Please read this syllabus carefully. You will be responsible for all the information given here, and for any modifications to it that may be announced in class.
Text: The textbook for this course is Elementary Linear Algebra with Applications (9th edition), by B. Kolman and D. Hill. Please be aware that if the choice were mine, a less expensive text would be used. I have complained about textbook prices, so far unsuccessfully.
Instructor: Darryl McCullough, Professor of Mathematics
| Office: | 804 Physical Sciences Center |
| Phone: | 325-2743 |
| Email: | dmccullough@math.ou.edu |
| Office hours: | Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 11:30-12:20, and by appointment. |
Class Participation: You are expected to attend and participate in all lectures, and are responsible for all information given out during them.
Homework: It is absolutely essential to work a large number of problems on a regular basis. Problem assignments will be posted on the course web page. The homework assignments are the bare minimum for most students to gain basic familiarity with the material. As manager of your own education, it is up to you to work whatever additional problems may be necessary for you to master the subject.
You may consult with other students about the homework problems, indeed I encourage you to do so. However, you will need to write up the solutions clearly, carefully, and in your own words, since that is the only way to achieve and retain understanding. It is a complete waste of time just to copy from a solutions manual or from someone else's work. It would be better just to photocopy the solutions, and spend your time doing something constructive.
For help, come to my office hours, or to make an appointment with me to meet at another time. If my regular office hours do not fit your schedule, I urge you to arrange another time to meet with me. Success for my students is a very high priority with me, and helping my students learn mathematics is a pleasure, not an inconvenience. Email is an efficient way to contact me.
Testing: There will be three in-class examinations. Details about when they will be given and what they will cover will be posted on the course website.
The final examination will be held in the usual lecture room on Tuesday, May 11, 8:00 to 10:00 a. m. University regulations require that you take it at that time.
Grading system: Your grade will be based on your point total as follows. There are 300 possible points: 75 for the final examination, 50 for each of the three in-class examinations, 50 for homework, and 25 for class participation. The grades will be assigned by calculating the point total for each student in the class, listing the totals in rank order, and assigning grades according to a reasonable total needed for each letter. After each in-class examination, I will post interim grades, so by the middle of the course you will have a very good idea of where you stand, and what is required for a given grade.
The assigned homework must be turned in on time, with the problems in the same order in which they are given in the assignment, and with the logic and details of the solution clear and complete. Your homework will be cursorily examined by a hardworking graduate student. You will receive some credit just for turning in a reasonably complete assignment. A few random problems will be graded, typically one or two from each section, and your work on those problems will make up the rest of your homework score. Your final homework total will be scaled to equal 50 points, that is, to equal one in-class examination. Since you can ask about any homework problem in class, and may come to office hours or arrange an appointment to ask me about any problem that may be causing you difficulty, you should get full or nearly full credit on the homework. Please be aware that I will not answer questions about homework problems on the day that they are due. The assignment due dates will allow ample time to try the problems and ask about them in class before the due date.
I expect you to arrive on time for all of the lectures, properly prepared and in good physical condition--- in particular, adequately rested and up to date on the course material so that you can maintain full concentration on the lecture. If you cannot accomplish this, please reenroll in a different class. Use of electronic devices is also incompatible with class participation, and therefore no electronic devices of any kind are to be used during the lectures. All electronic devices, including cellular telephones, should be turned off before the lecture hour begins at 10:30.
You will start the course with 25 points of class participation credit. For each missed lecture beyond four, your point total will be reduced by five points. Since the average score on an in-class examination is typically 30 to 35 points, seven missed lectures will probably cost you the equivalent of half a test grade, and eleven lectures (achieving a class participation grade of −10) the equivalent of a full exam.
For each lecture fewer than four missed, you will receive a token credit of 1 point. This will almost certainly not affect your grade, but it is something to be proud of.
I have no concept of an “excused” absence--- I assume that you are an intelligent person, so if you are not in class, there must be a very good reason why you could not attend. Any missed lecture will have a detrimental effect on your learning the course material, but you can miss up to four lectures because of academic or personal travel, university-sanctioned activities, illness, transportation breakdown, or whatever, without impacting your point total. Save them in case you need them.
Withdrawal Policy: Until February 1, there is no record of a grade for dropped courses. From February 2 through February 26, you will receive an automatic W for a dropped course. From March 1 through April 2, you may withdraw and receive a “W” grade, no matter what scores you have so far achieved. After April 2, University regulations specify that you may withdraw only in “very unusual circumstances,” and only with the permission of the Dean. Avoidance of a low grade is not sufficient reason to obtain permission to withdraw after April 2.
Grade of Incomplete: The grade of “I” is a special-purpose grade given when a specific task needs to be completed to finish the coursework. This is typically a term paper or other special assignment, so rarely makes sense in a mathematics course. An “I” cannot be given to avoid receiving a low grade.
Calculators: This is a course of mathematical ideas and techniques, not a course of mechanical computation. You may use a calculator when working on the homework assignments, if you can find any use for one, but use of calculators or other mechanical or electronic aids during exams is prohibited.
Academic Misconduct: If cases of academic misconduct arise, they will be dealt with according to University policies. In math classes it's rather obvious what is acceptable conduct and what is not, but just to make sure you understand the policies, you should be familiar with the OU Student's Guide to Academic Integrity. There's really no way that any misconduct could be worth the risk, so just don't go there. As in the rest of life, totally ethical behavior is always the smart choice in the long run.
Students with Disabilities: The following is the University's Reasonable Accomodation Policy: The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accomodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accomodations in this course are requested to speak with the professor as early in the semester as possible. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services prior to receiving accomodations in this course. The Office of Disability Services is located in Goddard Health Center, Suite 166, phone 405/325-3852 or TDD only 405/325-4173.
Final Grades: Grades will be posted on our course website as soon as they are available. You may pick up your graded final exam from me any time within one year of the end of the course, after one year they will be discarded.
Advice: Do math daily or almost daily. Here are three good reasons: 1) The brain can only assimilate a certain amount if math in one day--- you will learn much more in two hours a day for seven days than in seven hours a day for two days. 2) When you don't work on something regularly, you have to invest effort just to get caught up to where you were. 3) If you are not completely caught up, you will not get nearly as much out of the lectures.
Working problems is your most important learning technique. Work problems from the book a few at a time, and don't wait until you have completely finished one section before starting on the problems from later sections. Work sessions with fellow students can be very productive, as long as one avoids the pitfall of becoming dependent on others. Writing up the problems carefully and completely, in your own words, will ensure that you yourself have learned the material. Work extra problems if you need to--- the written assignments are minimal and not necessarily sufficient for every student on every particular topic.
Learn the definitions immediately, or you won't really have any idea what is going on.
Be able to state all the major theorems--- they are the key information. A person who doesn't know the major theorems is not competent in the subject.
Pay attention to correct notation and use it at all times. Sloppy, imprecise notation reflects sloppy thinking and lack of understanding. If you don't use correct notation when doing your homework, you won't suddenly start using it when you are taking an exam.
Always be aware of the type of mathematical object you are thinking about (is it a number, a set, a variable, an equation, an identity, a function, a vector, a vector space, a power series, a Kleinian group, a Banach space, a de Rham cohomology class, etc.?). If you are not clear about the type of object you are working with, then you are lost and need to backtrack until you are reoriented.
Learn the language. Beyond just knowing the types of objects, learn the terminology and call things what they are--- integral, derivative, vector-valued function, set, or whatever. Use words like implies, evaluate, equality, identity, definition, and so on. Speak it, write it. The goal is to get the math happening in your head, and the language is a major enabler of that process.
The bottom line: Stay caught up. Get full credit on the homework and class participation— those are the easy points, and are the road to good exam performance anyway. Know the definitions, know the statements of the major theorems, use good mathematical notation, and always know the type of object you are thinking about. Live with linear algebra.