MATH 308 A

Winter  2002, MWF 8:30-9:20, MGH 228

Office Hours: James King, Padelford C440, tel. 543-1915.  M 2:00-3:00 and by appointment (just ask for a meeting time.

Course Web Page:  I will be posting information about the course on a semi-regular basis to the course web page.  You may find it particularly helpful when you get to the projects part of the course.  The address is http://math.washington.edu/~king/coursedir/m308w02.  As long as we’re talking internet, a great way to reach me is by e-mail at king@math.washington.edu.

Text: Linear Algebra and its Applications by David Lay.  Available in the bookstore.

Course Overview: This presentation of Linear Algebra is coordinated with the section 308G taught by Gordon Williams. Our goal is to make Linear Algebra a more interesting and meaningful experience for you. Amongst other things, this means that we will be placing a greater emphasis on geometric interpretations and applications of Linear Algebra than you would find in the traditional course at the University of Washington. In addition, we are going to make available to you a variety of web-based tools for finding out information about the course, turning in some of your work online, discussion groups and online quizlets (they’re really short, trust me). We are also attempting to integrate some new technology that will allow you to interact with some computer models so that you can play with some of the interesting mathematics in this course. Needless to say, access to a web browser and e-mail are going to be essential to successful completion of the course, so if you aren’t familiar with how to use a web browser or check email, visit one of the campus computing centers and learn now!

Homework:  Homework assignments will be given on a daily basis. 

• Daily homework will not be graded but will be checked by in-class assessments. 
• Once a week, homework to be graded will be assigned. These assignments will be due on Wednesdays, starting with the second week. Turn in your homework on time if you want it graded and recorded.  Also, turn in final draft quality clear work (graders grade poorly what they can’t read). 
• Some larger assignments will be assigned two or three times during the quarter.

At the end of the quarter a total homework grade will be determined.  This total will be included in the determination of your final grade (see below).  The homework is a critically important part of the course and it is very important that you keep up with the homework.  You are encouraged to work on the homework with others, but you should write up your own solutions.  I encourage you also to work problems in the text other than the ones assigned if you have the opportunity, especially if you are experiencing difficulty with a topic.

Quizlets: Almost every day this quarter we will be assigning as part of your homework a short reading from the text (not even an entire section). We will then ask you a question about that material either at the beginning of the next class, or through the class web site. If we are asking you to answer a question about the reading through the web site, you have until the class after the reading was assigned to answer the question. The point here is to encourage you to actually do the readings, and to give us an opportunity to see how well the class is understanding things.

Exams and Grading:

There will be one in class midterm exam, one take-home exam, two or 3 projects and a final.  Information about the projects will be available most likely during the second week.  The projects are intended for you to have an opportunity to deeply explore some of the applications of linear algebra.  The percentage of your course grade corresponding to each part is given in the following table.  I’ve yet to determine how your percentage grade will correspond to your final grade, but if you have any questions feel free to ask me later in the term. Historically I have used a linear scale to assign grades.

If you cannot take an exam, you should not expect to be able to make it up, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances.  If you anticipate a problem, you should speak with me about it before the exam.

Feedback: I am interested in hearing your concerns and thoughts about the course.  Please feel free to discuss things with me. We will also be polling you periodically about your experiences with different aspects of the course. We’ll be doing this online and while we will see the results of these surveys, your identities will be kept confidential by the system so we won’t know who said what.