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Math 240 Summer 2009

'He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever'.
--Chinese Proverb

My Office: 3C13
Office Phone: 215 898 2949
Email:

Office Hours:
Monday: 11:30-12:30, Tuesday - Thursday: 3.10p.m. - 4.00p.m.
By appointment.

Book: Zill, Cullen: "Advanced Engineering Mathematics".

Homework Asignment and Material covered in Class.

General Information

The lectures take place in DRL 2C8 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1:00pm to 3:10pm. There will be a 10min break at 2:00pm.

Tentative course schedule:

Week 1

Tuesday: Intro to linear algebra, vector spaces, linear maps, 8.1, 8.2
Wednesday: 8.2, 8.3, 8.4.
Thursday: 8.4, 8.5.

Week 2

Monday: Quiz, 8.6, 8.7.
Tuesday: 8.8.
Wednesday: 8.12.
Thursday: Review of differential equations from Math 114, 3.1.

Week 3

Monday: Midterm exam, 3.3, 3.4.
Tuesday: 3.8.1, (3.8.3).
Wednesday: 3.6, 10.1.
Thursday: 10.2.

Week 4

Monday: Quiz, 10.3.
Tuesday: 5.1.
Wednesday: 5.2.
Thursday: Review of vector calculus (9.1, 9.4, 9.5).

Week 5

Monday: Midterm exam, 9.6, 9.7.
Tuesday: 9.8, 9.9.
Wednesday: 9.10, 9.11.
Thursday: 9.12, 9.13.

Week 6

Monday: Quiz, 9.14, 9.15.
Tuesday: 9.17, 9.16.
Wednesday: Review.
Thursday: Final exam.

Email

I will send out general organizational information by email, so make sure you check your inbox at least every couple of days. I will answer questions received by email as soon as possible.

You can ask about anything you want, I will reserve the right to ask you to come to office hours. Technical mathematical calculations are not well suited for email communication, so if that's your question I will either give you the idea or ask you to come to office hour.

Religious Holidays

We are not allowed to have tests or quizzes scheduled on a religious holiday. Let me know as soon as possible if any of your religious holidays coincides with quizzes or exams, and I will reassign it for a later date.

Tests

Quizzes: There will be a quiz in those week where there is no exam scheduled (week one, three and five). The quizzes will be graded for mathematical correctness. Zero points is given for the completely unacceptable solution and maximum points are given for an essentially completely correct solution. If you miss a quiz (see "makeups" below) you will get zero points.

Midterm exams: There will be two midterm exams, one Monday of week three and one Monday of week five. The exams will be returned as soon as possible.

Final Exam: The final exam takes place July 2nd. The result of the exam as well as the final course grade will be available the following day

Homework

Homework is not supposed to be handed in, and will hence not be graded. It serves as practice for quizzes and exams. You are of course more than welcome to ask questions about the homework during office hours.

Group Work

Working with other people on mathematics is not only allowable, but is highly encouraged and fun. You may work with anyone (other students in your section, in the course, not in the course, bums on the street) on your homework problems. If done right, you'll learn the material better and more efficiently working in groups.

The golden rule is:
You may work with anyone on solving your homework problems, but you must write up your final draft by yourself to be sure you understood all the details.

Grade breakdown

Percentage Table:

Midterm 1: 20%

Midterm 2: 20%

Final exam: 40%

Quizzes = 20%.

Grades will be posted on Blackboard.

Your final course grade is based on the percentage table above. Notice that although exams make up 80% of your final course grade, completing your homework on a weekly basis is the most sure way to success on tests and hence to get a good final grade.

Makeups

Midterms: If you know you are going to miss a midterm exam, please let me know as soon as possible (office hours or email).

Quizzes: If you know you are going to miss a quiz, please let me know as soon as possible (office hours or email).

Final: There is the possibility of a makeup final exam, but don't waste your break worrying about that! You must warn me well ahead of time if you must miss the final exam.

Help Resources

It is important that you understand that my ONLY objective is to help you understand the material. Period. So, if you have problems, for example if you are falling behind, if you have difficulties understanding what is presented in the lectures or maybe you are simply getting worn down because of the general work load, there are several things you can and should do.

(1) Email me or come see me and tell me about your problems. In case you have non-math problems I can't help you with, I know of somebody who can!

(2) Go to Math/Maple center and seek help. This is an excellent way of getting help with the homework or problems you have encountered while reading the textbook.

(3) Private tutoring is an excellent way to get rid of small (or big) misunderstandings. You pay an experienced graduate student (pick one from the 'approved by the department' tutor list here) to teach you the fundamentals, to help you with the problems, or whatever way you would like it. You pay for it, the average salary is 40$ an hour.

Enjoy the Course and Good Luck!

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Last updated March 30th 2010.