CCST9017 (A,B)

Hidden Order in Daily Life:

A Mathematical Perspective
Lecturers: Prof. Patrick Tuen Wai Ng
Dr. Zhiwen Zhang

Tutors : Dr. Edmond K.M. Leung

Dr. Tim Wotherspoon
Department of Mathematics, HKU
 Main goals of this course
 Mathematics is being used extensively in
many areas of our modern society, affecting
us fundamentally on an everyday basis.
 Example: mobile phones, GPS systems,
financial investment, internet searching,
voting system, Human Genome Project etc.
 Students will learn the mathematical concepts and
principles of things that they encounter in the
modern society, and learn how to handle and
interpret numerical and other forms of mathematical
data that affect their daily life.
 Main goals of this course
 The topics covered in this course can be
broadly grouped into two areas.
 One is related to information processing,
which includes searching, collecting,
transmitting and presenting useful data and
information.
 The other area is related to decision making.
 These two areas are inter-related as good
decision making has to be based on reliable
data and information.
Same topics will be covered in both sections
 Infectious Disease Modeling (2, Ng)
 Game Theory and Auction (2, Ng)
 Shapley Value (1, Ng)
 Searching Love with Mathematics (1, Ng)
 Making and Breaking Codes (2, Zhang)
 Data and Statistics in Daily Life (1, Zhang)
 The Math of Google (1, Zhang)
 AI and Deep Learning (1.5, Zhang)
 One hour in-class test (last week)
 Learning outcomes
 demonstrate understanding of important
applications of mathematics in our everyday life;
 apply mathematical ideas and methods to our
decision making on everyday issues;
 investigate the mathematical foundation of
topics that are related to everyday life;
 communicate daily life problems and solutions
using appropriate mathematical terminology and
good English;
 solve real-life problems using mathematics and
present the solution using appropriate software.
 Assessment method
 Class work (10%);
 Assignment and tutorial (25%);
 Mini project/report (25%);
 Group presentation (10%);
 In-class test (30%)
Class work (10%)
 In each lecture, you will be asked to complete a classwork which
will count one mark. You need to submit the answer of the
classwork to Moodle within 24 hours after the lecture(i.e. before
2:30pm the next day for section A and 6:30pm for section B)
 We have 10 worksheets but you can get at most 10 marks.
Assignment and tutorial (25%)
 There will be 10 assignments (2 questions each)
and 9-10 tutorials (the first tutorial will be started
on 15 September, i.e., Thursday in Week 3).
Students in the Tuesday group will have 9
tutorials only and the tutorial marks will be
adjusted accordingly.
 Students will be asked to read and discuss the
solutions of other classmates in the tutorials.
You should upload your assignment to Moodle
according to your tutorial group number
before 1:00pm on the following Monday.
 Assignment and tutorial (25%)
 Each assignment will be counted for 1.5 marks and the
participation in each tutorial will be counted for 1.25
marks and will only count the best eight tutorial marks.
 So you may get 1.5x10+1.25x8=25 marks.
 You must use a “A4”-size paper for your homework
and label your full name in English, Student ID
Numbers as well as your Tutorial Group number.
 You may write or type your homework.
 Failure to follow the homework guidelines would result
in mark deduction from your homework.
 Late homework submission would be penalized as well.
 Online tutorial groups
There will be 20 tutorial groups. Please make sure you have
signed up in the HKU Tutorial Sign-up System:
Tut 1: Thur 10:30 - 11:20 (MB236)
Tut 12: Mon 13:30 - 14:20 (MB236)
Tut 2: Thur 11:30 - 12:20 (MB236) Tut 13: Mon 14:30 - 15:20 (MB236)
Tut 3: Thur 13:30 - 14:20 (MB236) Tut 14: Mon 15:30 - 16:20 (MB236)
Tut 4: Thur 14:30 - 15:20 (MB236) Tut 15: Tue 9:30 - 10:20 (MB236)
Tut 5: Thur 15:30 - 16:20 (MB236) Tut 16: Tue 13:30 - 14:20 (MB236)
Tut 6: Fri 10:30 - 11:20 (MB236) Tut 17: Tue 14:30 - 15:20 (MB236)
Tut 7: Fri 11:30 - 12:20 (MB236) Tut 18: Tue 15:30 - 16:20 (MB226)
Tut 8: Fri 13:30 - 14:20 (MB236) Tut 19: Tue 17:30 - 18:20 (MB236)
Tut 9: Fri 14:30 - 15:20 (MB236) Tut 20: Wed 11:30 - 12:20 (MB236)
Tut 10: Mon 9:30 - 10:20 (MB236)
Tut 11: Mon 10:30 - 11:20 (MB236)
Please always write down your tutorial group number when
You hand in your assignment, classwork, project proposal
and project report.
 Mini project/report (25%) and
group presentation (10%)
Mathematics has been applied to many different
disciplines. Write a report and do a group
presentation on a concrete application of
mathematics to one of the areas listed below.

1) Economics/Finance 2) Auction Pricing/Voting

3) Medicine 4) Transportation/Logistics
5) Politics 6) Law
7) Arts/Architecture 8) Recreations/Games/Magic
9) Engineering 10) Science
11) Sport 12) Information Technologies
 Project report (5%+20%)

It should be at least 2000 words and no more than six

pages. The report (20 marks) will be assessed
according to its content, originality and presentation.

If you would like to do a project on other topics which

are related to this course, you have to seek the approval
from one of the course instructors.

Grading rubric and sample proposals/reports are

available on Moodle.
 Project report (5%+20%)
You should pair up with three other classmates in your
tutorial group, i.e. four students for each group .

You should submit to us a one page proposal (5 marks)

on the group project that your group is going to do
before 5:00pm, 26 October, 2022 (one soft copy via
Moodle).

The deadline for submitting the final report (10 marks)

is 5:00pm, 13 December, 2022 (again one soft copy via
Moodle).
 Oral presentation (10%)
 All the oral presentations will be arranged in the last
tutorial session.

Each group should give a 10-15 minute power-point

presentation.

In-class test (30%)

 1 hour written in-class test in the last week.

The maximal total mark you can get will be 100.

The American Mathematical Society
maintains a website which promotes
the public awareness of mathematics.

It contains a lot of materials

information which should be very
useful for you to find an interesting
topic for your group project.
 http://www.ams.org/public-awareness
 http://www.ams.org/mathmedia/
 http://www.ams.org/featurecolumn/
Plagiarism

The University views any act of

plagiarism as of the utmost
seriousness which the University will
not tolerate.
 Plagiarism is defined as the
unacknowledged use, as one's own, of
work of another person, whether or not
such work has been published.
http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism/
Whether you are using footnotes, endnotes or brief
references in the text you must supply full information
about the sources of information you are referring to.
The information supplied about each publication
must contain the following elements:
i) the name of the author(s); ii) the date of
publication ; iii) the title of the work; iv) the
publisher
http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism/reference.htm

Try to submit your report to the software Turnitin

first. It will inform you if you have committed
plagiarism or not.
 How to contact us ?
Prof. Patrick Tuen Wai Ng
Office: Run Run Shaw Building Room 427/424
email address: [email protected]
Office hours: Monday 10:30-12:00 and Wednesday 14:45-16:15

Dr. Zhiwen Zhang

Office: Run Run Shaw Building Room 421
email address: [email protected]
Office hours: Tuesday 15:30-17:00 and Friday 15:30-17:00
 How to contact us ?
Dr. Edmond K.M. Leung
Office: Hui Oi Chow 219
email address: [email protected]
Office hours: Friday 13:30 to 14:30 pm

Dr. Tim Wotherspoon

Office: Hui Oi Chow 316
email address: [email protected]
Office hours: Fridays 3:30 to 4:30