Textbook: William E. Boyce and Richard C. DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2009.
For the course syllabus, please click here.
For the first-day information sheet as a pdf-file, please click here.
There will be three tests and a final exam. Tentative dates of tests (subject to change):
More precise information on the dates of the tests will be provided later. All tests will be held during regular class time in the regular classroom.
Final exam: Saturday, December 15, 8:00-11:00 am, in the regular classroom.
Grading: The grade for the course will be based on the total points from the best two tests (the maximum score will be 100 in each test), the final exam (maximum score 100), and on points from homework (normalized to a maximum score of 50; the lowest homework score will be dropped). Hence the maximum score will be 350 for the total points. Homework must be returned in class on the designated day. Dropping one test and one homework is intended to provide leeway for those times when a student is ill, or needs to go to a job interview, or has a family emergency, or just misses class for some other reason. If you miss a test or do not return homework in class at the proper time, you will get zero points for it. As this system allows you to miss one test and one homework without you giving any reason for it, no make-up tests will be given and no late homework will be accepted. Exceptions will be considered only in the case of a prolonged illness indicated by a doctor's note. Of course, you are encouraged to take all tests and do your best.
No books, notes or calculators will be allowed in the tests and the final exam. Bring your university ID to the tests and the final exam.
Homework problems will be suggested for each lecture. A list of all suggested homework problems can be found by clicking on the link to "Suggested problems" below.
In addition, there will be weekly homework assignments which will be graded and which will affect your grade for the course. Assigned homework is due in class at the beginning of the lecture specified for each assignment. No late homework will be accepted. Graded homework will be returned in class. Any graded homework not picked up by students within one week after it was made available will be destroyed.
Test 1 will be held on Thursday September 27 at regular class time. Test 1 will cover Chapter 1, Section 3; Chapter 2, Sections 1-6, 8; Chapter 3, Section 1.
Test 2 on Thursday October 18 at regular class time will cover Chapter 3, Sections 1-6; Chapter 4, Sections 1-2.
Test 3 on Thursday November 15 at regular class time will cover Chapter 3, Sections 7-8; Chapter 4, Sections 3-4; and Chapter 5, Sections 1-6.
Information for graduate students who wish to take this course for 4 credit hours (section M14).
Extra project or work of substance: The student will read 3 sections of the text book not covered in the course, as assigned by the instructor. Then the student will solve a total of 5 problems from these sections, as assigned by the instructor, and will write each solution as an independent, complete essay using complete sentences.
Instructor method of evaluation: The deadline for turning in the work will be set for early November in a fall semester and early April in a spring semester. After the work has been reviewed by the instructor, the student will have to rewrite the work or part of it as many times as necessary until it is mathematically completely correct and at a professional level of exposition.
The extra work described above is for the purpose of earning the fourth credit hour only, and the student's grade for the course will be determined in the same way as for the other students, apart from the following extra rule: if the student does not perform the extra work, the grade for the course will be an F, regardless of any other circumstances.
Please note that once section M14 has been created and you have joined it, by University rules it will not be possible for you to switch back to 3 credit hours (you may still be able to drop the course, subject to appropriate deadlines). This means that you will then have 4 credit hours for this course. For this reason, there needs to be a sanction for those who thus sign up but fail to do the extra work, for otherwise such people would be able to get 4 credit hours without extra work. It is for this reason that we have the above extra rule.