Syllabus

Course:  Math 20D

Title:  Introduction to Differential Equations

Credit Hours:  4

Prerequisite:  Math 20C (or equivalent)

Catalog Description:  Ordinary differential equations: exact, separable, and linear; constant coefficients, undetermined coefficients, variation of parameters.  Series solutions.  Systems, Laplace transforms.  Computing symbolic and graphical solutions using MATLAB.

Textbook: Fundamentals of Differential Equations (9th Edition), by Nagel, Saff, and Snider; published by Pearson

Subject Material:  We will cover parts of Chapters 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 9 of the text. The generic UCSD MATH 20D syllabus gives a good outline of specific sections I plan to cover.

Reading Assignments:  Reading and doing the examples in the sections of the textbook corresponding to our discussions in lecture will be an essential aid in learning and understanding the course material better.  If you work through the relevant examples in the book before you start your homework problems, you will probably solve the homework problems more easily and perform better on your exams than if you do not do the reading.

Homework:   Most of the learning in math classes takes place when you work on your homework 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. We will have three different kinds of homework assignments in this class:

Online homework will be completed using MyMathLab. Written homework will be due on Gradescope. Assignments will be due weekly, see: homework page.

Late Homework:  Written homework will not be accepted if it is late (due dates can be found on the homework webpage).

Canvas:  We will use Canvas for the following purposes in this class:

Note: Due to issues with mixed up Canvas courses the online homework links are not yet set up. When these are ready I will make an announcement on Canvas with full details.

MyMathLab:  This is the online homework system associated to the textbook, through which you will submit your online homework.

Gradescope:   This is an online tool used to grading. You will need to upload various assignments onto Gradescope:

You will be added to Gradescope automatically. If you are having trouble getting access, contact your TA.

MATLAB: You have four MATLAB assignments and a MATLAB quiz that count for a total of 10% of your course grade (the assignments count for 5%, and the quiz counts for 5%).

Examinations:   We will have two take-home exams for this course. There will be no makeup exams.

Full details regarding the exact implementation of the exams (closed book/open book, time restrictions etc) are still TBD but: It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final exam; you should not enroll in this class if you cannot sit for the final exam at its scheduled time.

Regrades:  Regrade requests can be made using the built-in regrade request feature in Gradescope. The regrade request feature will be available for 48 hours after the exam grades are published; after that, it will not be possible to request a regrade.

Grades: Your total cumulative average will be calculated in the following way:

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

A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- F
97 93 90 87 83 80 77 73 70 < 70

We may adjust the above scale to be more lenient (depending on the overall class performance), but we guarantee that we will not adjust the scale to make it harder to get a better grade.

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.  It is in your best interest to take pride in your work and to maintain your academic integrity (click here for more information).