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Syllabus

Linear Systems - Mathematics 214 - Fall 2000

Instructor: Ramin Naimi
Office: Fowler 403
Office Hours: officeHours

Phone: (323) 259-2550
Fax: (323) 259-2704
Email: click here
Web: www.rnaimi.oxy.edu

Class Meetings: MWF 11:30-12:25, Fowler 302

Text: Gilbert Strang, Introduction to linear algebra, Second Edition. We will cover Chapters 1-5, and some of chapter 6.

Homework: HW will be assigned in every class meeting, due two class meetings later. You are strongly encouraged to work with others on HW; but you must write it up alone, in your own words. Copying is cheating, and I have zero tolerance for it! Doing HW is essential to learning mathematics. You must take it seriously, and should expect to spend at least two hours every other day on it.

Labs: About once every two to three weeks there will be a lab assignment to be completed outside class and turned in. These assignments will involve the use of computers, and a software package called MATLAB, which you will learn how to work with. We will not be able to dedicate class time to the labs, but you are welcome to seek my help outside of class.

Quizzes: I am not at this point planning on giving quizzes, but if I see the need for it, I will start giving quizzes about once every other week. They will count as up to 20% of the grade, in which case we will have only two instead of three midterms.

Midterms: There will be three midterms, on the following tentative dates: Friday 15 September, Friday 13 October, Friday 10 November. Changes to these dates, if any, will be announced one to two weeks in advance.

Final : The final exam will be on Thursday, 7 December 2000, 1:00-4:00 PM. Please make sure you do not have any time conflicts (or travel plans) with this date and time, as I do not give early or late finals!

Make-ups:

Late homework will not be accepted. But you can make up for up to three missed or late homework assignments by completing each missed or late assignments within one week of when it was due and presenting it during office hours -- do not turn it in with your regular homework. You can do at most one make-up assignment during the last week of classes, and none after the last class day.
No make-up exams will be given. If you miss a midterm with a valid excuse (e.g., a medical reason), and provide documentation for it, that midterm will simply not count for you -- instead, all your other work will count proportionally more.

Grading: Grades will be assigned on a curve. In a small class such as ours, the curve will necessarily be somewhat subjective: I will determine it according to the overall performance of the class, the material covered, exams, homework, etc. But you are guaranteed an A for a total of 93% or higher, an A- for 90% or higher, and so on (every ten points). Your total number of points for the semester will be computed according to the table to the right.

Homework + Lab	15%
First midterm	20%
Second midterm	20%
Third midterm	20%
Final	25%

Attendance: You are responsible for everything that goes on in every class meeting, such as announcements, handouts, taught topics that are not in the book, etc. This means even if you miss a class for say a medical reason, it is your responsibility to contact me and find out what you missed.

E-mail: When necessary, I will make announcements via the class mailing list, instead of in the classroom. You are expected to check your email at least once a day. You are encouraged to use our class email list math214-L@oxy.edu to send messages to everyone in the class.

Updated: 31 August, 2009 17:44:19