Professor                    John Millson
Office                           2102
e-mail address           jjm@math.umd.edu
web page                    www.math.umd.edu/~jjm
Class location             MTH B0421
Class time                   MWF 2:00-3:00
Office hours                 Tu   11:30 - 12:30, W   1:00-2:00
Course texts               Boyce & Di Prima,  Elementary Differential Equations 7-th ed.
                                    (to be abbreviated BDP henceforth)
                                   K. Coombes et al., Differential Equations with Matlab
                                    (to be abbreviated SCHOL henceforth).
 
 
 

SYLLABUS
 
 

Chapter in BDP	Sections	Chapter in SCHOL	Problem Sets	Approx. # of lectures
2	1-7	1-6	B	4
8	1-4	7-8	C	3
3	1-8	9	D	4
6	1-4	11	E	3
7	1-6 and 8	12	F	4
9	1-5	13	F	3

MORE DETAILS

  Be sure and read the section in SCHOL, Chapter 5 on Stability of Differential Equations (pg. 55-59).
  Do not confuse the notion of a stable differential equation  with the notion of the stability of an equilibrium point   (from BDP Chapter 2) or the stability of one solution of a differential equation.

HOMEWORK : Assigned during classes, I will give homework quizzes, see the next page.
 
 

GRADING

There will be a total of 300 points for the course computed as follows.

(1)  There will be 2 in class 70 minute exams.  Each will count 50 points towards your total.  Make-up
       exams will be given  only in the case of serious illness, religious observances, family
       emergencies, or participation in a University  activity at the request of the University authorities,
       and then only when advance notice is given.

(2)  There will be 5 MATLAB assignments to be handed in.  These will count 50 points toward your
       total. I will accept only printouts of your solutions. I will not accept floppy disks or e-mailed
       assignments.  You may work together on these assignments.

(3)  There will be (approximately) 10 homework quizzes from BDP.  I will assign problems at the
       beginning of the week  which will be due the next week.  At the beginning of class on the day
       that the assignment is due I will select one of the assigned problems and you will have
       approximately  10 minutes to do it.  I will grade that problem and hand it
      back the next class.  These quizzes will count 50 points of your total.

(4)  There will be a 2-hour final (uniform over all sections) which will count 100 points.  If you need to        take the alternative final exam please notify me well before the end of the semester so that
       appropriate arrangements can be made.
 
 

ABOUT THE CURVE

Grades will be a assigned on a curve with the following modifications.  If your total, computed using
the above formula, is less than 150 you will get at best a D in the course.  If your total is 150 or more
you will get at worst a C. If your total is 275 or more you will get an A. If you total is 250 of more
you will get at worst a B.  After the F's and D's are removed I expect to give roughly 1/3 A's, 1/3 B's
and 1/3 C's.