| Instructor: Greg Crow, Ph.D. |
Text: Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 2nd Edition David C. Lay Addison Wesley ISBN 0-201-82478-7 |
Table of Contents: Course Description Required Materials Comment Homework Portfolio Examinations Grading Policies Cheating Policy The Final Examination |
Class meetings: MWF 8:45-9:30 |
| Office hours: Rohr Science 220 |
Comment
We will try and avoid the following pitfall by making lots of nice pictures:
At the beginning college level, visualization
is a big part of understanding. Consequently,
students who are operating with few mental
pictures are not really learning mathematics. Their
calculus consists of a vast series of algorithms
and a complicated cataloging system which tells them
which procedure is used when. The effort put into
this kind of teaching and learning is largely wasted:
memorized algorithms are soon forgotten and, worse
still, such courses perpetuate the idea that
math involves doing calculations rather than thinking [emphasis added].
(by Deborah Hughes Hallet in
Visualization and Calculus Reform, in the collection
Visualization in Teaching and Learning
Mathematics, edited by Zimmerman and Cunningham (MAA notes \#19))
Portfolio
Homework problems will be assigned daily and collected weekly.
They will be stored in an individual portfolio and graded near
the end of the semester.
Your work will be graded based on accuracy, completeness and elegance.
Maple submissions of entire assignments
are heartily encouraged (however, you should link your portfolio
together with a table of contents and hyperlinks).
Examinations
There will one take home examinatin and one final take home
examinations. In addition, there will be an in class component
of each exam that will be administered on the date the exam is due.
| Mid-Term Examination | 400 points |
| Final Examination | 400 points |
| Homework Portfolio | 200 points |
| Total | 1000 points |
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| + | (87.5, 90) | (77.5, 80) | (67.5, 70) | |
| [92.5, 100] | [82.5, 87.5] | [72.5, 77.5] | [62.5, 67.5] | |
| - | [90, 92.5) | [80, 82.5) | [70, 72.5) | [60, 62.5) |
CHEATING POLICY
A student who is caught submitting the intellectual property of another student as their own may receive an "F" for the semester.
The Final Examination is COMPREHENSIVE. The in class portion of the Final Examination will be administered at a local restaurant.
