MATH 4A

Linear Algebra with Applications

Spring 2013

Class Information

Meeting Times
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday 8:00-9:15 in Lotte Lehman Concert Hall.
You must also attend your weekly discussion section (on Mondays and Wednesdays).
Text
David C. Lay, Linear Algebra and Its Applications, Fourth Edition (Hard bound ISBN: 0321399145 )
You may prefer to purchase the loose-leaf version available at the bookstore.
Some students may find it useful to also own the Student Study Guide for Linear Algebra and Its Applications, available at the campus bookstore.
Instructor
Prof. Kenneth Millett
Office: South Hall 6512
Office hours:  Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-11:00 and by appointment
Email
millett@math.ucsb.edu
Due to the large class size (about 500 students) not all email can be answered.
General rule: email sent from a non-UCSB address (eg i'm_an_imposter@yahoo.com) may not be answered.
Teaching Assistants
Ebrahim Ebrahim
Email: ebrahim@math.ucsb.edu
Office: South Hall 6432E
Office hours: Monday 2:00pm-3:00pm
TA ID: 1***
Harris Ennis
Email: henniss@math.ucsb.edu
Office: South Hall 6432E
Office hours: Monday 12:00pm-1:00pm
TA ID: 2***
K. Grace Kennedy
Email: kgracekennedy@math.ucsb.edu
Office: South Hall 6432Q
Office hours: Monday 2:00pm-3:00pm
TA ID: 3***
Nathan Saritzky
Email: nsaritzky@math.ucsb.edu
Office: South Hall 6432C
Office hours: Wednesday 2:00pm-3:00pm
TA ID: 4***
ChangLiang Wang
Email: cwang@math.ucsb.edu
Office: South Hall 6431X
Office hours: Monday 3:30pm-4:30pm
TA ID: 5***
Laura Plunkett (Head Teaching Assistant)
Email: lzirbel@math.ucsb.edu
Office: South Hall 6432A
Office hours: Friday 2:00pm-3:00pm
TA ID: 6***

The Course

Prerequisites
Completion of Math 3B or 3BI with a grade of C; or a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the BC Calculus AP exam.
Lectures
You are responsible for all material presented in class, including announcements about course procedures. Exams, pop-quizzes, and homework may include questions on material presented only in class.
You should purchase an i-Clicker for use during lectures. You must register your i-Clicker WITH YOUR PERM NUMBER at www.iclicker.com. Either i>Clicker1 or i>Clicker2 can be used.
Lecture participation via the i-Clicker will be part of your grade.
Lecture notes will be posted on Gauchospace shortly after the lecture.
Many routine calculations will be done quickly in lectures. If you are bad at mental arithmetic, it would be good to practice addition and multiplication in your head, to commit the multiplication tables to easy memory, and to bring some scratch paper, if that will help you follow along.
Reading Assignments
The course schedule (also available week-by-week on GauchoSpace) shows which sections of the textbook will be covered each week. Please read the relevant section before coming to lecture. Your understanding of what you read will be measured by i-Clicker questions.
Homework
  • Homework is done using WebWork, available through GauchoSpace. These are the only problems that will count directly towards your grade but will not be enough for you to master the material. So there is also...
  • Recommended homework does not count directly towards your grade, but will be needed to master the material. Recommended problems are listed on the course schedule.
  • Each week's homework assignment is due by 6:00 am on the following Tuesday. For example homework on Sections 1.1-1.3 ("Week 1") is due by 6:00am on the morning of Tuesday 9 April.
    Hot tips on WebWork:
    TA.RD.IS
    In order to avoid problems with similar or identical names, bad handwriting, etc you will be given a 4 digit (TA.RD.IS) code in the first discussion. The code identifies your TA, your regular discussion section and, within that, you as an individual student. This number must be printed in the top right corner of all work (quizzes and exams). Any work without a TA.RD.IS will not be graded.
    Discussion sections
    Per departmental policy, attendance at your regular discussion section is mandatory. Work done in discussion sections constitutes 10% of your final grade and cannot be compensated for by any other work nor are there any exceptions. Note that the highest grade a student missing all sessions can receive is 5.4 whereas 5.75 is required for an A+. Other grades are impacted even more dramatically.
    Switching discussions: Under special circumstances you might be able to switch discussion sections. To do this you must get permission from both TAs involved. If they agree then you can switch. They will require evidence of a schedule conflict from GOLD. Do not drop and re-register. Officially you will be in the original section, unofficially you will be in another one. You must get a new TA.RD.IS.
    Resources
    Office hours of the teaching assistant and of the instructor (see above)
    You may go to the Math Lab for drop-in help 12-5 M-F in SH 1607. It is staffed by TA's who want to help you.
    CLAS, the Campus Learning Assistance Service.
    Exams
    There will be two midterm and one final exam.
    The first midterm will be on Tuesday 23 April.
    The second midterm will be on Tuesday 14 May .
    The final will be on Thursday 13 June, 8-11am.
    Exam procedures
    You must write your TA.RD.IS number on each quiz, exam and/or bluebook. You will be given the TA.RD.IS number by your TA during the first discussion section after you enroll.
    You may bring one 3" x 5" card but no calculator or other electronics (other than a headlamp) to the midterms and final.
    You must bring convincing photo identification and a large blank BLUEBOOK to all exams.
    You will have assigned seats during the exam.
    Sickness or Missing an Exam. If you miss a midterm due to illness you should bring Professor Millett a note. The note can be from a medical worker or any person in a position of responsibility. If you know you will miss an exam tell Professor Millett before the event. In either case, at the discretion of the Professor you will be given an average for the missed work based on work you did. Check your schedule now, for there will be no make-up exams.
    Incompletes: if you cannot complete the course because of a family tragedy, or some other reason, you must complete a form and give it to the registrar before 4pm the day before the final. An incomplete usually becomes an F after one quarter unless you complete before then.

    Grades
    Midterms @ 15% 30%
    Final 45%
    Homework and Discussion Section 20%
    Class participation (via iClicker use) 5%
    Student work is evaluated using the following standards:
    6 points complete and entirely correct solution
    5 points minor error whose correction does not require mathematical discussion
    4 points minor error whose correction does require mathematical discussion
    3 points important error or errors requiring substantial mathematical correction
    2 points substantial mathematical work which could lead to a solution of the problem
    1 point minimal mathematical work that could lead to a solution of the problem
    0 points no mathematical work relevant to a solution of the problem
    The course grade is determined by the comprehensive grade G as follows:
    A+ 5.75<= G
    A 4.7 <= G < 5.75
    A- 4.5 <= G < 4.7
    B+ 4.4 <= G < 4.5
    B 3.8 <= G < 4.25
    B- 3.7 <= G < 3.8
    C+ 3.6 <= G < 3.7
    C 3.1 <= G < 3.6
    C- 3.0 <= G < 3.1
    D 2.5 <= G < 3.0
    D- 2.25 <= G < 2.5
    F G < 2.25
    Waiting list
    If you are on the waiting list, you should enroll in the GauchoSpace page for the course, participate in lecture with an iClicker, and do the WebWork homework online via GauchoSpace. If you subsequently enroll in a different section than the one you were crashing, make sure that both TA's know about this so that your grades may be properly recorded. Instructions for joining the waiting list are at http://math.ucsb.edu/ugrad/waitlist.php.