Math 308 F: Matrix Algebra: James King

Email: king@u.washington.edu Office: Padelford C440 Phone: 543-1915

Office Hours: Mon 2-3, Tues 1-2 and by appointment

Class Webpage: www.math.washington.edu/~king/coursedir/m308a09/

Class Email List: Email from this list will be sent to your '@u' email address. Be sure that you read this email account or have your '@u' email forwarded.

Nature of the Course: The mathematics of linear algebra is arguably the most useful mathematics subject for essentially all applications. We will learn some algorithms and solution methods in this course, but the focus even for practical applications is much more on some big mathematical ideas and concepts and less on the skills of hand computation than in some subjects. The modern uses of linear algebra and matrices are mostly to problems so large that they demand the use of computer tools, so it is the ability to understand and manage these tools that is needed, and this rests on conceptual understanding. So be aware that a great weight will be on concepts and “what-if” and not just solving problems by hand.

Textbook: Introduction to Linear Algebra by Johnson, Riess, Arnold (Fifth Edition).

The course will cover most of Chapters 1, 3, 4. (Students are assumed already to know the material of Chapter 2 from Math 126 or will be expected to learn it outside of class time). A detailed syllabus will be linked to the website.

Tests: There will be two midterms (10/30 and 11/23) and a Final Exam (12/16). There will also be a few short quizzes (announced at least a week in advance) and occasional short assessments (not announced in advance). The latter are mostly for me to get a sense of how the class is doing, but for students who are present and successful on these assessments, a small number of points will be awarded.

Homework: Like all math courses, a linear algebra course is not a spectator event. You will need to develop skills on routine procedures and you will also need to wrestle with some challenging math concepts. There will be written homework for both aspects of the course, to be turned in on Wednesdays. Some of this homework will be graded and recorded each time; it will be part of the course grade.

Practice exercises: You will need to do more problems than the relatively small number on the homework in order to master this subject. On the assignment sheets will also be a flexible number of suggested problems for practice. These will NOT be turned in, but doing them will help you understand the mathematics. And of course the ability to answer these problems will be checked on tests if not in the homework.

On-Line Assessments: I will be assigning short questions/problems/quizzes online WebQs as another form of practice and assessment, with the hope of stimulating thinking about sticky points in the subject.

Computing Technology: You should make friends with a calculator or software (on a computer or on a website) to do bigger, more complicated computations.

Grading Formula: Written Homework = 15%, Quizzes (including WebQ) = 10%, Each Midterm = 20%, Final Exam = 35%