JUMP START COURSE

Information at a glance: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aUscXUdtQmKxkI0xyi9dTWOP43a-GnXv/view?usp=sharing">click here.</a>
The Jump Start course (JS) is an intensive course to equip prospective master students with notions and methods that may be lacking or underdeveloped in their academic background. The course will be delivered in a blended format, with online meetings, face-to-face lectures and work to be completed independently in preparation for each session (distance units). Details will slightly vary depending on the edition, see below. The course requires an effort corresponding to 6 ECTS credits, for a total of about 150 working hours of which 30 equivalent-hours of face-to-face lectures.

Students will be made familiar with linear and quadratic functions and models, will acquire the ability to create graphs and visualize data, express relationships in verbal and algebraic/statistical form, understand the basic of data organization and related techniques. Some practical real-world problems will be presented and solved.
Some proficient students may get the proposal to work on more challenging material, see below.

Bachelor degree (only prospective students to some master's degree can attend).

Selected material from the following free and downloadable books will be covered:
Mathematics. Donna Kirk, “Contemporary Mathematics”, https://openstax.org/details/books/contemporary-mathematics . Focus on chapters 5 (Algebra) and, if possible, 6 (Money Management);
Statistics. Donna Kirk, “Contemporary Mathematics”, https://openstax.org/details/books/contemporary-mathematics . Focus on chapters 8 (Statistics) and, if possible, 7 (Probability);
More challenging topics and projects (when appropriate) from Gilbert Strang and Edwin “Jed” Herman, “Calculus I”, https://openstax.org/details/books/calculus-volume-1 (for instance, “Formula One grandstands” p. 261 or “Iterative Processes and Chaos” p. 481).
Guest lectures on microeconomics, macroeconomics, foundational economic principles and, depending on the master’s focus, programming, data analysis, or other areas may be included.

Textbooks are open-source and can be freely downloaded:
Donna Kirk, “Contemporary Mathematics”, https://openstax.org/det ails/books/contemporary-mathematics.
(When appropriate,) Gilbert Strang and Edwin “Jed” Herman, “Calculus I”, https://openstax.org/details/books/calculus-volume-1

Active engagement and effort by the students are needed. Derek Bok used to say 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance'. Think about it, even if there will be no final exam.

not present

There will be no final exam and, hence, no final grade.

The course is delivered four times in the span July / December 2025.
The second edition will start on 22 September 2025 (in Italian), using a blended format that balances flexibility with opportunities for meaningful in-person interactions (on-site meetings, some online lectures, and distance learning units).
The third and fourth editions of the JS courses will take place in October (in Italian, blended format) and in December (in English, online) 2025.

Classroom sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm in room 2B.

The links to the online lectures will be made available on Moodle, where information on how to access the distance learning units will also be provided.

Schedule of the September edition (in Italian):

Week 1
Monday 22/09 - 5:30-7:30 pm - Online
Wednesday 24/09 - 5:30-7:30 pm - Room 2B S.G.
Friday 26/09 - 4:30-7:30 pm - Distance learning unit

Week 2
Monday 29/09 - 5:30–7:30 pm - Online
Wednesday 01/10 - 5:30–7:30 pm - Room 2B S.G.
Friday 03/10 - 4:30–7:30 pm - Distance learning unit

Week 3
Monday 06/10 - 5:30-7:30 pm - Online
Wednesday 08/10 - 5:30-7:30 pm - Room 2B S.G.
Friday 10/10 - 4:30-7:30 pm - Distance learning unit

Moodle will be the learning management system for the course, you will have to enrol and login to interact with instructors, peers and with the material. Fill the form at https://forms.gle/8fyvUq6j3gyo8pmS6 so that we can contact you and provide additional technical info as needed. Online meetings will be organized on Gmeet and/or Zoom.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development