Course:  Math 20D

Title:  Introduction to Differential Equations

Website:  http://www.math.ucsd.edu/~alina/20d/  

Credit Hours:  4  

Prerequisite:  Math 20C (or Math 21C) with a grade of C- or better

Catalog Description:  Ordinary differential equations: exact, separable, and linear; constant coefficients, undetermined coefficients.  Variations of parameters.  Series solutions.  Systems.  Laplace transforms.   Techniques for engineering sciences.  Computing symbolic and graphical solutions using Matlab.

Textbook:  Elementary Differential Equations, 10th edition, by William E. Boyce & Richard C. DiPrima; published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2009

Subject Material:  We shall cover parts of chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of Boyce & DiPrima.

Lecture:  Attending the lecture is a fundamental part of the course; you are responsible for material presented in the lecture whether or not it is discussed in the textbook. You should expect questions on the exams that will test your understanding of concepts discussed in lecture, reading and assigned homework exercises.

Reading:  Reading the sections of the textbook corresponding to the assigned homework exercises is considered part of the homework assignment; you are responsible for material in the assigned reading whether or not it is discussed in the lecture.  It will be expected that you read the assigned material in advance of each lecture. You should expect questions on the exams that will test your understanding of concepts discussed in lecture, reading and assigned homework exercises.

Homework and reading:  Homework problems will be assigned on the course homework page, and are due by 7pm on the indicated due date in the homework drop box for your section (look for the green label).

Homework is a very important part of the course and in order to fully master the topics it is essential that you work carefully on every assignment and try your best to complete every problem and seek help with problems you have not been able to solve.
You may work together with your classmates on your homework and/or ask the instructors, the TA's, or tutors in the calculus lab for help on assigned homework problems. However, the work you turn in should be your own. The lowest two hw scores will be dropped.  No late homework assignments will be accepted. Please adhere to the following neatness guidelines for homework that you turn in to be graded; homework not conforming to these guidelines may not receive full credit and may not be graded at all.

• Use clean, white letter size paper that is not torn from a spiral notebook.
• Write your Name, PID, and Section clearly on each page of your completed assignment. (for instance, "Sheldon Cooper, PID: A01234567, Section: A03 2-3pm")
• Write clearly and legibly.
• Clearly number each solution and present them in numerical order.
• Staple the pages togheter.

MATLAB:  Math 20D has a computational component based on MATLAB.  There will be four (4) MATLAB assignments and one MATLAB quiz. which is scheduled as announced on the Math 20D MATLAB Quiz Times page.  The MATLAB assignments may be found on the MATLAB assignment page and are to be returned in the appointed drop box for your section (look for the red label).  Your MATLAB lab assignment grade will be based on the best three (3) of four (4) MATLAB lab assignments and the MATLAB final quiz.  No late MATLAB lab assignments will be accepted.

• MATLAB Assignments:  The assignments are here:
  
  http://www.math.ucsd.edu/~math20d/
  The due dates for the assignments are on the course calendar.  Please turn in your completed MATLAB assignments to the appropriate dropbox in the basement of AP&M (look for the red label).  All assignments are due by 3:00pm on the indicated due date.  We will not accept any late assignments, but we will drop your lowest MATLAB score when calculating your final grade.  If you need help with your MATLAB assignments, there will be MATLAB tutors available in B432; the tutoring schedule is here.
• MATLAB Quiz:  There will be a MATLAB quiz at the end of the quarter.  The quiz will be held during your scheduled MATLAB time in AP&M B432.  If you are unable to take your quiz during your scheduled time, instructions for scheduling an alternate time are here.

Exams:  There will be two midterms and a final. See the course calendar for the dates.
No books, calculators or other electronics are allowed during exams, but you may bring one 8.5x11 page of notes (both sides are ok, but no photocopies are allowed). No other notes will be allowed. Please bring your student ID to the exams.

Grading:  Your cumulative average will be the best of the following two weighted averages.

• Method 1:  10% homework, 6% MATLAB quiz, 4% MATLAB Assignments, 20% midterm 1, 20% midterm 2, 40% final exam
• Method 2:  10% homework, 6% MATLAB quiz, 4% MATLAB Assignments,   20% best midterm score, 60% final exam

After your best weighted average is calculated, letter grades will be assigned based on the standard grading scale:

There will be no curve, but we may adjust the scale to be more lenient (depending on the performance of the class). Please note that, per departmental policy, there will be no D grades.

Please notice that outside factors, including the need for a certain grade for admission/retention in any academic program, scholarship or transfer credit, graduation requirements or personal desire for a specific grade DO NOT appear in the above calculations, and thus are not considered in any way in the determination of your course grade. Effort, improvement, class attendance and participation will all dramatically improve your grade in the course in that they will allow you to do well on homework, exams, and the final exam. They will NOT, however, actively participate in the calculation of your course grade.

Late Homework:  No homework will be accepted late.

Make-up Exams/Quizzes: Make-up exams or quizzes will not be given. If you miss a midterm exam for any reason, then your course grade will be computed using Method 2. Therefore you can miss one midterm, for whatever reason, without penalty. On the other hand, missing both midterms will seriously harm your grade and make it very difficult to pass the course.

Final Exam: You must take the final exam at the scheduled time. There are no make-up exams for the final exam, and no alternate times will be offered. You must pass the final exam ( >59% ) in order to pass the class. (The actual required percentage may be lowered, depending on overall class performance.)
Please note that by signing up for this course, you are agreeing to sit for the final examination at this date and time. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final examination; you should not enroll in this class if you cannot take the final examination at its scheduled time. Please check the dates now to make sure that you have no unavoidable conflicts!

Discussion sections:  You have to attend the discussion you are registered for. If you want to attend a section that is full, you will need to find someone in that section to switch with you. One way to find someone to switch sections with you is to email the whole class (the email function in TED will allow you to do this). Once you have found someone to switch with you, email me for further instructions.

TED:  TED will be used for posting grades. No other information will be posted on TED, everything can be found on the course webpage. It is your responsibility to make sure that you are registered on TED and that all your hw, exams, MATLAB assignments and quiz scores are posted correctly all throughout the term.
If you see a discrepancy in your homework, midterm, or MATLAB scores you have to report it within 1 week since the error occurred and we will look into it. No error reports will be accepted after Thursday, June 4, 2015 at 11:59pm.

Grade Recording Errors:  Keep all of your returned homework and exams. If there is any mistake in the recording of your scores, you will need the original assignment/lab/exam in order for us to make a change. The error has to be reported within 1 week since it occurred. No error reports will be accepted after Thursday, June 4, 2015 at 11:59pm.

Regrade Policy:  All graded material (except the final) will be returned in discussion sections. If you believe there might be an error in the grading and wish to have your test regraded, you must observe the following rules:

1. return your test immediately to your TA. Regrade requests will not be considered once the test leaves the room.
   • If you disagree with the TA's answer to your regrade request, you may ask for the instructor to review it. In order to do this, you must:
     1. Return your test immediately to your TA and,
     2. ask that they forward it to the instructor.
   • Instructor review requests will not be considered once the test leaves the room.
2. Retrieve your test during discussion section or arrange to pick it up from your TA within one week after it was made available for pickup (i.e., returned) in section. In order to be considered, regrade requests must be submitted within one week after being returned in section.

Email:  For all electronic communication regarding the course, you are required to use your official @ucsd.edu email address or use the email function in TED. Please remember that email is not a substitute for office hours or discussions.

Electronic Computing Devices:   Graphing calculators and computer programs (or online computing websites such as Wolfram|Alpha) can be very helpful when working through your homework. However, a calculator/computer should be used as an aid in the learning concepts, not just as a means of computation. You should use these devices when working on math problems at home, but always keep in mind that you will not be allowed access to any electronic computing devices during exams or quizzes. Of course, this also means that you will not be asked to solve problems on exams or quizzes that require the aid of an electronic computing device.

• Usually I will not allow the use of electronic devices of any kind during lecture, besides clickers. If you have a truly essential text, tweet, or post, please step outside of the classroom. However, we will occasionally have "internet days" when I will invite you to bring and use your web-enabled devices during class. I will announce these days in advance during lecture.
• Graphing calculators (such as the TI-86 or TI-89) may prove useful in checking solutions to some of the homework problems, but they are not required for the course. Help with using TI graphing calculators is available in the Calculus Tutoring Lab.
• The use of electronic devices will not be permitted during exams or quizzes.

Suggestions:  Below are some suggestions that I hope will help you to succeed in this course:

• Spend sufficient time on the course. According to the policy of UCSD's Academic Senate, "The value of a course in units ... shall be reckoned at the rate of one unit for three hours' work per week per quarter on the part of the student." Since Math 20D is worth 4 credits, you should be willing to spend about 12 hours per week on the course.
• Keep up with the homework and do not miss a midterm. Missing a homework assignment will not necessarily hurt your grade (as the two lowest scores will be dropped), but you will be expected to know all the material on exams.
• Get started on the homework assignments early. This will enable you to make the most of your discussion section time by coming prepared with specific questions.
• When doing textbook problems, try doing odd-numbered problems before even-numbered problems. Most even-numbered end-of-chapter problems are similar to the preceding problem, so if you are stuck on problem 24, try problem 23, and check your answer against the back of the book.

Tutorial services:  The Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services (OASIS) will offer weekly workshops for Math 20D on Mondays and Wednesdays 10-11:50am starting the second class week. Additional tutorial services may be available through them as well. For more information, visit OASIS on the 3rd floor of Center Hall or call 858-534-3760.

Accommodation:  Students with special needs or disabilities must provide me with an Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) as soon as possible.

Academic Dishonesty:  Academic dishonesty is considered a serious offense at UCSD. Students caught cheating will face an administrative sanction which may include suspension or expulsion from the university.