Math 290-2, Section 61, Winter 2008

Instructor: W. Patrick Hooper (Pat)

Office: B22 Lunt

Office Hours: Mondays 2-3:30pm and Wednesdays 1-2:30pm or by appointment.

Email:

Textbooks:

• D. Lay, Linear Algebra and its Applications (3rd edition, updated)
• S. J. Colley, Vector Calculus (3rd edition)

Outline:

• Orthogonality (Lay 6.1-6.3)
• Symmetric Matrices and Quadratic Forms (Lay 7.1-7.2)
• Vectors (Colley 1.1-1.7)
• Differentiation in Several Variables (Colley 2.1-2.6)
• Vector-Valued Functions (Colley 3.1-3.2)
• Maxima and Minima in Several Variables (Colley 4.1-4.3)

I've posted a tentative but more detailed syllabus online.

Discussion Sections: The teaching assistant for this course is Vesna Stojanoska. Discussion sections will include a weekly quiz and a discussion of the past week's homework.

Homework: There will be homework each week. Homework will be due at each discussion section. Only marked problems will be collected and graded. Forming discussion groups is encouraged. It is important to complete and understand each homework problem.

Quizzes: At the end of each discussion section will be a quiz. There will be no make-up quizzes, unless there is good reason. (See grading, below.) There will be no quizzes on weeks with midterms.

Midterms: There will be two midterms held during discussion sessions. The first is scheduled for January 29th. The second will be on February 26th.

Final Exam: The final exam will be held on Friday, March 21st from 12-2pm. The instructor will not schedule a make-up exam. If unavoidable conflicts arise, students may apply for a make-up through the Office of Studies. Review Northwestern's final exam schedule to ensure you have no conflicts.

Grade: Your grade will be determined from the following (and curved at the end of the quarter):

• First Midterm: 20%
• Second Midterm: 20%
• Final Exam: 40%
• Quizzes: 15%
• Homework: 5%

The lowest quiz grade will be dropped. Thus, a single missed quiz will not affect your grade.

After computing each student's average as a percentage, I will rank the averages to determine a distribution of final letter grades in collaboration with the other instructors of this course. I guarantee at least an A- to students scoring 90% or higher, at least a B- to students scoring 80% or higher, at least a C- to students scoring 70% or higher, and at least a D~V to students scoring 60% or higher. However, the grading scale may be more lenient than this. Historically, about 1/3 of students earn an A, about 1/3 earn a B, and about 1/3 earn a C or lower. Students who perform unusually poorly earn grades of D or F.

Class website: Class information will be available on blackboard.