Course Description:  Systems of linear equations, Gauss-Jordan elimination, linear programming, matrices, determinants, vector spaces, linear transformations, and eigenvectors.

Course Goals: The student-learning goals of Math 327 include learning to work with matrices, including using them to solve systems of linear equations and determinants, use the method of linear programming, and learn about vector spaces, linear transformations, and eigenvectors and eigenvalues.  Math 327 is a prerequisite for most higher-level mathematics classes required for a mathematics major, regardless of track.  It includes two types of problems:  Either solving some kind of problem using linear algebra techniques, similar to what most students expect from previous mathematics courses, and proving more general results, which serves as an introduction to the more abstract mathematics that students will see in upper level courses such as Math 361 Intermediate Analysis or Math 476 Abstract Algebra. 

Attendance:  For a known absence due to military duty, jury duty, or other legal requirement, you must give me notice as soon as feasible and prior to the absence if it will require missing an exam.  If you don't miss an exam, I don't need to know why you were gone unless you wish to tell me.  Also, documentation will be required for a makeup exam to be graded.  For an absence due to an official university activity, you must give me written notice at least two weeks prior to the absence, as per university policy, for a makeup exam.  I feel it is necessary to point out that relatively few faculty members or coaches remember to provide this notice in that time frame, but it is up to you to remind them, since insufficient notice will be your problem, not theirs.  For an absence due to personal reasons such as illness or family emergencies, you should notify me as soon as feasible, before the absence in most cases.  In order for a makeup exam to be graded, written documentation of the reason for the absence will be required.  Example are:  a note from the doctor saying you were seen (it does not have to say what you were seen for), a copy of the police report for a minor car accident, funeral program or obituary, etc..  In the case of presentations at the Student Academic Conference, we will not hold class that day.  However, I will expect all students to attend the conference.

Absences from exams due to family vacations, reunions, weddings, etc., are not excused absences unless you inform me of them by Tuesday, January 16, 2007.  I expect you to schedule such events around your class schedules if they come up during the session, especially since the exam dates are already set.

Academic Honesty: You are expected to do your own work.  You may certainly work with others and get help on homework assignments, but the work you submit should be your own work.  Note that during exams you will not be allowed to get help from others.  Make sure that you learn the material while you do the homework - that is the purpose of the assignments.  Then during the exam you can demonstrate your knowledge - that is the purpose of the exams.  Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in any college course (or any course at any level).  See the MSUM Academic Honesty policy for more information and possible consequences of cheating.

Special Accommodations: Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutges, Coordinator of Disability Services at 477-5859 (voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY), CMU 222 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

Course Requirements:  You are expected to complete the suggested daily homework, complete and submit the collected homework, and take and pass all the exams on the scheduled date.

Evaluations Standards: Your course grade will include homework and exam grades.  For more details, see the grade page.

Course Outline:  See the course schedule.

Calculators:  I will allow calculators, but will occasionally forbid graphing calculators from a particular test (I will give advance notice).

General Comments:  For all graded work in this class, you must show work for credit and give exact answers.  In general, if you have to write it down, you have to show it to me.  My rule of thumb when grading is either whether I could do a similar calculation in my head and not make a mistake or if the point of the problem is being met (i.e., if the point of the problem is to show a known result, you have to show it in some detail).  If I feel that you needed to show more work, I will indicate it.  I want to emphasize that showing work is a lesson you would much rather learn on the labs than on the exams.  My criteria is the same for both.

I will in general return any work the next class day.  If you are not there, I will not give it to friends, roommates, or spouses, nor will I give out grade information on the phone or via email.  (These restrictions are not arbitrary - they are based on federal law regarding student privacy.)  Normally, I include any old assignments with any current ones, but I do not try to pass them back a second time unless you have turned in the most recent assignment.  I will bring the old assignments with me every day, so if you ask at the end of class you can get them then.

I expect you to be responsible for yourself as far as getting notes from a classmate if you miss class.  I also expect you to turn in any homework early if you know that you will miss class.  This includes those instances when the absence is due to an official university activity.

Cell Phones:  Turn off your cell phones when you go to class (this class or any other class).  Cellular phones and other distracting devices generally have no place in a formal or semi-formal setting, such as a classroom.  If your phone rings audibly during class, I will require you to leave the classroom for the remainder of the period.  This includes those days we have exams.  In fact, it applies especially on those days when we have an exam.  Hence, if your cell phone rings during an exam, you will have to turn in what you have completed up to that point.  No extra time will be given.  I strongly suggest that you always remember to turn off your phone.  (You are free to return to class the next day, and there will be no other consequences.)  Note:  I have found that cell phones on vibrate, when in a backpack next to a textbook, are still quite loud since they reverberate against the book.  If I can hear it at the front of the room or if most of the students next to you react to it, it is still an audible ring.  Keep it on something soft or on your waistband or in your pocket.  Or better yet, turn it off entirely.

In addition, during exams, your cell phone (or any other electronic device other than a calculator) may not be visible at all - you must put it in your closed bookbag or something similar.  If you use it for your watch, you will have to bring a different clock to exams or use the classroom clock.

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This page maintained by Ellen Hill, elhill@mnstate.edu
Last Revision:  01/04/2008

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