Mathemapundit

Week #8

2012-03-05T12:15:00.002-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #8 have been posted, and now linked from the schedule page, too. Since the assignment was not posted until now, I've removed one of the problems. You can find the assignment by following the link from the Schedule page.

21-260: Exam Date Changes

2012-03-01T14:17:00.004-05:00

As I announced in class yesterday, I've had to move the second and third mid-term exams from their originally scheduled dates. The second mid-term, instead of being the Wednesday after spring break, will be the Friday after spring break, March 23. The third exam, instead of the Monday before spring carnival, will be the Friday after spring carnival, April 27.

I think the new dates will be generally preferable to the original dates, but in case they are not, let me tell you that the alternative would have been to give the exams on the scheduled days at 7:30 in the morning.

21-270: Week #7

2012-02-25T14:41:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #7 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-260: Exam #1

2012-02-23T10:14:00.002-05:00

I returned Exam #1 during class yesterday. If you didn't get yours, you can pick it up from your TA during recitation today. The grade cutoffs for the exam are - A:85, B:75, C:65, D:50. These cutoffs are important for two reasons. First, it gives you an idea where you stand, and second, I use them to compute grade cutoffs for your cumulative averages.

Since the grade cutoffs for this exam are the same as for the homework assignments, the grade cutoffs for cumulative averages are the same, too - A:85, B:75, C:65, D:50. I compute the grade cutoffs for cumulative averages by averaging the grade cutoffs the same way I average your grades (i.e. the A cutoff for cumulative averages is the average of the A cutoffs for each assignment).

An important point to note is that, when computing your averages, the difference between, say, an 84 and 85 is only a 1% difference, not a whole letter-grade difference.

I will make your exam grades and cumulative averages available on the blackboard site.

21-260: EXCEL groups

2012-02-09T10:54:00.001-05:00

My name is Sharanya Venkat and I will be your EXCEL Leader for
Differential Equations this year. EXCEL is a collaborative learning
program through Academic Development that focuses on providing extra
practice to students in groups of 5-6 people especially in Math and
Science courses. We will be going over key course concepts and doing
practice problems based on what you cover in lecture and your
homeworks.

EXCEL groups meet once a week for one hour, at a time that fits in
with your availability. Requests to join a study group can be made
through the Academic Development Office in Suite B5, Cyert Hall.

I hope to see you soon and good luck with the course!

21-260: Exam #1 Review

2012-02-08T17:31:00.001-05:00

I've posted a review page for Exam #1. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

Academic Development Workshop.

2012-02-07T11:07:00.002-05:00

It's kind of short notice, but here is an announcement from Academic Development:

It's a new semester, are you ...

Facing new challenges and opportunities?
Worried that you’ll fall into the same habits that hurt you last semester?
Determined to have a more successful spring term?

If any of these apply to you then you could benefit from registering for one of the following dates of the "Getting Off on the Right Foot Workshop":

Tuesday, Feb. 7
4:30-6:00pm
Cyert B6-A

Register now...

21-260: Changes to Office Hours

2012-02-06T14:53:00.003-05:00

I wanted to let you know about some updates to the schedule of office hours. Zhe Cheng has changed his hours to Tuesdays 2:30-4:30pm, Thursdays 3:30-4:30pm. Jacob Davis has moved his Tuesday office hour to Wednesday 7:00-8:00pm; his Thursday hours remain the same at 6:00-8:00pm.

I announced that my office hours would be Tuesday from 3:15-5:15pm, except on the first Tuesday of each month when a conflict would force me to move them later, to 6:30-8:00pm. This week only, as a result of another conflict, I'll have to move my office hours to Thursday, 2:00-4:00. Sorry for the confusion.

21-260: Week #4

2012-02-03T16:04:00.003-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #4 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

For this week's assignment, you may wish to use dfield to produce some of the slope fields (direction fields). If you are familiar with some other program for doing this, you may use that instead. (I know Maple has a facility for producing these diagrams.)

Morgan Stanley Assesses Prospects for US and Europe

2012-01-31T10:47:00.004-05:00

Via Zero Hedge.

21-260: Office Hours

2012-01-31T10:36:00.002-05:00

I announced my office hours at the end of class yesterday, but it may be that not everyone noticed. They will be Tuesdays from 3:15-5:15pm. They are also posted on the information page of the website, along with (most of) the TA's office hours.

21-260: Week #3

2012-01-29T22:14:00.002-05:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #3 has been posted. I haven't been able to get the WileyPlus assignment "assigned" from home, for some reason, so you won't be able to begin that until tomorrow. Also, there is still one problem for the written assignment that I need to write up.

21-260: Week #2

2012-01-22T21:44:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #2 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

Mathematics and Pasta

2012-01-19T14:52:00.001-05:00

If you've ever been as frustrated as I've been by your inability to describe precisely the shape of your pasta, you will find this interesting.

Welcome to 21-260 Differential Equations

2012-01-18T09:51:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Differential Equations for the Spring 2012 semester. I'll post information and announcements related to the course here, along with anything else I think you may find interesting.

21-122: Week #15

2011-12-02T14:54:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #15 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-122: Week #14

2011-11-23T18:45:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #14 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page. I hope that doesn't get in the way of a Happy Thanksgiving.

12-122: Week #12

2011-11-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #12 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-122: Week #11

2011-11-04T16:56:00.002-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #11 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-122: Office Hours, November 1

2011-11-01T10:57:00.002-04:00

Today I will have to attend a Faculty Senate Meeting (it's the first Tuesday of the month) during my regular office hours. Also, its a Holy Day of Obligation, so I'm going to have to move my office hours later than usual. I'll be available from 7:30-8:30pm in my office, WEH 6214.

21-122: Week #10

2011-10-31T13:05:00.003-04:00

The reading and homework assignments fr Week #10 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule Page.

21-122: Week #9 Homework Due today

2011-10-26T12:37:00.002-04:00

There is, I guess, a bit of confusion about the deadline for this week's homework assignment. It is due today. There is a misprint in one place on the assignment page, that seems to indicate it can be turned in during tomorrow's recitation. As I announced in class on Monday, and last Wednesday, and the Monday before that, the assignment is due today.

21-122: Mid-Semester Grades

2011-10-24T12:45:00.003-04:00

I've finished assigning mid-semester grades, and I wanted to take a moment to describe exactly how that was done. As you know, your midterm exam average accounts for 60% of your grade, and your homework average for 15%. I've computed a numerical average for each of you using the following formula:

Avg = ( .60*[Exam #1 Grade] + .15*[Homework Average] )/(.75)

So your exam score counts for (60/75)ths of your grade, and your homework average counts for (15/75)ths. Then I computed grade cutoffs for these averages, by averaging the grade cutoffs the same way I computed your averages, i.e.

X-cutoff = ( .60*[Exam #1 X-cutoff] + .15*[Homework Average X-cutoff] )/(.75)

where X may be A, B, C or D. To assign +/- grades, the B and C ranges were divided into thirds, and the A and D ranges were divided in half. (There is no A+ and no D- grade.)

One final comment: As I was entering the final grades this afternoon, I realized I had made an error when calculating grades yesterday that systematically raised peoples averages a bit. I've corrected for this, and so some of you who saw your grade yesterday may notice it has gone down one increment (in a small number of cases more). I apologize for this apparent downgrade, but I want to make sure your grade represents where you really stand in the course.

21-122: Week #9

2011-10-19T12:31:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #9 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-122: Dfield

2011-10-05T12:15:00.002-04:00

Today in class, I introduced dfield, and online Java applet that will draw direction fields, and plot the graphs of solutions (approximately, it uses numerical techniques; it doesn't solve the differential equations). A google search also turns up an instructional YouTube video about dfield. You may want to take a look at that, too.

21-122: Final Exam

2011-10-05T12:09:00.003-04:00

The final exam has been scheduled; it's not particularly good news. Our exam is scheduled for Tuesday, December 20, from 8:30-11:30am. You should check the schedule to see if you have any conflicts among your exams. If you have three exams starting within 25 hours, your are also entitled to some relief. I will not offer the exam at an earlier time, but I can schedule a makeup exam later in the day if necessary to resolve conflicts.

21-122: Week #6

2011-09-30T14:16:00.002-04:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #6 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-122: Some more resources

2011-09-29T14:07:00.002-04:00

One of our TA's, Brian Kell, has put up a web page with some helpful information for his students. I thought you all might benefit from it.

21-122: Week #4

2011-09-16T13:27:00.003-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #4 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

Freshman Survival Workshop by Academic Development

2011-09-12T13:23:00.000-04:00

An Academic and Study Skills Workshop
Come learn about time management, organization, and study skillsstrategies that will help to make your college experience a success!

When:
Two Options Available-
Tuesday, September 13th - 4:30pm to 6pm
OR
Monday, September 26th - 4:30pm to 6pm
Where:
Academic Development Classrooms B6-A and B6-B
(Bottom Floor of Cyert Hall)

Sign up today!

21-122: Week #3

2011-09-09T14:20:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #3 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

Study Break

2011-09-08T10:49:00.001-04:00

Take a few minutes to recharge your batteries by watching this. I guess it's more appropriate for 21-120, but it's close enough...

Walk-In Tutoring

2011-09-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

Academic Development provides walk-in tutoring for 21-122 and other courses at the following places and timesMorewood E-Tower Fifth Floor Study Lounge - Monday and Wednesday evenings from 8:30-11:00 p.m.Afternoon Tutoring in Cyert B6A - Mondays from 4:30-6:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 4:30-6:30 p.m.Evening Tutoring in the Mudge Reading Room and Donner Reading Room - Sunday thru Wednesday evenings from 8:30-11:00 p.m.

21-122: Office hours for Tuesday

2011-09-05T19:36:00.000-04:00

I will unfortunately will not be able to make my regularly scheduled office hours this Tuesday. This will actually happen on the first Tuesday of each month. Tomorrow I will hold my office hours from 6:30-7:30pm in the usual place, WEH 6214.

21-122: Week #2

2011-09-04T14:33:00.001-04:00

The assignment for Week #2 has been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page of the course website.

Welcome to 21-122

2011-08-25T13:19:00.001-04:00

Welcome to 21-122 Integration, Differential Equations and Approximation. I'll use this blog to make announcements, and post information relevant to the course.

From Academic Development

2011-03-29T10:56:00.002-04:00

Don't get caught off guard! Come to this workshop and learn how to:
* Create a study plan for finals

* Optimize your prep time

* Know how and what to study

* Maximize exam scores

Date: Thursday, April 7. Time: 5:30-7 pm. Place: Cyert Hall B6-B

Register online at http://www.cmu.edu/acadev/

Or contact us for more information.

This is a FREE service brought to you by The Learning Zone, Academic Development, Cyert Hall Suite B5<. 412-268-6878. acad-dev@andrew.cmu.edu. http://www.cmu.edu/acadev

21-270: Week #8

2011-02-25T22:39:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #8 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-270: Week #6

2011-02-11T21:49:00.001-05:00

The Reading and Homework assignments for Week #6 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-270: Exam #1

2011-02-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

The Exam #1 review is now posted *and* linked from the schedule page.

21-270: No Office Hours Today

2011-01-25T09:56:00.003-05:00

I've had to cancel my office hours today. I need to be home while my heat pump is getting a new compressor installed. I apologize for the short notice, but you should be well served by the TA's during their office hours. Alexandra Klimova from 12-1 in WEH 6213, Peter Krengel from 1-2 in WEH 7215 and Jason Kam from 2-4 in WEH 7215. I'll see you all tomorrow in class.

21-270: Week #3

2011-01-21T15:44:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #3 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-270: Week #2

2011-01-13T15:27:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #2 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-270: Welcome to Introduction to Mathematical Finance

2011-01-10T12:43:00.003-05:00

Welcome to 21-270 Introduction to Mathematical Finance. This blog will be used for announcements and information related to the course. You will find your homework assignments on the Schedule Page of the Course Website. There is also a Blackboard site for the course, which will be used to distribute the text and solutions to assignments, and also to allow you access to your recorded grades.

During the semester, we will investigate the pricing of derivative securities (derivatives) and of fixed income securities (bonds). We will focus on some apparently simplistic models of financial markets. These models, though, illustrate many of the concepts that are necessary to develop and understand more complicated models in 21-370 Discrete Time Finance and 21-420 Continuous Time Finance. Moreover, some of the models we will consider play a direct role in building the models used in Discrete Time Finance.

21-370: Final Statistics

2010-12-20T14:37:00.002-05:00

Here are the final Statistics for the semester. You can see grade cutoffs for each exam and for cumulative averages. It also shows grade distrubutions for each of the exams.

21-260: Final Statistics

2010-12-20T14:34:00.002-05:00

Here are the final Statistics for the semester. You can see grade cutoffs for each exam and for cumulative averages. It also shows grade distrubutions for each of the exams.

21-370: Stock price for HW#9

2010-10-19T10:01:00.002-04:00

As I announced in class, the initial stock price for the third homework problem is S₀=8. I've updated the assignment to reflect this.

UPDATE: I've also made a correction to problem 1. X_n+1(H)=g_n(X_n) and X_n+1(T)=h_n(X_n).

21-370: Homework - Wek #9

2010-10-17T12:34:00.002-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #9 have been posted. The reading is from a set of notes written by Profs. Hrusa and Kramkov. I've posted a pdf file of the notes. The homework assignment is also a downloadable pdf. Since I've posted this late this week, I'll give you until Friday to complete the assignment this week. You can follow the links from the Schedule page.

21-260: Week #6

2010-09-27T13:30:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #6 have been posted. You can follow the link from the schedule page.

21-370: Week #5

2010-09-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #5 have been posted.

21-260: Week #4

2010-09-10T22:13:00.000-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #4 have been posted. Follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-370: Homework - Week#4

2010-09-10T21:56:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #4 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-260: Pay No Attention to the Hint for Problem 2.1.23b

2010-09-07T10:37:00.002-04:00

The WileyPLUS "Hint" for this problem is incorrect. The "transition from one type of behavior to another" is this: for some initial conditions, the solutions increase without bound as t approaches infinity; for other initial conditions, the solutions decrease without bound. You want to find the initial condition y(0)=a_0 that identifies the solution that separates these two types of behavior. The solution doesn't involve finding derivatives and setting them equal to zero.

21-260: Dfield and Wiley Support

2010-08-30T14:36:00.002-04:00

First, the dfield applet I used in class today is available from this site.

Second, you can contact WileyPLUS customer support to submit a question or use their live chat feature. This should help you get the help you need in a more timely fashion.

21-260: Week #2

2010-08-27T15:07:00.002-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #2 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-370: Week #2

2010-08-26T13:25:00.002-04:00

The reading assignment for Week #1 and the reading and homework assignments for Week #2 are now posted. You can follow the links from the Schedule page.

21-370: The Textbook is Available

2010-08-26T12:32:00.002-04:00

I've heard reports that the textbook, Stochastic Calculus for Finance I: The Binomial Asset Pricing Model by Steven E. Shreve, is now in stock at the bookstore.

Nature By Numbers

2010-08-24T21:07:00.002-04:00

Boing Boing highlights this
Dreamlike animation illustrating Fibonacci sequence, Golden Ratio, and more.

Nash Distinguished Lecture Series

2010-08-24T14:18:00.003-04:00

The Duality of Money - Walter Schachermayer

Noted mathematician Walter Schachermayer will give this year's Nash Lecture, titled "The Duality of Money." According to Schachermayer, the dual relationship between goods and their prices is a classical idea in economics. In his lecture, he will discuss current research on duality in modern and complex financial markets. Schachermayer is best known for combining functional analysis and stochastic analysis in the field of financial mathematics. He, with fellow mathematician Freddy Delbaen, proved the Fundamental Theorem of Asset Pricing in its general form. This theorem, first conjectured by economists in the 1970s, explains the relationship between the absence of arbitrage in financial markets and the existence of a probability measure that can be used to price derivative securities. Later, Schachermayer and Carnegie Mellon Professor Dmitry Kramkov established the definitive methodology for using duality to solve the problem of optimal investment in incomplete markets.

The talk will be at 4:30pm on Tuesday, September 7, in the Rashid Auditorium in the Hillman Center.

21-260: Fall 2010

2010-08-20T16:59:00.003-04:00

Welcome to 21-260 for the Fall 2010 semester. I'll use this blog as a means to distribute information and notifications for the class. More information can be found on the 21-260 Website. This site has information about lectures, recitations, schedules and more. There is also a Blackboard site for the course. I'll mainly use Blackboard to post grades and distribute solutions. You will also be using the WileyPLUS site to complete some required assignments.

21-241: Final Wrap-Up

2010-05-18T10:48:00.002-04:00

Well, we have reached the end of the semester. I've turned in the final grades, and you can all see your final exam grades on Blackboard. I think I've got the Blackboard "Cumulative Average" computing everything correctly (I use a separate spreadsheet to calculate and assign grades). (A few students have discussed issues with some of their homework assignments this semester. I believe I've resolved those issues, but have not changed the Blackboard grades to reflect that.)

The grade cutoffs for the final exam were:

A cutoff - 80
B cutoff - 70
C cutoff - 60
D cutoff - 40

and the grade cutoffs for cumulative averages were:

A cutoff - 82.37
B cutoff - 69.47
C cutoff - 56.58
D cutoff - 40.26

I enjoyed working with you all this semester, and I hope you have a great summer.

21-241: More solutions

2010-05-06T20:52:00.002-04:00

I've posted the solutions to the review problems from section 6.3 on the Blackboard site - on the Assignments page with the other solutions.

I will be available in my office tomorrow (Friday) between 11:30 and 1:00 to field any last minute questions, are return any homework that anyone would like to pick up.

21-241: Solutions

2010-05-04T10:51:00.002-04:00

I've posted some more solutions on the Blackboard site. Solutions to Exam #2, the makeup for Exam #2 and for HW#15 are now available from the Assignments section of the Blackboard site.

21-241: Grade Cutoffs

2010-05-03T14:00:00.003-04:00

I've heard from a few of you asking how to interpret your "Cumulative Average" from the Blackboard gradebook. As you are likely aware, the grade cutoffs for your final averages will depend on the grade cutoffs for each assignment. I average these cutoffs (the same way I compute your averages) to get the cutoffs for final averages.

To interpret your "cumulative average" you should use the following cutoffs, based on the mid-terms and homework to date.

A cutoff - 83.21
B cutoff - 69.29
C cutoff - 55.36
D cutoff - 40.36

The final cutoffs will depend on the grade cutoffs for the final exam. The final cutoffs may be above or below these cutoffs, but probably not by too much.

21-241: Final Exam

2010-05-01T13:20:00.002-04:00

I've posted the review page for the final exam. The final will be Friday, May 7 at 5:30pm in UC McConomy.

I'll make solutions available for the review problems from sections 5.6 and 6.3, as these topics were not covered on a regular homework assignment.

21-241: Exams and Grades

2010-04-30T15:06:00.002-04:00

I returned Exam #2 during class today. As you know, there was a relatively large number of students who took an alternate exam. The average grades on the two exams were significantly different (though the standard deviations were roughly the same). In order to treat all students as fairly as possible, I've scaled up the grades on the alternate exam. If you took the (pink) exam on Friday morning, the grade recorded on Blackboard will be 18 points above the grade on your exam.

I've also created a column on the Blackboard gradebook called Cumulative Average. This is your average so far in the course (including the 5% of your graded given by the higher of your two mid-term grades).

21-241: Office Hours on 4/27

2010-04-26T11:11:00.000-04:00

My office hours on Tuesday, April 27 will be from 1:30-3:15pm, rather than the usual 2-4.

21-241: Week #15

2010-04-22T22:31:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #15 have been posted.

Allan Metzler Speaks

2010-04-21T12:01:00.002-04:00

Allan Meltzer, University Professor of Political Economy at the Tepper School of Business, will talk about some of the lessons about Federal Reserve policy from his 2 volume study of Federal Reserve history. He will use the lessons to discuss reasons for the credit and economic crisis and to discuss reform proposals now under discussion in the Congress.

The talk is on Thursday, April 22 at 4:30 PM in PH 100.

21-241: Exam #2

2010-04-16T13:10:00.002-04:00

Many of you have mentioned a conflict with a Physics exam at 8:00 next Wednesday. Others of you may have three exam on Wednesday, April 21. For those of you with these legitimate concerns, there will be a makeup exam on Friday, April 23. This exam will also be at 7:30am and will be in DH A310.

The Wednesday Exam will be in DH 2315, rather than DH 2210 as originally announced.

21-241: Exam #2 Review...

2010-04-15T11:14:00.001-04:00

...has been posted.

21-241: Week #13

2010-04-08T22:24:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #13 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-241: Homework Solutions

2010-04-07T15:01:00.001-04:00

I've posted solutions the the recent homeworks on the Blackboard site. Solutions are now available for everything through HW#11.

XKCD

2010-04-06T16:06:00.000-04:00

...is sometimes funny. And sometimes it is just way cool.

21-241: Week #12

2010-04-01T14:12:00.001-04:00

The reqading and homework assignments for Week #12 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

XKCD

2010-03-30T16:01:00.000-04:00

...joins the Tautology Club.

21-241: Week #11

2010-03-25T14:02:00.001-04:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #11 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

XKCD

2010-03-23T15:58:00.000-04:00

...explores the limits of logical deduction.

21-241 Week #10

2010-03-19T16:25:00.003-04:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #10 has been posted. There are two "homemade" problems and five from the text.

UPDATE: The homework assignment for Week #10 will be due on Wednesday, as usual, not Friday, like last week. The assignment page was incorrect, but it is fixed now.

XKCD

2010-03-16T15:54:00.001-04:00

An interesting description of the Collatz Conjecture.

21-241: Week #9

2010-03-08T10:33:00.003-05:00

I didn't get the assignment for Week #9 posted until today, so rather than the normal Wednesday deadline, the assignment will be due on Friday, March 19, That will give you a little more time to work on it.

UPDATE: Problem 3.3.35 and 3.3.36 refer to "the same four points." They mean the points in problems 3.3.32 and 3.3.33, i.e. the points (t,b) in {(0,0), (1,8), (3,8), (4,20)}. Sorry for the confusion.

Pittsburgh Snowstorm

2010-03-02T12:14:00.003-05:00

I just ran across this movie filmed after our big snowstorm in early February. It's got pretty good production values, and is entertaining, if you like that sort of thing.

21-241: Final Exam

2010-03-01T14:25:00.002-05:00

Our Final Exam will be given on Friday, May 7, from 5:30-8:30pm. Please make sure that your travel plans do not require you to leave campus before the end of the exam. No student will be permitted to take the final exam early.

21-241: Exam #1

2010-03-01T14:16:00.006-05:00

I returned the exams in class today. The grade cutoffs for Exam #1 were as follows:

A: >80

B: 65-79

C: 50-64

D: 35-49

Here are a wide range of statistics for the course so far. Solutions to the exam are available in the Assignments section of the Blackboard site.

21-241: Cumulative Average Comutation

2010-02-24T19:19:00.002-05:00

I've been asked to post the modified method for computing your final grades. Here it is:

15% Homework Average

50% Mid-term Exam Average

25% Final Exam

5% Higher of two Mid-term Exams

5% Higher of Mid-term Average and Final Exam

21-241: Week #6

2010-02-12T18:18:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignment for Week #6 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule Page.

Out of Office on Tuesday

2010-02-08T21:09:00.002-05:00

With the canceling of classes on Tuesday, February 9, I am also canceling my office hours that day. Maybe they can get things cleared up by Wednesday...

UPDATE: There will be no "recitation" this evening either.

21-241: Exam #1 Review Session

2010-02-07T15:03:00.001-05:00

The review session for Exam #1 will be this evening, from 4:00 to 5:30 in PH 100. See you there.

21-241: Homework #2 Solutions

2010-01-29T12:30:00.000-05:00

The solutions to Homework #2 are now available on the Blackboard site.

21-241: Week #4

2010-01-28T18:57:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #4 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-241: Homework #1 Solutions

2010-01-27T12:30:00.001-05:00

The solutions to Homework #1 are now available on the Blackboard site.

21-241: Week #3

2010-01-21T13:01:00.001-05:00

The reading and homework assignments for Week #3 have been posted. You can follow the link from the Schedule page.

21-241: Week #2

2010-01-15T14:56:00.001-05:00

The assignment for Week #2 has been posted. Note that the assignment is due on Wednesday, January 20.

21-241: Using Tecnology

2010-01-14T10:37:00.003-05:00

I've been asked about the use of technology (graphing calculators, computer algebra systems) on your homework assignments. I don't place any restrictions on the use of these tools. As you use them, however, you need to bear in mind a few things:

The goal of the course (and homework assignments) is for you to learn techniques, not "get answers." If a question requires you to solve some system of equations, using Maple's 'solve' command will not get you any credit. You can, however, use commands that make Maple perform the various operations, just as if you were doing them on paper.

As you work on your assignments, bear in mind that you will not have access to a calculator on the exams. Don't come to rely too heavily on technological approaches.

At the same time, some homework problems may assume that you do have access to a calculator. If a problem requires you do divide 12.983 into 137.98372423, don't worry about how you would do that on the exams. Just get out your calculator and do it.

21-241: Office Hours

2010-01-14T10:12:00.002-05:00

My office hours this semester will be on Tuesdays, from 2:00-4:00pm, in WEH 6214. Additionally, our TA, Timothy Naumovitz will hold several office hours: Mondays from 6:30-7:30 and Thursdays from 10:30-11:30, both in WEH 6215. He will also hold a "recitation-like" homework review session on Tuesday evenings, 9:00-10:00pm, in a room yet to be determined.

As announced in class, I'll be holding office hours on Thursday this week starting at 2:00. I said I'd be here until four, but I'll actually need to leave a little earlier than that - say 3:45.

21-241: Welcome to Matrix Algebra

2010-01-11T14:27:00.002-05:00

Welcome to 21-241 Matrix Algebra. Most information about the course can be found on the Course Website. There is also a Blackboard site for the course, which will be used mainly to record homework grades and provide solutions to exercises and exams.

The homework assignment for Week #1 is now available. It is due on Friday, either before or after class, or in your TA's mailbox before 3:20.

21-260: Final Wrap Up

2009-12-21T16:12:00.003-05:00

Well... All the exams have been graded, and final grades have been recorded. I've posted your final averages on the blackboard site. In most cases Blackboard seems to calculate the same average I do. (Blackboard sometimes seem to insist on doing it's own thing.) One exception is for those of you who have turned in a late written homework assignment. The Blackboard average does not account for any penalties which may apply.

You can see the grade cutoffs for the final exam, as well as for your final averages, on this page of statistics for the course.

21-260: Exam #3 Solutions

2009-12-10T09:50:00.002-05:00

The Blackboard link for the Exam #3 solutions now points to the correct file. Sorry for the mistake earlier.

Office Hours for finals week

2009-12-07T17:33:00.002-05:00

My office hours this week will be in Wean Hall 6201 or a nearby comfortable location at

Tuesday 6:00 - 7:00 pm
Wednesday 12:30 - 1:30 pm, 6:00 - 7:00 pm
Thursday 11:30am - 1:00pm

unfortunately I have a couple of finals of my own on Tuesday, so I won't be able to meet with people during the morning. I may, possibly, perhaps, have the most recent homework graded by Tuesday evening. It will definitely be done by my office hours on Wednesday.

Chris

21-260: Final Exam

2009-12-04T16:46:00.003-05:00

I've posted a Review Page for the final exam. The Final Exam is cumulative. The linked review page only covers the material since Exam #3. You should review the material on the review pages for Exam #1, Exam #2 and Exam #3 to ensure you are prepared for the Final Exam.

UPDATE: You can ignore problems #9 and #11b on the "Old Exam Problems" from the Final Exam Review Page. The Heat Equation will not be covered.