MA341 - Applied Differential Equations I

Hours: T, TH 10:15AM - 11:30AM, HA 113.

Instructor:

Dr. Alina Chertock
Office: HA 212
Phone: 515-3200
Office hours: T, TH 2:00PM - 3:00PM (or by appointment)
E-mail: chertock@math.ncsu.edu

Teaching Assistant:

YuanYuan Peng
Office: BU 2153
Office hours: T, TH 3:00PM-4:00PM
E-mail: ypeng2@ncsu.edu

Prerequisites: MA 242 or (MA 132 and MA 231)

Syllabus:

• Differential equations and systems of differential equations.
  
• Methods for solving ordinary differential equations including Laplace transforms.
  
• Phase plane analysis.
  
• Numerical methods.
  
• Matrix techniques for systems of linear ordinary differential equations.

Credit is not allowed for both MA 301 and MA 341.

Tentative weekly schedule of topics (including tests):

Week-by-week schedule

Textbook: Fundamentals of Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, by Nagle, Saff, and Snider, 5th edition, Addison-Wesley.

• I expect you to read sections of the book around the time of lectures and attempt homework from those sections. The book has additional examples and discussion that you will find helpful. Some test questions may resemble examples from the book.

Homework:

• Homework assignments will be handed out throughout the semester. You are strongly encouraged to work on these assignments. They are, however, for the training purposes only. Neither will they be collected, nor graded, nor taken into account when deriving the final grade. Many homework problems, with or without slight modifications, will appear in tests (so will the examples that I work on in my lectures). Thus, it is absolutely imperative to work on each of the assigned problems. You are also encouraged to discuss homework with other students, or with me during office hours.

Attendance: Required. In order to take the final exam, your class attendance must exceed 90% (that is, you cannot miss more than 3 classes). This policy will be strictly enforced.

• Seats will be assigned by TA from the 2nd week of the semester. TA will check the attendance every class. Neither instructor nor TA will provide extra help on missed lectures, unless there is an official excuse.
• You are expected to attend all classes on time. Arriving late for a class or leaving early is very disruptive of class. If you need to leave early, please let me know at the beginning of class. Note that the attendance can be taken at any time during the class time. Arriving late for a class (without a valid, officially accepted excuse), after the attendance has been taken, counts as an absence. Leaving class earlier (without a valid, officially accepted excuse), before the attendance has been taken, counts as an absence.
• Officially excused absence will be counted toward attended classes.

Tests/exams: There will be three tests during the semester and a comprehensive final exam.

• Tentative dates of tests: September 18, October 21, November 25.
• Final Exam: December 16, 8:00AM-11:00AM.
• Missed tests/quizzes:
• There will be NO makeup tests/exams. If you have any conflicts with the assigned dates of the exams please contact me by email up to one week before the exam.
• If you miss a test/final exam without a valid excuse, a zero will be averaged into your grade.
• If you are forced to miss a test/final exam, an excuse from a doctor or other appropriate authorities must be presented.
• If the excuse is accepted, your other course work will be adjusted so that you will not be penalized.
• All tests are closed book/notes.
  
• You are not allowed to bring calculators and/or computer algebra systems such as Maple to the tests.
  

Grading: Class tests - 60%, final examination - 40%.

• If you miss no more than 2 classes AND attend every test, I will replace your lowest test grade with your final exam grade (assuming it is higher).
• The responsibility for grading tests reside with the teaching assistants (TAs). If you believe an error has been made in grading, bring it to the TA who did the grading during his or her office hours. If you believe that you should have gotten more points than you got, write a statement making your case and take it to the TA. If you are not satisfied with the TA's decision, bring the statement to your course instructor, who will make the final decision.

Grading Scale: 90%-100%: A, 80%-90%: B, 70%-80%: C, 60%-70%: D, less than 60%: F   (+ and - will also be used.)

Notifications:

• Students will be notified in class or via email of announcements associated with this course. The email address registered with the NCSU online directory will be used for this purpose. It is the student's responsibility to maintain a valid email address and check the email sent to it.

End-of-semester class evaluations:

• Schedule: Online class evaluations will be available for students to complete during the last week of class (8:00AM November 21 through 8:00AM December 8)
• Students will receive an email message directing them to a website where they can login using their Unity ID and complete evaluations.
• All evaluations are confidential; instructors will never know how any one student responded to any question, and students will never know the ratings for any particular instructors.
• Evaluation website: https://classeval.ncsu.edu
• Student help desk: classeval@ncsu.edu
• More information about ClassEval: http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/classeval/

Policy on Attendance, Excused Absences, Missed Work:

NCSU policy, including what constitutes an 'Excused Absence,' is at NCSU policy, including that constitutes an 'Excused Absence,' is at this link.

Academic Integrity Statement:

Students are required to follow NCSU policy available at www.ncsu.edu/provost/academic_regulations/integrity/reg.htm. "Academic dishonesty is the giving, taking, or presenting of information or material by a student that unethically or fraudulently aids oneself or another on any work which is to be considered in the determination of a grade or the completion of academic requirements or the enhancement of that student's record or academic career." (NCSU Code of Student Conduct)

The Student Affairs web site has more information (http://www.ncsu.edu/student_affairs/osc/AIpage/acaintegrity.html ).

Utilization implication of the Honor Pledge:

"I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this test or assignment."

Expectations concerning honesty in the completion of test and assignments:

This has been outlined above

Students with Disabilities:

Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. For more information on NC State's policy on working with students with disabilities, please see the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation.

Further Information:

NCSU Academic Regulations can be found at www2.ncsu.edu/unity/project/www/ncsu/provost/info/academic_policies/