Honors Linear Algebra Spring 2019

Honors Linear Algebra, 110.212, Spring 2019
W. Stephen Wilson

W. Stephen Wilson: wwilson3@jhu.edu or wsw@math.jhu.edu

Textbook: Linear Algebra, 4th edition, Friedberg, Insel and Spence. ISBN 0-13-008451-4

Monday, Wednesday, 1:30-2:45, Krieger 308, Section, Friday, 1:30-2:20, Hodson 313.

Office hours are Wednesday, 2:45-3:45. (Krieger 421.) This is right after class, so if you want to come to office hours, you arrange that in class, or I won't be there. You can always email me with questions or to set up a meeting if the office hours don't work for you or aren't enough.

In addition, you should all know about the math department help room that is open nearly all day and most evenings during the week. It is in Krieger 213. Your TA will be there in the help room on EDIT but anyone in the help room can help you with linear algebra.

Linear algebra videos made by me that are relevant to the course. Linear algebra videos made by the Khan Academy. And then there are Linear algebra videos made by Gil Strang at MIT. Feel free to make use of these resources in your "spare time".

The Honors Linear Algebra course is designed for students with the mindset of a math major even if the student is not majoring in math. It is for students who have self selected because they are brighter, harder working, and more motivated. In particular, they are happy to be free to learn. The prerequisites are 113, Calc II, or a 5 on the AP BC exam.

All students must attend every class and maintain a high level of consciousness during the entire class. You will have something serious to do during the entire class, every class (except the first one on Jan 28).

Students are expected to make the transition to proving things in this course if they have not already made that transition. Few will have done this already. It is a great introduction to proving things because everything in the course is simultaneously geometric and algebraic. Great material, and you use linear algebra in nearly every math, science, and engineering course you take.

The transition to proving things is a difficult one and the course will be fast paced. It is best for students to keep an eye on the regular linear algebra course so they can drop down to it if it looks like the honors course will not go well. If you don't learn the material each week and learn how to prove things by the 3rd week, you will not get a good grade in the course. This is an HONORS course and assumes that you can and will do this.

The flow of the course. The normal flow is to have a reading assignment, then to be examined as to whether or not you did the reading. Next, homework on that reading will be assigned and then, of course, it will come due. When it is turned in, you get another exam to see if you understood it.

The reading assignments are already set for the entire course and are at the bottom of this website.

The pattern for the above is:

Monday: Your homework is due at the start of class on Monday. A test will be given immediately. The test will cover the material that you read for the homework just handed in. There will probably be two problems, one from the homework just handed in, and one from the sections the homework was based on. I reserve the right to ask whatever I want though.

Monday Continued: After the test, I will assign small groups to work on a sequence of problems. These problems will be from the material you read for the homework you just handed in, so you should be really good at it. The group will do as many of them as they can, sequentially, and write them up to be handed in at the end of the class for the whole group. The whole group will get the same grade on this. The groups will vary day to day.

More Monday: I will give a very short lecture on the material you are about to read for Wednesday so you'll know the high points to look out for.

Wednesday: I give you a quiz when you walk into class to see if you have done the reading for that week. It will cover really basic things like definitions and statements of theorems. No understanding is required to do well on this, but I want people prepared to work, not read, when they come to class on Wed. You can teach a 10 year old to do this perfectly, so don't embarrass yourself.

Wednesday continued: We'll go over the True/False problems in the book. Then, you will then be assigned to small groups to work on a sequence of problems. These problems will be for the reading you were just quizzed on. As above: The group will do as many of them as they can, sequentially, and write them up to be handed in at the end of the class for the whole group. The whole group will get the same grade on this. The groups will vary day to day.

More Wednesday: I will post the homework on the next reading assignment sometime before the end of the day on Wednesday.

Friday: This is your TA section.

Friday continued The TA will grade your homework and in-class work. In section he can go over common problems s/he sees when grading your proofs and/or give guidance on the homework due next. The TA will also give a proof based test every class.

Grades: As you can see, you have an exam that gets graded every day you have class. We call the Wednesday exam on reading a "quiz" and the Monday and Friday exams on content a "test."

Homework: In addition, you have homework. Three problems of my choice, unknown to you, will be graded by the TA. Also, on Mondays and Wednesdays you will be working problems in groups most of the class. Some of these problems will be graded. All in all, there are lots of things that get graded that will go into your grade. How they will all be weighted will get worked out during the semester. For example, you will probably get graded on more problems worked in groups than individually, but your individual work will probably dominate the grade.

Group work: You are welcome to, even encouraged to, work together on homework, but you must write up your own homework. If you write up your own, it will not be the same as that written up by students you worked with.

The syllabus, subject to, but not likely to, change.

The first week is a bit awkward. So, the first quiz, (on the first Wednesday), will just be on Sections 1.1-3. Likewise, we will only work on that for the in-class work that day. The homework will be on 1.1-5, but it isn't due until the next Monday. Then we will be established in our basic rhythm. The first class will be a bit of a dud since you won't know anything yet.

Reading assignment # 1: Sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5. Quiz to see if you read Sections 1.1-3, Jan 30.

Problem set # 1.

Homework # 1 due Feb 4. Test to see if you understood it same day.

Reading assignment # 2: Sections 1.6, 2.1. Quiz to see if you read it, Feb 6.

Problem set # 2.

Homework # 2 due Feb 11. Test to see if you understood it same day.

Reading assignment # 3: Sections 2.2, 2.3. Quiz to see if you read it, Feb 13.

Problem set # 3.

Homework # 3 due Feb 18. Test to see if you understood it same day.

Reading assignment # 4: Sections 2.4, 2.5, 3.1. Quiz to see if you read it, Feb 20.

Problem set # 4.

Homework # 4 due Feb 25. Test to see if you understood it same day.