SYLLABUS FOR 110.212 -- Honors Linear Algebra -- Fall 2008

Lectures: MTW-12, Professor Zucker

Section: F-12, Romie Banerjee, TA

Texts:

. . . . . Friedberg, Insel & Spence, Linear Algebra, 4th edition

. . . . . Lipschutz & Lipson, Linear Algebra (Schaum Outline), 4th edition, ISBN-13: 9780071362009

. . . Printed material distributed by the professor
. . . Documents placed on-line by the professor

On-line documents will be posted and revised, without being announced in lecture. Check the website daily.
After the semester begins, the date and time of posting of a new file, or revision of a posted file, will be listed in the index.
This way, you can see at a glance what is new.

What is an honors course?As is the case with all of our honors courses, the regular Linear Algebra course (201) is run at a level that is higher than virtually all high school honors courses. Thus, 212 is "honors-squared". You should be willing to spend 8 or more hours per week on the reading and homework, to gain command of the methods and theory in serious linear algebra.

Material: You are responsible for the material in all sections of the textbook and other documents from which homework is assigned.
Note that you can be held responsible for material that is not covered in class.
The orientation material in the folder What Hopkins students should know about math in college is to be read, understood and followed by the student. (This is, no doubt, consistent with what Dr. Richard Brown said in his Orientation Week presentation on Sep 1.)

The basic unit of time within the course is the week. We shall follow, more or less, the schedule below, though it is subject to change (if there are changes, they will be announced as described above). Chapters are from Friedberg, Insel & Spence.
Note that the weeks of the fall semester begin on a Thursday.

. . . . . WEEK BY WEEK

Week 1 (of 9/4/08). Professor's introduction, Ch. 1.1-1.4

Week 2 (of 9/11/08). Ch. 1.5-1.7

Week 3 (of 9/18/08). Ch. 2.1-2.3

Week 4 (of 9/25/08). Ch. 2.4-2.6

Week 5 (of 10/2/08). Ch. 3.1-3.3

Week 6 (of 10/9/08). [Fall Break], [Exam 1: Weeks 1-4], Ch.3.4

Week 7 (of 10/16/08). Ch. 4

Week 8 (of 10/23/08). Ch. 5.1-5.2

Week 9 (of 10/30/08). Ch. 5.4

Week 10 (of 11/6/08). Ch. 6.1-6.3

Week 11 (of 11/13/08). [Exam 2: Weeks 5-9], Ch. 6.4-6.6

Week 12 (of 11/20/08). [Thanksgiving], Ch. 7.1-7.2

Week 13 (of 11/27/08). Ch. 7.3

Basic Premise: It is expected that you use the lectures, the textbook, the documents in the "Honors Linear Algebra (Fall '08)" folder of my homepage, and your own intelligence to build your understanding of the material.
These resources get combined to produce command of the material at a JHU Honors level. Other ways of operating may work, but you do them at your own risk.

Recitation Section: The class is led in problem sessions by the teaching assistant (TA), A. Banerjee, who is a graduate student in the Department of Mathematics. The TA is instructed to answer questions about the material of the preceding and current homework assignments. The TA should not be expected to go over problems from the current assignment due, but should instead be asked to discuss other problems from the relevant sections of the book.
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The TA is also authorized to talk at a basic level about the material of the upcoming lectures. It is recommended that you always try to get a general idea of what's going to happen in lecture by looking over the relevant section(s) in the textbook beforehand.

Homework: Assignments are given on-line each week (usually by Tuesday). They are usually due the next Friday. Ordinarily, we will refuse to accept late homework. Problems need to be done in order to develop command of the material, and thereby to prepare yourself for the exams. In writing up any problem, you are to show all steps leading up to your solution.
Selected problems will be graded and returned in the recitation.

You are encouraged to discuss the material with other students. However, you are to write up your homework solutions by yourself. Failure to do so (i.e., copying) is a violation of University policy on Ethics, which I quote from below, to which I add, Cheating is theft!. We will report all suspected cases to the Ethics Board.

Cheating is wrong. Cheating hurts our community by undermining academic integrity, creating mistrust, and fostering unfair competition. The university will punish cheaters with failure on an assignment, failure in a course, permanent transcript notation, suspension, and/or expulsion. Offenses may be reported to medical, law or other professional or graduate schools when a cheater applies.

Violations can include cheating on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments without permission, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition. Ignorance of these rules is not an excuse.

You may collaborate with other students in this course, but only under the conditions above. If you have questions about this policy, please ask the instructor.

On every exam, you will sign the following pledge: "I agree to complete this exam without unauthorized assistance from any person, materials or device. [Signed and dated]"

Old exams from this course may be found at [insert location here (e.g., MSE Reserves, Internet location, etc.)].

Please report any violations you witness to the instructor.

Exams: There will be two Midterms and a Final. You may not use books, notes or calculators during the exams. To give you more than just 50 minutes, the midterms will be given in the evenings of Wed Oct 15 and Mon Nov 17, and will cover the sections of the textbook from which homework assignments were returned to the students prior to those dates. The morning lectures on these dates will be replaced by a student-powered review session. Times and rooms for the midterms will be announced as soon as they are determined.

Students with documented disabilities or other special needs that require accommodation must register with the Office of Academic Advising. After that, contact the instructor at least 5 days prior to each exam; we will need to have received confirmation from Academic Advising.

The Final will be a 3-hour exam that is comprehensive of the entire course. It will be held [Mon Dec 15, 9am-12pm],

Fri Dec 12, 9am-12pm, pending everyone's consent.

The Final will weight the material beyond the second Midterm, i.e., of Weeks 10-13, so that each week of the course contributes more or less equally to the determination of the course grade (see description of the grading method below).

Anyone who misses an exam must make arrangements within two days of the missed exam for a make-up exam. We require proof of a valid excuse. Make-up exams will be given orally by the professor.

Grading: Homework: 125 pts.(25%); Exam 1: 100 pts. (20%); Exam 2: 100 pts. (20%); Final: 175 pts. (35%).

Office Hours: Students tend to feel better about the course after coming to my office hours. The weekly hours (available to walk-ins) are: Th3, F4:30-6:00 in Krieger 210. If these times are unsuitable, you may arrange an appointment (e-mail zucker@jhu.edu , or call 410-516-7403).

In addition, there are pooled TA office hours in the Help Room, Krieger 213, in which the Math Department TAs are on duty in shifts. The hours are [to be verified]:

Mon-Fri 9am-9pm with the following exception: closed F5-9pm.

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Steven Zucker