News and Announcements

5/2/12	We will have a review session for the final exam in Ward  303 on Sunday, May 6 from 3pm to 4:30pm.
4/28/12	Information about the final exam is here.  My office hour schedule for the coming week is here.
4/22/12	The assignment sheet and due dates have been updated for the last week of classes.  The material we will cover on Monday is provided in this handout.  Thursday's lecture will cover section 6.6, following this outline.
4/8/12	Here is a link for a webpage I will use to illustrate eigenvalues in class tomorrow.
4/3/12	Three items: (1) We are skipping section 4.7.  (2)  I have posted a new assignment sheet and a new due date webpage.  (3) This transformation webpage will be used in class to illustrate the geometry of eigenvectors and difference equations.
4/1/12	I have finished grading exams.  See this webpage for information on grades, other comments on the exam, info about exam corrections, and assignments for tomorrow.
3/28/12	Here are solutions to the sample exam questions for the exam.
3/23/12	Please see this page with comments about section 4.5.
3/21/12	We will have an exam in class next Thursday (3/29/12).  Information about the exam is available here.
3/8/12	Here are solutions to the *  problems from section 2.3.  Also here are two more handouts: Unusual Vector Spaces and Analyzing Linear Dependencies.
3/5/12	Here are solutions to selected * and extra problems from section 2.2.
2/26/12	We will be considering determinants this week.  Instead of the material in the text, I will follow this Determinant Handout.   It has homework problems in it.  Note that freemat and wolfram alpha both provide a built in determinant function.  For example, if you enter det([1,2,3,3],[0,4,5,6],[0,0,8,10],[0,0,0,2]) at wolfram alpha it will compute the determinant shown at right.
2/19/12	I have finished grading exams.  See this webpage for information on grades, other comments on the exam, and an assignment to writeup exam corrections.  Don't forget that writeups from the last computer lab are due tomorrow (Monday 2/20).
2/15/12	I thought of one more good review question for our exam tomorrow.  We can talk about it at the review session tonight. Also, solutions to the sample exam questions have been posted.
2/14/12	We will have a review session for the exam in Watkins room 106 on Wednesday, February 15 from 8:10pm to 9:40pm.
2/12/12	Here are solutions to selected * and extra problems from section 1.4, section 1.5, and section 1.7.
2/10/12	1.  For those who missed the computer lab Thursday, you can complete it on your own using the following two handouts: Finding and operating a webpage app about linear transformations of the plane Instructions for the laboratory activities 2.  You can  obtain  rref's of matrices at wolframalpha.com.  For example, enter rref([1,2,3],[4,5,6],[8,10,12]) and see what happens.  Feel free to use this webpage, freemat, or any other calculator or computer operations to compute rrefs in homework from now on. 3.  Assignments for sections 1.7 and beyond are provided on the 2nd Assignment Sheet.  I have modified the assignments from sections 1.7, 1.8, and 1.9.  For any of these assignments that you have not already done, please use the newly posted versions.  You should complete these assignments in preparing for the exam. 4.  We will have an exam in class next Thursday (2/16/12).  Information about the exam is available here.  It includes information about planned class activities Monday, a possible review session Wed evening, and a sample exam.
2/8/12	Here are solutions to selected * and extra problems from section 1.3.
2/5/12	We will be meeting in the SPA Computer Lab on Thursday, 2/9.  For the lab period we will be using the following webpage:         http://mathcs.holycross.edu/~spl/java/Transform/index.html   .  If for some reason that is inaccessible during our lab period, the following website will be used as a back-up:  http://www.math.smith.edu/~patela/Applets/transf_index.html    .
2/5/12	Here are solutions to selected * and extra problems from section 1.2.
1/31/12	Here are solutions to selected * and extra problems from section 1.1.
1/20/12	Reminder: Class will meet in the SPA computer lab on Monday.  That is in the sub-terrace level (2 below ground level) in Ward.  You can access that level from the stairwell in the corner of Ward that is furthest from the Mary Graydon Center.  In class yesterday I highlighted some of the main ideas from sections 1.1 and 1.2.  In the computer lab you will get ac chance to work with some of those ideas using computers.  In preparation, it is important that you understand how to change a system of linear equations into a matrix form (and what is meant by an augmented matrix), know the three kinds of row operations, and how those operations are used to bring an augmented matrix to a simplified form.  In general terms the idea is to try to get 1's in a diagonal line from upper left to lower right, and zeros everywhere else, but that is not always possible.  There is a modified version of this diagonal pattern that IS always possible.  That is referred to as Reduced Row Echelon Form (RREF), and it is defined on the first page of section 1.2 (there are 5 conditions).  In the lab you will be asked to use row operations to put a matrix into RREF, so be sure you know what that means before class. No homework problems will be collected or discussed on Monday.  You should read carefully up to the middle of page 20 and familiarize yourself with the terminology and concepts.  The assigned problems for section 1.1 will be due for discussion Thursday and collection the following Monday (1/30).  Homework problems from 1.2 and 1.3 will be due for discussion on Monday 1/30 also.
1/12/12	Please read the following handouts:  Course Info (Overview),   Course Info (Details),   Semester Plan,   Portfolio Q&A,   and Computer Activities and Tools.  Math majors, minors, potential majors and minors, and students planning to take advanced math courses (500 level) should also read  Note for Math Majors, Minors, and others.   Also, please print out a copy of this survey, fill it out, and then bring it to class. For information about the text for the course, or if you will not have a copy at the start of classes, please read this page.