About the Course

Game Theory: Introduction to the course

This course will cover the following aspects of Game Theory:

• Normal form games and Nash equilibrium
• Evolutionary Game Theory
• Some contemporary research

All course materials are available online at vknight.org/gt/. You can also find all the source files that create that website at github.com/drvinceknight/gt/.

Course content

There are 3 components to the course content, all of which can be found at this site.

• The course notes we will use are the open source text book available here: nashpy.readthedocs.io/en/stable/text-book/index.html
• Video explainers for every topic. A private link and a YouTube link are available.
• Content we will generate in class: through our discussions and activities we will generate valuable information. I will capture these.

Virtual board

I will use a virtual board throughout class:

• This will allow you to see the board more clearly on the class recordings.
• Private access will allow you to write on the board if you want to.

In class activities

In class we will not follow the class text: these are there for you to read on your own time. Instead we will use activities and other examples to illustrate the concepts. I have my own notes for those (which are also available to you).

If you would like some information about the pedagogic approach:

• You can find my “teaching philosophy” here: vknight.org/tch-phi/
• Here is a paper describing some of the pedagogic rational for this approach: journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/msor/article/view/254/254

It is possible that the course notes will change: for things like typos and clarifications, all of the notes are hosted openly on github and if you’re interested you can find a list of all changes here: github.com/drvinceknight/gt/commits/main

Technology in class

Please use whatever resources you need to be successful in this class. Let me know if I can help with anything.

Office hours

I will hold 2-3 hours a week for office hours during which you may come and get help. Specific hours will be determined collaboratively as a class.

Kindness

In this course every participant (including myself) will be having many interactions with other participants. Some potential examples of this:

• Peer to peer discussions during classes;
• Me explaining a given topic.

I expect every participant (including myself) to act with kindness during these interactions.

Some examples of how this applies to me:

• When a student is late or absent at a class I will assume they have good reasons. If this happens regularly
  1. I will first be concerned for their well-being.
  2. Ask how I can help them catch up.
• If a student asks for an explanation of a topic that has been covered multiples times I will assume that some set of circumstances has prevented them from seeing these explanations and:
  1. will explain the topic.
  2. also point them at the explanations in the course materials and/or class recordings. If this is a regular occurrence I might ask if there are any circumstances that I can help with.
• If I make a mistake in a class explanation and someone helpfully points it out. I will listen and thank them for pointing it out and either go over the mistake then and there or go over it again at a future meeting.

Assessment

There are two piece of assessment in this course:

• Individual coursework (40%)
• Group coursework (60%)

More information about assessment: here

Log of past relevant classes

04/16/24: Individual Coursework Feedback

I have marked the individual coursework and the overall performance is impressive: the average mark is 85%.

02/16/24: Mid module feedback and meetings

On Tuesday we had two class. We went through your mid module feedback and had a brief discussion about meetings.

02/06/24: A rock paper scissors lizard spock tournament

In class today we bore witness to Tim’s talent at Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock and also: not everyone got chocolate.

01/30/24: Structure of the class and the two thirds of the average game

Thanks all today for a fun class!

01/24/24: Welcome to the Game Theory class 2024 -- important note about timetable

Welcome to you if you are thinking of doing MA3604 (Game Theory) this year.

07/04/23: Overview of group coursework performance

The group coursework is a difficult assessment marked on a difficult scale. Summary of the class marks are here:

03/21/23: Solutions to mock

In class today I went over the mock coursework.

03/21/23: Discussing the individual coursework

In class today we discussed the individual coursework. I did my best to take all questions and ensure everyone understood what each question is asking for.

02/23/23: Mid module feedback

On Friday you spent some time filling in the mid module feedback for Game Theory. Here I will go over some of the recurring points raised.

02/20/23: Taking the temperature of the class and a rock paper scissors lizard spock tournament

In Friday’s class I took a brief poll about how things were going for students in the class and then we all played rock paper scissors lizard spock tournaments.

02/06/23: An anonymous feedback form

Following a suggestion from a student, here is a link to an anonymous (in practice) feedback form:

01/31/23: Structure of the class and the two thirds of the average game

Thanks all today for a fun class!

01/30/23: Welcome to the Game Theory class 2023

Welcome to you if you are thinking of doing MA3604 (Game Theory) this year.