Math 2243: Linear Algebra and Differential Equations

COURSE SYLLABUS

Spring 2014

LECTURER: Sasha Voronov

OFFICE: VinH 324

PHONE: (612) 624-0355

E-MAIL ADDRESS: voronov@umn.edu. You are welcome to use e-mail to send questions to me.

INTERNET: All class announcements will be posted on the class homepage http://www.math.umn.edu/~voronov/2243s4/ and NOT handed out in class.

OFFICE HOURS:
Mine: M 1:25-2:15 p.m., WF 11:15 a.m.- 12:05 p.m. (subject to change) or by appointment in 324 Vincent Hall.
Prof. Tzeng's: MT 8:05-8:35 p.m. in 1 Vincent Hall and WTh 5-6 p.m. in 451 Vincent Hall.

TEXT: Differential Equations and Linear Algebra, 3rd edition, by Edwards and Penney.

OVERVIEW: This is part of the standard 2nd-year calculus course for students outside of CSE. The course is divided into two related parts. Linear algebra: matrices, Gaussian elimination, determinants, vector spaces, eigenvalues, diagonalization. Ordinary differential equations: linear equations, Wronskian, solution by eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

PREREQUISITES: Math 1272 or 1282 or 1372 or 1572.

COVERAGE: Sections 1.1-1.5, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1-3.6; 4.2-4.7, skipping 4.6; 5.1-5.6, skipping pp. 348-350; 6.1-6.2; 7.1-7.5 (through Example 5), skipping 7.4; 10.1-10.2 (through Example 6)

GETTING HELP:

Work in study groups and learn from each other. Various rooms throughout the Twin Cities campuses are available for small groups of students to work together or individual study. See also How to Form a Successful Study Group: from Duke University.
The library course page offers additional study resources, such as sample final exams, alternative textbooks, and study guides. The Instructional Center at the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence also has sample finals and other study resources.
Free tutoring services are offered by the SMART Learning Commons at Walter and Wilson Libraries. There is also a similar Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence, which offers tutoring, a place where students can study together, review sessions before exams, and more.
Hire a tutor: Get a list of tutors in VinH 115 or by e-mail request at ugrad@math.umn.edu.
Attend my and Prof. Tzeng's office hours (see above).
E-mail: Send questions to me at voronov@umn.edu.
Call me up at (612) 624-0355.
See your TA or any Math 2243 TA during their office hours.

EXAMS: There will be three 50-minute midterm exams to be held in your discussion sections on Thursday, February 20, Thursday, April 3, and Thursday, May 1. The final exam will be held at the scheduled time as announced in the Class Schedules, which is 1:30-4:30, Monday, May 12 (see http://onestop.umn.edu/calendars/final_exams/common.html). The rooms will be announced later. All tests are closed-book, closed-notes, no "cheat sheets"; basic and scientific calculators are allowed.

MAKE-UP EXAMS: No make-up exams or quizzes will be given. Missing a midterm is permitted only for the most compelling reasons. Except in extraordinary situations, you should obtain permission from the lecturer (not your TA!) to miss an exam in advance; otherwise you will be awarded a 0. If you are excused from taking a midterm, your course grade will be determined by giving extra weight to the final exam. Except in extremely exceptional situations, all students missing the final exam will fail the course.

HOMEWORK AND QUIZZES: There will be a short quiz at the beginning of most of the Thursday recitation periods on the topics covered in the homework the preceding week. The first quiz will be on Thursday January 30 and quizzes will continue each Thursday unless there is an exam or the Spring Break. You cannot make up a quiz, but the two lowest quiz scores will be dropped. The quizzes are handled exclusively by your TA's. There is homework assigned for every section of the textbook which we study. Homework will be neither collected, nor graded. Problems on quizzes and exams will be similar to the homework problems. Looking up solutions to homework problems in the Student's Solutions Manual could be damaging to your performance on quizzes and exams: if you do not get to practice solving problems independently by doing homework, you will not be ready for the tests. Getting together with other students (that is, in study groups) is a very effective way to do homework. If you do not do homework on a regular basis you should expect to do poorly in the course.

GRADING POLICY: Grades will be assigned on a curve, using the following weights:

Quizzes: 20%
Midterm exams: 15% each
Final: 35%

Class participation may also be taken into account in marginal cases. Experience shows that poor attendance and participation most often results in a poor grade.

CALCULATOR POLICY: During exams and quizzes you will be allowed to use basic or scientific calculators, but not graphing calculators. A scientific calculator is one that can calculate the values of standard functions, but cannot display the graphs of functions, or perform symbolic manipulations. You may also not use your cell phone, or a computer, or a tablet as a calculator.

INCOMPLETES: These will only be given in exceptional circumstances. A student must have satisfactorily completed all but a small portion of the work in the course, have a compelling reason for the incomplete, and must make prior arrangements with the lecturer for how the incomplete will be removed, well before the end of the quarter.

DROP DATES: The last day to drop the course without college approval is March 14; if you drop the course on or before February 3, no mention of this course will appear on your transcripts. Otherwise, you will receive a "W" for the course.

Last modified: (2014-09-02 23:37:23 CDT) - typo corrected