Course Information

Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday; 1:30 pm -- 3:05 pm, Jack Baskin Auditorium 101

Instructor:  Abhishek Halder (ahalder@ucsc.edu)

Teaching Assistants (TAs): Bethany Johnson (bejajohn@ucsc.edu), and Catherine Brennan (cbrenna1@ucsc.edu)

Office hours: 

Bethany Johnson, Friday, 11 AM - 1 PM, Baskin Engineering 312C/D

Catherine Brennan, Tuesday, 8 AM -- 10 AM, Baskin Engineering 312C/D

Abhishek Halder, Tuesday, 3:30 PM -- 5:30 PM, Baskin Engineering 365B

Learning Support Services (LSS) Small Group Tutoring (SGT): 

       Tutor: Martin Contreras (mcontr15@ucsc.edu)

       SGT Sessions for this course: Each student can sign up for upto 2 sessions per week

       Mon 9:15 AM-10:15 AM, 7:15 PM-8:15 PM, Tues 7:30 PM-8:30 PM, Wed 2:45 PM-3:45 PM, Fri 10:45 AM-11:45 AM

Information on SGT Program

Online Sign up System Slug Success

About SGT: SGT supports students academically to advance educational equity by designing inclusive learning environments outside of the classroom. In SGT, you can expect the Tutor to facilitate cooperative group activities designed to have students work together on the course content and develop study skills for the course. SGT is offered at least three times each week for the entire quarter. The Tutor is an undergraduate student who took the class, did well, and is trained to facilitate group sessions to focus on students’ needs to succeed in the course. SGT is open to all students enrolled in the class and they must sign up on our online system: Slug Success. When students sign up for SGT, they are commiting to attend every week.  Students can begin signing up for tutoring on Friday April 5th online on Slug Success and tutoring will begin Monday, April 8th. Sign ups will close week 8 of the quarter.  Bring your books, lecture notes, questions, and be open to working collaboratively with your peers.

 

Sections

There are five mandatory computer lab/discussion sections led by the TAs. Students are required to attend one of these five weekly sections. Lab/discussion sections will be used to held quizzes (one every week), learn MATLAB programming for the course (optional), review lectures, and solve practice problems.

Section 01A: Tuesday: 10:30 AM -- 12 Noon, Baskin Engineering 109, Catherine Brennan

Section 01B: Wednesday: 6:30 PM -- 8:00 PM, Baskin Engineering 109, Bethany Johnson

Section 01C: Thursday: 8:00 PM -- 9:30 PM, Baskin Engineering 109, Bethany Johnson

Section 01D: Thursday: 10:30 AM -- 12 Noon, Baskin Engineering 109, Catherine Brennan

Section 01E: Friday: 5:00 PM -- 6:30 PM, Baskin Engineering 109, Bethany Johnson

No lab in the first week.

 

Textbook

William Boyce and Ricard DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations. Wiley, 10th edition.

 

Grading Policy  

Rubric: Quizzes: 15%,       Homeworks: 20%,       Mid-term exam: 30%,       Final exam: 35%

Quizzes: Held weekly in the lab section. No make-up quizzes if you miss. Graded quizzes will be returned to you in the lab section.

Homeworks: Hard copy submission due weekly in the classroom right before the class starts. Late homework is NEVER accepted. Graded homeworks will be returned to you in the lab section. Please clearly print your name, lab section number, and student ID on the first page of your homework.

Exams: Both Mid-term and Final exams will be held in-class. These exams are closed-book, closed-notes, closed-electronic devices. No calculator allowed. No cheat sheets.

Passing grade: C or above.

Academic honesty (zero-cheating policy): Any form of cheating or dishonest academic activities (using notes, books, smartphones, tablet PCs, or other electronic devices; copying from someone else, etc.) during quizzes or exams will not be tolerated and such students will receive a failing grade. Any students with such activities, if caught by the instructor, TAs or classmates, will be reported to the department and her/his college provost.

 

Tentative schedule

  • Week 1: Introduction and basic mathematical models involving ODEs, First order linear ODEs, and integrating factor method
  • Week 2: Nonlinear separable equations, existence, and uniqueness of solutions 
  • Week 3: Homogeneous second order linear ODEs. Existence and Uniqueness, Principle of Superposition, Wronskian, fundamental Solutions
  • Week 4: Homogeneous linear ODEs with constant coefficients, nonhomogeneous linear ODEs, method of variation of parameters
  • Week 5: Method of undetermined coefficients, mechanical examples of second-order linear ODEs, high order linear equations
  • Mid-term Exam in-class (1:30 PM - 3:05 PM) on Tuesday, May 07, 2018
  • Week 6: Higher order linear equations
  • Week 7: Laplace transforms and initial value problems, discontinuous forcing functions, and review. Review of linear algebra
  • Week 8: Systems of first order linear ODEs. Homogeneous cases with constant coefficients: distinct real eigenvalues and complex eigenvalues
  • Week 9: Homogeneous cases with constant coefficients repeated eigenvalues
  • Week 10: Nonhomogeneous systems of first order linear ODEs, engineering applications
  • Final Exam at  Baskin 101 (lecture room) on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, time: 12 noon - 3 PM

 

Students With Disabilities

UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating an academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you are a student with a disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access in this course, please submit your Accommodation Authorization Letter from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me privately during my office hours or by appointment, preferably within the first two weeks of the quarter. At this time, I would also like us to discuss ways we can ensure your full participation in the course. I encourage all students who may benefit from learning more about DRC services to contact DRC by phone at 831-459-2089, or by email at drc@ucsc.edu.