MA 775, Graduate ODEs, Spring 26
Welcome! If you need anything that you cannot find here, please email me.
Welcome! If you need anything that you cannot find here, please email me.
Syllabus: Please see this document for details that are not listed on this website.
Meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11am-12:15pm, in CDS B63.
Instructor: Margaret Beck (she/her); mabeck@bu.edu; you're welcome to call me Margaret or Prof Beck.
Student hours: (i) Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30pm: drop in, CDS 537; (ii) Thursdays, 1-2pm: scheduled one-on-one 10-minute appointments, in CDS 537 or on Zoom. [Scheduling link TBD.] If you would like to speak with me for longer than 10 minutes, you are welcome to schedule multiple, back-to-back, appointments. You can schedule appointments up to 14 days in advance.
Textbook: Instructor-provided course notes, with suggested/optional supplementary references.
Prerequisites: Linear algebra, eg MA 242, and undergraduate analysis, eg MA 511 & 512.
Assessment and grading: please see the syllabus.
Changes: I reserve the right to change any aspect of this course to better meet the needs of students. Should this become necessary, it will be clearly documented and students will be given sufficient notice so they may adapt accordingly.
Mondays by 830am: Students will submit a google form on the reading that was assigned the previous week. Student responses will inform how class time is used on Tuesday, and so it is important that students complete this form in a thoughtful and timely manner. (See links to course notes and google forms below.)
Tuesdays in class: This will consist mostly of a lecture on the previous week's reading, based on the student google form responses. The lecture will not cover the entire reading. Rather, it will target aspects of the reading that students found most challenging, and/or it will expand on topics that students expressed curiosity about. There will be time during the lecture for active learning, such as informal discussions in pairs about the topics that are being discussed.
Thursday morning, by 830am: Students will submit their weekly group work and individual homework that was assigned the previous week. (See the links below.)
Thursday, in class: at the beginning of class the week's worksheet with be distributed. Students will spend the entire class time working on the worksheet in groups. At the end of class the week's individual HW problem will be distributed, as well as the reading for the following week.
Week 1 (Jan 20 & 22): course notes, worksheet, and individual HW. [Document links TBD.]
Week 2 (Jan 27 & 29): course notes, google form, worksheet, and individual HW. [Document links TBD.]
Week 3 (Feb 3 & 5): etc...