Course Policies
Table of contents
About
This course examines the foundational issues that arise in the study of mathematical models of decision-making at both the individual and group levels, and explores their key applications in philosophy, politics, and economics. The course is structured around three core areas: decision theory, which explores how individuals make choices under uncertainty; game theory, which analyzes strategic interactions among rational agents; and social choice theory, which investigates how groups arrive at collective decisions.
We will cover a range of topics, including ordinal and cardinal utility theory, the Allais and Ellsberg paradoxes, an introduction to game theory concepts, voting methods and paradoxes, and utility aggregation. Core theorems such as May’s Theorem, Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem, and the Condorcet Jury Theorem will be critically examined. If time permits, we will also explore additional topics such as Newcomb’s Paradox, strategic voting, Sen’s Impossibility of the Paretian Liberal, and the complexities of gerrymandering.
The readings for this course are interdisciplinary, drawing on sources from economics, philosophy, political science, psychology, and statistics.
Resources
Tophat: Please signup for tophat using the join code 616833. You must sign up for the Top Hat Pro subscription. Tophat will be used for in-class questions (during lectures) and for interactive study guides to supplement the readings and lectures.
Piazza: This term we will be using Piazza for class discussion. The system is highly catered to getting you help fast and efficiently from me and your classmates. Rather than emailing questions to me, I encourage you to post your questions on Piazza (available on the course website).
Gradescope: We will use Gradescope for your weekly problem sets. You should access Gradescope through the ELMS website. You have already been added to the Gradescope gradebook.
Weekly Schedule/Due Dates
The tentative weekly schedule:
- Each Monday, information about the weekly problem set, updates to the course website, updates to the online notes, updates to the weekly schedule will be announced using the ELMS announcement page.
- In-person lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays 12:00pm - 12:50pm in TWS 1310.
- Weekly discussion sections on Fridays (consult your schedule for the time and location of your discussion section).
- Throughout the week, use Piazza to ask questions about the problem sets, reading or lectures, or anything else you might want to discuss related to the course.
- Problem sets (submitted through Gradescope) will be assigned roughly every week and will be due Fridays at 11:00 PM.
- The participation questions (answered via tophat.com) should be answered during the lectures. You will have the opportunity to correct any mistakes to the in-class quizzes.
Course Requirements
The course requirements are:
Participation: There will be weekly “participation questions” assigned via Tophat. Almost all the questions will be asked and answered during the lecture or discussion section. Each question will be worth 1 point. Some questions will be graded for participation only (you get 1 point as long as you answer the question before the deadline) and others questions will be graded for correctness (0.5 for participation and 0.5 for correctness). You are encouraged to discuss these problems with your classmates.
Problem Sets: There will be 10-12 problem sets. Problem sets will be submitted through Gradescope (accessible through the course website). You can use your notes, the readings, and the online textbook, but you should not discuss your answers with your classmates or use any AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to answer these questions.
Exams: There will be two exams this semester:
- Midterm: The midterm will contain an in-person portion and an online portion. The in-person portion will be given during the lecture time and the online portion will be given on Gradescope. The midterm is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of week 7.
- Final Exam: The final will be cumulative (though more emphasis on material after the midterm exam) and given in-person during finals week. Consult the course website for more information about the final exam.
Late Policy
There will be weekly participation questions assigned on Tophat (most of the questions will be answered during lectures). You will have more than one chance to answer the questions. The deadline for correcting participation questions are as follows:
- All participation questions for weeks 1 - 7 must be completed before week 7.
- All participation questions for weeks 10 - 16 must be completed before the last week of class.
Problem sets will be assigned each week (usually on Mondays). You must submit your problem sets by Fridays at 11pm. The penalty for late problem sets is as follows:
- Problem sets submitted less than 24 hours after the due date (so, before Saturday at 11pm): no late penalty
- Problem sets submitted after Saturday at 11pm and before class on Monday: assignments will be graded, and a small late penalty may be applied (1% - 10% of the total number of points may be deducted).
- Problem sets submitted after class on Monday (without a valid excuse): the problem set will be lightly graded, and you will receive at most 1/2 the total points for the assignment.
Late exams will not be accepted (unless you contact me in advance to ask for a valid extension).
Grades
Grades will be assigned according to the following weights:
| Activity | Percent |
|---|---|
| Participation | 30% |
| Problem Sets | 40% |
| Midterm | 15% |
| Final Exam | 15% |
See undergraduate catalogue for description of grades, e.g., A+, A, A-, etc.
Support
It’s expected that some aspects of the course will take time to master, and the best way to master challenging material is to ask questions. For online questions, use Piazza.
UMD has many resources available to help students. Below are links to some resources that you might find helpful.