General Information

instructor: John Goulet,PhD email: goulet@wpi.edu phone: 831-5036 office: SH 201A

text: Kolman Linear Algebra with Applications (6^th ed) Prentice-Hall

conferences: Weds 8:00

Office Hours: Mondays& Fridays 9-12, 1-2   Weds 5-6 office: SH 201A

TA: Elena Volkova lvolkova@wpi.edu (grades projects) office hours Monday 12-2:00 office: SH 104

Course Goals:

General: develop skills and abilities that contribute to career development(engineer, scientist, manager . . .). These include communication,teamwork, interpretation of data, use and understanding of mathematical models, and effective use of technology.

Mathematical:

   concepts:

Part One:

solutions of linear systems

matrix algebra

Part Two:

vector spaces

basis & coordinates.

Orthogonality and orthogonal basis

Part Three:

diagonalizing matrices A = P D P^-1

The Principal Axis Theorem & eigenvalues

   skills:          solving linear systems - Gauss Jordan elimination

nature of solutions: when do they exist? what kind?

matrix computations

reducing matrices to RREF

matrix multiplication; inverses

matrix algebra

diagonalizing square matrices

using software effectively

   applications: using and analyzing linear mathematical models - see Projects below

especially dynamic linear systems               x(k+1) = A x(k)

interpreting solutions

Teams: work on projects (below), math problems. Size 3 or 4. Form one asap!

prepare for weekly quiz on Friday

fundamental goal: to have all members achieve better results than if they had worked individually

Projects:vehicle for studying mathematical models in areas of interest

Weekly Schedule

Other Scheduling Notes:

We will have covered all material by the end of the 6^th week.

There will be a comprehensive final exam on skills & concepts on Tuesday of the last week of the course. There will be no project work due the last week.

Time Investment: it is assumed that you are willing to spend 15-20 hours per week on this course, including class time. Anything that makes this more efficient for you, from cooperative learning to scheduling is welcome and will be used. Please feel encouraged to use all resources (team, materials, instructor, class time) to make the best use of your time.

Grade:

other: 5 point bonus on total grade if you attend all classes. Additionally, you must have a passing grade on the quiz/final portion of the course in order to pass the course, regardless of project grades. This means that your overall score for the quiz/final portion must be at least 70. You cannot pass the course if you do not have a minimal understanding of and competence with linear algebra.

a 3 point bonus on the total grade is possible if the overall score for your team is greater than the class average. This score is computed from quizzes and the final exam with quizzes counting twice as much as the final. In such a case, each member of the team would receive 3 additional points on their final grade. So help the people in your team and everyone wins!