Syllabus

The instructor is Dr. Jason Grout, 492 Carver, (515) 294-8170, grout@math.iastate.edu. Office hours are by appointment.

The course website is accessible from http://orion.math.iastate.edu/grout/.

The text is the third edition “Update” of David Lay's “Linear Algebra and Its Applications.”

Specific homework instructions will detailed on the course website or be handed out in class. These instructions may change throughout the semester.

As a general guide, your written work should contain enough explanation so that one of your classmates would be able to easily understand what you have done. Generally, it is inadequate to merely write down a final answer to a problem. You are encouraged to study and work together on homework assignments, but you must submit your own assignment. Everything you turn in should be in your own words, and you should thoroughly understand everything you write down.

You are also encouraged to use technology to aid you (but not replace you or your learning). If you do assignments on the computer, please turn in a log of your work on the computer with appropriate comments and annotations explaining what you did and the reasoning behind your work. You should be able to correctly and efficiently do by hand all the things that the computer is doing for you. For example, once you have mastered doing Gaussian elimination and you need to use Gaussian elimination in the middle of another problem (that is covering a different concept), you can use the “rref” command of Matlab to quickly reduce a matrix. You may also find it very useful to use a computer to check all of your work.

Because a large part of your learning will come from working problems, I strongly encourage you to finish all homework assignments.

Quizzes will be given periodically in class. Each quiz will have two scores: an original score and a corrected score. Only correct solutions will receive credit. The corrected score defaults to the original score and can be raised to 100% by correcting the problems as outlined below.

• You have two weeks from the time the quiz is given to submit corrections for the quiz.
• Use a clean sheet of paper with your original quiz stapled behind your correction. Label each problem. Do not change anything on your original quiz. If you lose your original quiz, print out another one from the website and do all of the problems.
• Before reworking a problem, describe in paragraph form the errors you made and what you will do to ensure that you don't make that kind of error again. These written explanations count for part of the correction credit.
• When doing corrections, you may use outside resources. However, remember that you are responsible for the material and that you cheat yourself and others if you do not understand the quiz correction.

There will be a midterm exam before spring break. A final exam will be given at the end of the semester and will be cumulative.

Your course grade will be determined from the following (percentages subject to adjustment):

If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Resources (DR) office, located on the main floor of the Student Services Building, Room 1076, 515-294-6624.