Math 244 Spring 2003 Sections 9-11 Professor Bumby

Some links

• main course page.
• semester course page.
• Lecturer's Home Page.
• Recitation Instructor's Course Page.
• Notes prepared for Math 252 on the matrix exponential in the case of complex eigenvalues. The lecture on this topic as an alternate approach to material in sections 7.6 and 7.7 of the textbook is scheduled for March 14. Prior experience shows that this approach gives an easier solution than the method described in the textbook, and that it is also more likely to lead to a correct answer.
• Notes on topics from chapter 9 used for lecture of March 25. Definitions are collected in one place and techniques are described for the efficient treatment of examples.

Calendar

• Tuesday, January 21. First Lecture: Begin segment on chapters 1 (Generalities) and 2 (First order equations). Maple Lab 0 (Practice Lab) assigned. Here are links to description and seed file for Lab 0. Since Maple is used in the Multivariable Calculus course, it is assumed that you have prior experience with the program. If you have any difficulty with Lab 0, you should visit the lecturer's office for a guided tour of Maple. Maple is installed on the workstation in the office.
• Wednesday, January 22. First Recitation class.
• Tuesday, February 4. Maple Lab 0 due, Lab 1 assigned. Here are links to description and seed file for Lab 1.
• Friday, February 07. Exam 1, covering chapters 1 (Generalities) and 2 (First order equations). Some lecture time will have been devoted to Chapter 8 (Numerical methods) because the topic is related to Maple Labs, but this material is not suitable for exams.
• Friday, February 21. Maple Lab 1 due, Lab 2 assigned. Here are links to description and seed file for Lab 2.
• Friday, March 07. Exam 2, covering chapters 3 (Second order linear equations), 4 (higher order linear equations).
• Tuesday, March 11. Maple Lab 2 due, Lab 3 assigned. Here are links to description and seed file for Lab 3.
• Tuesday, April 01. Exam 3, covering Chapter 7 and an introduction to concepts of "nullcline", "equlibrium points" and "linearization" from Chapter 9. For definitions and a guide to problems that are suitable for exams, see the notes of the March 25 lecture.
• Friday, April 04. Maple Lab 3 due, Lab 4 assigned. Here are links to description and seed file for Lab 4.
• Tuesday, April 22. Maple Lab 4 due.
• Friday, April 25. Exam 4, covering Chapter 5 on Series solutions, including sections 5.6-8 on Regular Singular Points using Bessel's Equation as an example, and touching on Section 7.8 since the case of repeated eigenvalues was omitted from the previous exam on chapter 7.
• Thursday, May 8, Noon - 3PM, Final Exam in the regular classroom, SEC-210. See Lecturer's Home Page and Recitation Instructor's Course Page for office hours during Reading days, May 6 and 7.
• ***time line***

Grading

The course grades will be based on a ranking on a 700 point scale composed of the following items:

• Four class exams, 80 points each, total 320. Expected time for each class exam will be 60 minutes. This allows time before the exam for last minute questions and a preview of the next segment of the course. This buffer will protect the exam from being disrupted by students arriving a little late.
• One three hour final exam, total 200.
• Four graded Maple Labs, 20 points each, total 80.
• Recitation grade, graded homework and possibly some quizzes, total 100.

An effort will be made to respect any clustering of grades in assigning course grades.

Exam 1 has been graded. If you want to check the grades that I have recorded for you, you can find exam scores in the FAS Gradebook. The average on exam 1 (including only those taken at the scheduled time) was 59.8636 out of 80 and the median was 66. For each exam, there is also a distribution of scores (but no attempt to assign letter grades) and scaled averages (formed my dividing by the maximum possible score [or base score ] and multiplying by 10) for each problem. Scaling allows easy comparison of the difficulty of problems of different weight.

Scores below 50 on Exam 1 should be considered unsatisfactory. A score is in this range indicates a serious difficulty with the subject that must be corrected before continuing in this course.

Exam 2 has been graded. The average grade was 71.75 out of 80, and the distribution of grades below reveals that half of the grades were above 75. The scatter plot shows the comparison of grades on exams 1 and 2. The line of positive slope in the figure is a regression line (the line that minimizes the sum of the squares of the vertical distances of the points). It essentially uses the result of the first exam to predict the rsult of the second, so points above the line represent an improvement relative to the general class performance. The line of slope -1 in the figure shows the total used to define unsatisfactory performance in assigning "warning" grades. Exam grades have also been entered in the FAS Gradebook.

Exam 3 has been graded. The average score was 65.16 and median was 67. Details are below the scatter plot showing the comparison of grades on this exam with the sum of scores on exams 1 and 2. The line of positive slope in the figure is a regression line (as described previously). There are also two lines of slope -1: one with a sum of 130 and one with a sum of 205. The former marks the bottom of a large gap isolating a small number of unsatisfactory grades from the rest of the class; the latter shows a small gap forming to separate superior work (grades of A or B+) from other satisfactory grades. Exam grades have also been entered in the FAS Gradebook.

Exam 4 has been graded. The average score was 64.72 and median was 67. A scatter plot shows the comparison of grades on this exam with the sum of scores on exams 1, 2 and 3. The line of positive slope in the figure is a regression line (as described previously). There are also lines of slope -1 showing sum of 230, 260, and 290. Exam grades have also been entered in the FAS Gradebook.

The Final Exam has been graded. The average grade was 169.2 out of 200. The usual tables are given below, exam and course grades have been entered in the FAS Gradebook. The scatter plot shows the relation between coursework and the final exam with the usual trend line and lines marking regions for grades: (A) 630 (B+) 590 (B) 535 (C+) 480 (C) 440 (other).