Advanced Linear Algebra, MAS 5107

Fall Semester 1999--MW 3:30-4:45--LIF 263

Here are the course grades for those who wrote a codename on their Final Exam:

The course grade is the larger of the Final and the average of the Final, Midterm and Quiz Average.The letter grade is how I translated this to a letter grade.

 

 

Ulysses            Midterm : 70.00, Final: 67.00, Quiz Avg: 58.33, Course Grade: 67.00 = C
 
W. P.                 Midterm : 79.00, Final: 73.00, Quiz Avg: 81.67, Course Grade: 77.89 = B
 
Hulk Hogan      Midterm : 88.00, Final: 66.00, Quiz Avg: 89.44, Course Grade: 81.15 = B
 
TOTA                Midterm : 86.00, Final: 81.00, Quiz Avg: 84.44, Course Grade: 83.81 = B
 
Hellp                 Midterm  61.00,  Final: 70.00, Quiz Avg: 81.11, Course Grade: 70.70 = C
 

Instructor: W. Edwin Clark
Office: PHY 326 A
Phone: 974 9559
Email: eclark@math.usf.edu (I read my email frequently.)
Homepage: http://www.math.usf.edu/~eclark/
(This information will be on my homepage in case you lose it. You may also go there if you are curious about my research and academic genealogy.)
Office Hours: MW 2:30-3:25 and 4:50-5:50. (Also, immediately after class or by appointment.)

Text: There will be no assigned text for the class. Instead, students will be expected to take notes in class. Students will be responsible for material presented in class or distributed in class.  However, if you feel the need to consult other sources, here are a few books you might take a look at:

1. Finite Dimensional Vector Spaces by  P. Halmos.
2. Topics in Algebra by I. N. Herstein (on reserve in the library for MAS 5311, Algebra I.)
     (See especially the chapters on linear algebra.)
3. Linear Algebra by K. Hoffman and R. Kunze.
4. Tensor Geometry by C.T.J . Dodson and T. Poston.
5. Theory and Problems of Linear Algebra (2nd ed) by Seymour Lipschutz. (This is in the Schaum's Outline Series and has lots of worked out proofs and examples.)
6. Any of the other one million linear algebra textbooks now available. I have several extra copies in my office that I will give to first takers

Material to be Covered:  The basic theory of vector spaces, the algebra of linear transformations, the algebra of matrices, determinants, canonical forms, inner product spaces, and operators on inner product spaces.

Homework: Homework will be assigned frequently. And students will be responsible for knowing how to work correctly all assigned problems. But, it will not be collected and will not be graded. I will take questions about homework problems in class.

EXAMS:

    1. Monday Quizzes: On each Monday, unless there is a holiday, a quiz will be given at the beginning of class.  Such a  quiz will cover definitions and statements of named theorems presented in class any time prior to the quiz.  The quizzes will also cover examples from class and simple computations that will be easy for those doing their homework.  There will be no makeups for student who are late or fail to take a quiz. However, I will drop the lowest  3 quiz grades .

   2. Midterm Exam:  Monday, Oct. 4

   3. Final Exam:  Friday, December 10, 3:30-5:30.

GRADES: Each of the three "exams" listed above will be assigned a grade between 0 and 100. Your course grade will be based on the average of these three grades or the grade received on the Final Exam -- whichever is largest.  The traditional scale 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, 0-59 = F will be used to assign a letter grade.

Holidays:  Labor Day: Monday, Sept. 6.

The last day of classes is Friday,  December 3, 1999.

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