Textbook & Related Resources, Homework, Exams/Dates, Course Grades
Linear Algebra and Its Applications, by David Lay (4th edition). This text is very well-written and is a must-read to accompany the lectures. As far as mathematical content is concerned, the 4th edition is not much different from the 3rd. But you will at least need access to the 4th edition to be sure you're doing the correct assigned homework problems.

(Due to a backlog of orders with the publisher, copies in the Bookstore might run short.  If you can't obtain a copy at the start of the course, contact me for a "fix" that will last for a few weeks.)

The Bookstore was also asked to have copies of the author's Study Guide for this textbook is also available. These are not yet available from the publisher, but they were an optional item. optional.  When I last taught the course I thought the Study Guide was a useful student resource. If you get one when they arrive, then I recommend that you consistently use it as you work your way through the course. An option might be to share a Study Guide with another student in the course to save money. 

This link takes you to some author-provided Review Sheets and Practice Exams. You might find them useful for review. They are keyed to the 3rd edition of the text so you need to be a bit careful about whether the sections correspond exactly with the 4th edition: but, in any case, they're close. There's no guarantee that our exams will be "like" the practice exams there, but the problems still make for a good review.  In addition, they also clue you in to what the author thinks is important.
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Homework   There are two kinds of required homework, due usually on Tuesdays and Fridays:

1)  Computer generated/graded homework using a system called WebWorK.  The pattern for most weeks will be
  • WW assignment opens online at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday.  WW1 assignment will open Wednesday 8/31, the first day of class, but perhaps not until later that day for WW1.
  • WW assignment closes online the following Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.  So WW1 answers are due online by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, 9/6.
We will look very briefly in class at how to use WebWorK, but the online documentation should be more than enough.
  • General Orientation to WebWorK for much more detail about using WebWorK and its role in the course.
  • To start working:  go to WebWorK.  Bookmark this page since you'll need to use it often.
 2)  Handwritten solutions to problems assigned weekly in the syllabus
  • The assigned problems will be posted in this syllabus week by week.  Sometimes I keep adding to an assignment as the lectures continue, but the complete list of problems due on Friday will always be available, at latest, by 5.p.m on Tuesday that same week.  Check the syllabus after that time to be sure you have the complete assignment.
  • Solutions are due in class on Fridays. If you can't be there, then either send your homework with a trusted friend, or slip it under my office door sometime before class--even the day before.   Late homeworks will not be accepted unless there is a legitimate special reason such as illness; missing homework scores count as "0's"
  • The first homework set HW1 is not due until Friday September 9). 
Graders assigned for the course will grade some (not all) the solutions you hand in; I will choose the problems to be graded after your solutions are handed in.  Of course, you need to hand in solutions for all the assigned problems because you don't know which ones will be selected. The reason for this process (and for having WebWorK) is that regular graded homework is important and the size of the section makes it very hard to grade all the problems carefully and get them returned to you in a reasonable time.

Here are some rules and suggestions about handing in the homework,  They will make your solutions easier to find and read and will make the graders much happier. 
  • Homework solutions should be written on 8.5 x 11 paper with "clean edges" (not a ragged edge from tearing pages out of a spiral bound notebook).  Please staple together, in correct order, if at all possible.  Be sure your name is on each sheet in case of separation.
  • Solutions for each problem should be written up very clearly and legibly.  For the sake of the grader, be sure your writing is dark enough to be read easily.
  • Homework and Academic Integrity:  Talking with other students about homework problems is a good way to learn and I encourage it, BUT each student must write up his or her own homework  Therefore, no solutions from two students should look too much alike.  After all, everybody says things in a unique way, makes up notation as needed, etc.
    Suggestion:  a good way to avoid "copying" even inadvertently from another student is to talk about problems together without taking any notes away from the conversation. This lets you share your understanding and ideas, but then forces you to reconstruct your own understanding on paper.  In case of any doubts, ask me.
  • A goal in most upper level math courses is to develop clear writing and arguments, so 
  • Solve problems first on scratchpaper; the use the scratchwork to write your hand-in solution.  The reader should feel like s/he is reading a solution, not a bunch of scratchwork from which somebody, with some effort, could write a nice solution.
  • Decide how much detail, calculation, proof, ...  to include in your solution by imagining that it's going to be read by another average student in this class. The reader should not have to fill in large gaps that you leave in the work.
  • Check your mathematical style by reading aloud the words and symbols you have written, exactly as they appear on the page. What you hear should be smooth-sounding English -- or else something is missing on paper!
  • If necessary, rewrite the solution until you think it says what you want to say in a way that's clear and easy to read.
  • Remember that
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.  Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Do you really want an unhappy and irritated reader evaluating your work?       
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Exams 

Attendance at exams , at the scheduled time, is required except for legitimate excuses (such as documented serious illness) approved by the instructor, preferably in advance.  Unexcused missing exams count as "0's".

Please check the exam schedule below and make plans now to avoid conflicts. If others (such as a parent) are involved with making your travel reservations (for Thanksgiving or Winter Break), be sure that they know your exam schedule.  For example, having a plane reservation that conflicts with the final exam schedule is not an acceptable reason to miss the final.

There will be two exams (E1, E2) in class during the semester.  Tentatively, these are scheduled for

        E1  Wednesday, October 12  and
        E2  Wednesday, November 9.  

If there are any changes to this schedule, they will be announced at least one week before the actual exam date.
       
The final exam (F) will be held at the time listed on WebStaC and in the Course Listings book, on

Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 10:30-12:30

Information about each exam, when available, will be posted in the syllabus.

Academic Integrity  This link gives the general University policies on academic integrity.  Please also see the comments about homework collaboration (above).
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Course Grades

The components/weights that go into your course grade:

WWSCORE = WebWork Score:   10 %                        (two lowest WebWorK scores dropped)
HWSCORE = Handgraded Homework Score:   20 %      (two lowest HW scores dropped)
E1 = Exam 1 Score:       20 %
E2 = Exam 2 Score:       20 %
F   = Final Exam Score:  30 %   (If F is larger than E1 or E2, then F will replace the smaller of E1 and E2.)

Your letter grade for the course will be based on your Total Score T:

T = 0.10 * WWSCORE + 0.20 * HWSCORE + 0.20 * E1 + 0.20 * E2 + 0.30 * F

I won't create a scale for converting T into a letter grade until the end of the course.  However, the following "floors" are guaranteed:
90-100   A  (possibly +/-)
80-89     B  (possibly +/-)
65-79     C  (possibly +/-)
50-64     D
 < 50      F

It is possible that the final grading scale will be a little more generous, but maybe not.

If you are registered for the pass/fail grading option, then you will need a T score value equivalent to a C- or better to
earn a "pass."

         Anyone has signed up officially to audit the course should talk with me about the requirements to receive the "grade" of
         "successful audit."