity, the student will automatically fail the course and will be required to take the resit examination in order to pass the subject.

In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted at any stage. Any work containing AI-generated content will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total grade penalty for the activity, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.

Students who use a mobile phone during an in-person assessment, whether individually or through a member of their work group, will lose the right to continuous assessment and must take the resit examination. In this case, they will be required to sit exam R, following the criteria specified in section c) Resit Process of this course guide.

h) Assessment of Repeat Students

Students retaking the course must follow the general continuous assessment procedure described in the previous sections.

i) Single Assessment

This course does not provide a single-assessment option.

If a student is unable to attend an assessment activity for justified reasons, arrangements will be made for them to complete it at another time.