.
The latest version of my notes for the course is
here.
Final Review:
Padelford C-36 at 4p.m.
on Wednesday August 20.
Textbook and Syllabus.
The textbook is ``Linear Algebra with Applications'' by
Jeffrey Holt.
We will cover most of the material in the book.
Approximate syllabus.
Important dates:
The Midterm is on Friday July 18.
You need a blue/green book and a scantron (the thing with the bubbles
you fill in). You can buy a scantron sheet at U Bookstore and
at the newstand near By George Cafe, and probably lots of other
places.
The Final is on Friday August 22 at the same time and
place as our usual lecture.
You will need a bubblesheet/scantron, and either a blue book or green book for the
exams.
Office Hours:
Wednesday 12:30-2:00 in Padelford C-436,
and by appointment.
I often find office hours the most enjoyable part of the course. I
get a chance to know you, you get a chance to know me. My job is to
help you learn this material. You are often likely to feel lost and
perhaps stupid. That is normal. I often feel lost and stupid when I
am working in a new area of math. It is part of the process. But I
can provide you with guidance and help. If I can stretch some
medical metaphors (my wife is a physician), it is no good coming
to see the doctor or start taking the medicine once the illness is
terminal. Catch it in the early stages, at the first sign of a
sneeze or ache, and the chances for recovery are good. (I am not as
fearsome as I might appear---remember that I was once your age,
feeling small on a big campus, and that I have experienced and
continue to experience the struggles
we all have as part of life. And, heck, the math struggles
are
among the smaller ones! So, why not practice saying ``I need help''
in the small safe arena of math.)
CLUE:
This is an abbreviation for
The Center for
Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment.
CLUE is a free tutoring service for students.
Along with drop-in
tutoring, they also hold review sessions before exams, midterms, and
final exams. In particular they will hold a pre-midterm review on
Thursday, February 6, and a pre-final review on
Sunday, March 16.
Other Resources.
There is a wealth of material about linear algebra on the web. Two
local sources that might be useful are
Alexander Young's Online
Course Notes and
Jim Burke's weekly summaries of
terminology and important concepts.
Jim Burke used a different textbook to us so his section numbers do
not match up with those in our book.
My Course Notes.
I have taught Math 308 many times and have gradually assembled some
notes for the course that give my own presentation of the
material.
My own notes might be useful to you. Sometimes one person's explnation will
suit you better than another's.
If you find typos in my notes I would be very happy to hear about
them. If you have suggestions for improvement or
would like me to explain a little more about some topic please let
me know. Thanks!
Definitions.
Definitions are the foundation on which mathematics is built.
There are many definitions in this course. More than in any course
you have previously had. If you don't know the definitions
forwards, backwards, and sideways, you will certainly fail this
course. Start learning them the first day of class. Build your own
list of definitions. Review them regularly.
One reason students find this course so difficult is that they
don't make a real effort to understand the definitions. Or, they
leave that affort too late. You must begin the first week of the
course and constantly monitor yourself. You can monitor your
progress by being honest with yourself when I write things on the
board. If you don't understand a word I use, ask. There will be
others in the class who don't understand it either. By asking you
do everyone a favor. Even many of those who think they understand a
definition don't.
The document
definitions consists of my response to an email from a student
who is asking whether he has the correct definitions for some of
the terms that arise in Linear Algebra. Mostly the student is close
but not close enough---all it takes to sink a boat is one hole, and
the same holds for definitions: either it is correct or it is
wrong.
I always ask for a lot of definitions in my exams
because they are so important. If you don't know the definitions
you will surely fail this course.
Here is another note about definitions and comments on various
errors made by students.
Set notation and language.
We will use the basic language of sets and functions in
this course so I have written some
notes about what you need to
know.
You can take an online test to see how well you
understand some of the ideas.
Notes for two lectures by Chelsea Walton:
2003 midterm with answers and comments on incorrect answers.