OFF CAMPUS: http://www.math.fsu.edu.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/~mesterto/CalculusOfVariations.html (with your FSUID username and password)
| (i) | MAP 2302 together with MAA 4226 or MAA 4224 or MAP 4341; or Professor M-G's consent and |
| (ii) | self-motivation and industriousness |
| My philosophy of learning is perhaps best expressed by the green curve in the diagram below: | |
ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS
PAIN |
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I don't know who you are, but because everything works so much better when I do, I would like to learn your name as soon as possible. So, please take a sheet of card stock (or even paper), fold it in half, write your name in large letters on one side and stand it up on your desk so that I can see it. (Write what you want me to call you: if you're a John who likes to be called Fred or a Jane who likes to be called Sue, write Fred or Sue, not John or Jane.) Please bring your nameplate to every class until I have finally learnt your name (which will take significantly longer than it used to take when I started out) |
Minimum scores for A, B and C will be determined by the distribution of grades at the end of the semester, but are likely be in the vicinity of (though perhaps lower than) 90%, 80% and 70%, respectively. In borderline cases of A versus B or B versus C, a smaller number of completely correct solutions will carry more weight than a proportionate number of fragmentary answers; later test scores will carry more weight than earlier test scores; and a record of active participation in class will carry more weight than a record of passive attendance (in that order of relative importance among these three factors). Likewise for borderline cases of C versus D—but in addition, for a given points total, a smaller number of minimally satisfactory solutions will carry more weight than a larger number of lower scores. Plus or minus grades may be assigned in a manner consistent with standard University practice.
Please note that partial credit will be awarded only when part of a solution is completely correct—not when all of a solution is partially correct, whatever that means, if anything. Also note that a grade of I will not be given to avoid a grade of F or to give additional study time. Failure to process a course drop will result in a course grade of F
| 10 | Practically perfect | 15 | 9 | Still very good, but lacking—or wrong about—a significant detail | 14 |
| 8 | Still good, but lacking—or wrong about—significant details | 11-13 |
| 7 | Minimally satisfactory. You have—just—managed to demonstrate that you basically understand and are at least capable of getting all details correct (although it clearly did not happen this time) | 10 |
| 6 | A grade that will not be given | 9 |
| 5 | Half right in some appropriate sense (e.g., there were two parts, each worth 5 points, and your first part was practically perfect) | 8 |
| 1-4 | Not even half right and showing little understanding, but some degree of positive effort | 1-7 |
| 0 | Zero effort, or submitted in pencil | 0 |
You are also bound by the ordinary rules and customs of polite behavior that prevail in a civilized society. I assume that you know these rules and customs, and I expect you to comply with them. (In particular, you are not allowed to use a cell phone or otherwise have private conversations with others during class.)
Note, however, the following. First, you must identify yourself (i.e., you remain anonymous to the other students in the class, but not to me) in the body of your message (because your username does not identify you to me, and I don't reply to anonymous email). Second, you should be as specific as possible in describing your difficulty: the more precisely you identify how you got stuck, the more helpful my reply is likely to be.