| (i) | C- or better in MAC 2313 (Calculus with Analytic Geometry III) and |
| (ii) | C- or better in MAP 2302 (Ordinary Differential Equations) or MAP 3305 (Engineering Math I); and |
| (iii) | self-motivation and industriousness. Dr M-G's philosophy of learning is perhaps best expressed by the following diagram: |
ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS
PAIN |
 |
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 William who likes to be called Dubya or a Margaret Jane who likes to be called Dee Dee, write Dubya or Dee Dee, not William or Margaret 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) |
A typical class will then proceed as follows. It will begin with an opportunity for you to ask questions about the homework problems. Depending on the time available, I will answer each question either in class or (especially if an unstarred problem is involved) by posting a solution online later, or by some combination of the two. We will then move on to the topic of the current period. I will give a brief lecture summarizing the key points of the passage you have read for homework—enough to get us going, but deliberately excluding details—before proceeding as quickly as possible to solving problems (in which the details will emerge), with as much interaction as possible from you.
Questions may be asked at any time—and should be, if there's anything you don't understand. (Perhaps you have a question about the assigned passage that you anticipate being answered by one or more of the problems we work together; in which case, it may well be socially minded not to ask your question at the outset. However, if it turns out that you anticipated incorrectly, then be sure to ask your question before the class is over!)
Note that quality of presentation is extremely important. It is not enough merely to produce an answer: the method by which you obtain it must be sound, and you must clearly demonstrate that you understand it. Therefore, there will be penalties (commensurate with degree of infraction) for bad presentation—which includes bad grammar, illegibility, incompleteness, incoherence and untidiness—especially on the tests. Even on the final, however, you must show all necessary steps in your method, with enough comments and/or diagrams to convince me that you thoroughly understand.
Precise cut-off points 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 90%, 80% and 70%, respectively. In borderline cases, later scores will carry more weight than earlier scores; a smaller number of completely correct solutions will carry more weight than a proportionate number of fragmentary answers; 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). 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, 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
In particular, for a take-home test you may use any inanimate aid (including any calculator), but all such use must be explicitly declared. Although you may discuss the test with other students in general terms—meaning that discussion is oral, and absolutely nothing is copied down—the solutions you present must be your very own work; moreover, any such discussions must be explicitly declared (i.e., you must supply the name of every such discussant and the nature of the discussion, or else you are in violation of the Academic Honor Code).
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 have private conversations with others during class.)
Tuesday, October 21 (due Thursday, October 23)
Tuesday, November 18 (due Thursday, November 20)
Regardless, if you get stuck send me your question by email. Then as soon as I possibly can, which might be as soon as within half an hour, but might also be as late as a few days later—I have a life, too, you know—I will reply, not to you, but rather to the class alias (after carefully concealing your identity, just in case you are inexplicably bashful about being perceived as smart enough to ask a question). These replies will be archived here.
Please note the following. First, you must identify yourself (i.e., you remain anonymous to the other students in the class, but not to me). Second, to ensure a relatively rapid response, your question must be self-contained: in particular, do not refer to the text (because I always leave it at the office, and you almost always ask your questions when I'm at home). Third, and most important of all, 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. By far and away the best way to be as specific as possible is to scan your attempt at the problem into your computer and send it to me by email; I then have the option of posting an annotated version of your solution (after, of course, removing any instances of your name), either alone or in conjunction with a solution of my own.