Time and Place: MWF 10:00-10:50am, Snow 120
Instructor: D. Katz
E-mail: dlk53 AT ku dot edu
Office: Snow 501
Office Hours: Held via Zoom, MWF 11:10am-noon, and by appointment
Text: Linear Algebra with Applications (second edition), by W. Keith Nicholson. Here is a freely available online copy: Linear Algebra with Applications
Course Description
This is an introductory course on linear algebra. We will study systems of linear equations, Gaussian elimination, elementary properties of matrices, including the trace and determinant, diagonalization of matrices, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and basic properties of vector spaces, including Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization .
Covid Protocol
Following university regulations, all students will be required to wear masks during class. This will remain in effect until university regulations say otherwise. As much as possible, students should attempt to keep an empty seat between themselves and students sitting on either side of them.
Daily Lectures
Here is the daily schedule for our course, with links to the daily course lectures Daily Schedule. Daily lectures will be posted on the day before the lecture takes places. Students are strongly encouraged to read the lecture before coming to class. The daily schedule is subject to change, but students will be notified of any significant changes to the schedule.
Homework
Homework will be assigned each class day. Homework will be of two types. There will problems assigned from the textbook, which are not to be turned in. The solutions to these problems can be found here: Solutions to textbook homework. You are strongly encouraged to work these problems, as the concepts in this course are new to almost all of the students in our class, and mastery of these topics can only come through practice gained by working problems.
The second type of homework will be online homework. Detailed information about login procedures for the online homework will be sent to students via email. Each assignment is due by 11:59pm on the first Sunday following the day the homework was assigned. Your grades on these assignments will be recorded automatically. The grades for these assignments will be counted towards your final grade.
Daily Homework can be found here: Daily Homework
Quizzes
We will have a short quiz every Monday at the start of class, except those Mondays following our midterm exams. There will be ten minutes allotted for each quiz and there will be a total of twelve quizzes. There will be no make-ups for the quizzes, but only your top ten quiz scores will count. The quizzes will typically consist of a couple of questions related to material covered the previous week.
Midterm Exams
There will be two in-class midterm exams. The dates for the midterm exams are: February 23 and April 20. There will be no make up exams except in cases of documented medical or family emergencies.
Exam 1: Practice set 1, Solutions to Practice set 1, Solutions to Exam 1
Exam 2: Study guide for Exam 2, Practice problems for Exam 2 , Solutions to practice problems for Exam 2, Solutions to Exam 2,
Final Exam
The comprehensive final exam will take place in Snow 120 on Tuesday May 10, from 7:30-10am. , Practice problems for Final Exam , Solutions to Practice problems for Final Exam ,
Course Grading
Online Homework: 15%
Quizzes: 15%
Midterm Exams: 20% each
Final Exam: 30%. The final exam will be used to replace the lowest midterm exam, if doing so improves a student's final grade.
Students with disability
The KU Office of Disability Resources (DR) coordinates accommodations and services for all eligible students with disabilities. If you have a disability and wish to request accommodations and have not contacted DR, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is located in 22 Strong Hall; their phone number is 785-864-2620 (V/TTY). Information about their services can be found at www.disability.ku.edu. Please also contact me privately in regard to your needs in this course.
Policy on religious observances
Any student who has a conflict between the course schedule and a religious holiday should contact the instructor as soon as possible.