Syllabus

Course Description

Linear algebra is the study of linear systems of equations, vector spaces, and linear transformations. Solving systems of linear equations is a basic tool of many mathematical procedures used for solving problems in science and engineering. Topics included: Matrix algebra, Gaussian elimination, determinants, Linear and affine subspaces, bases of Euclidean spaces. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors, quadratic forms, orthogonal matrices. Applications. Computing symbolic and graphical solutions using Matlab.

Prerequisites: Math 3C, 4C, 10A, 20A, or test equivalent

Textbook: Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 6th edition, by David C. Lay et. al.; published by Pearson

- - You may use older edition of the textbook. Please note that other edition of the textbook has different numbers in a few of the problems/sections so please make sure to adjust accordingly.
  - This book is available at the UC San Diego bookstore.
  - We will cover most of chapters 1-6 of the textbook.

Homework Assignments (20% of your course grade)

First and foremost, late submission will not be accepted. Extension requests due to non-emergency reasons are often declined. Also, please keep in mind that reasons such as "forgetting the due date" or "being occupied with the course work of other classes" will never be accepted. Students on the Wait List are advised to keep up with the course progression and complete any assigned homework during their Wait List period.

In total, there will be five (5) homework assignments. Each homework assignment is worth 20 points (the raw score may be higher than 20 but it will be scaled to 20 afterward). They are available through Pearson MyLab website (accessible through Canvas). Please refer to the calendar on this website for the exact detail of the due dates. During the active period, students may attempt the homework problems as many time as they would like. However, only the most recent scores recorded by the system by the due date will be considered official. Homework assignments are due at 11:59pm on Sunday every week. The only exception is the last assignment, HW5, which is due at 11:59pm on Friday 08/02 (the same day as our Final Exam).

In total, students can earn a maximum of 100 points from the homework assignments but you only need 80 points total to get the full 20%. Any point beyond 80 will not be carried over to other categories.

Due to the fast pace of the summer session, it is important that students are able to keep up with the course progression. The homework problems should serve as a good test for your understanding of concepts discussed in the lecture. As a result, students are advised to try their best to complete the relevant homework problems within the evening after the corresponding lecture and/or before the subsequent lecture. Do not wait until the day of the due date to start working on your homework! "Start early, start often!"

MatLab (10% of your course grade)

In applications of linear algebra, the theoretical concepts that you will learn in lecture are used together with computers to solve large scale problems. Thus, in addition to the materials from lectures, you will also be required to do homework using the computer language MATLAB. The Math 18 MATLAB Assignments page contains all information relevant to the MATLAB component of Math 18, including due dates. You can do the homework on any campus computer that has MATLAB, and you can also make use of UCSD's MATLAB site license to install MATLAB on your own computer by visiting the MATLAB for UCSD Students page.

Please upload your MATLAB homework assignments to Gradescope by the due date according to the instructions found on the Math 18 MATLAB Assignments page.

In total, there are one five MatLab assignments and one MatLab quiz. For the assignments, only the best four (out of five) will contribute to your final grade. The topic on orthogonality and least square from the 5th assignment is optional and will NOT be covered in the final quiz. The MatLab quiz will be available from 12:00am on Wednesday 07/31 to 11:59pm on Thursday 08/01 on Canvas. Please refer to the corresponding section on the MatLab website for further details.

Overall, 6% of your grade will be based on the the best 4 MatLab assignments (so each assignment contributes 1.5%) and the another 4% will come from the MATLAB quiz.

discussion sections & Worksheets

While not mandatory, attendance of discussion sections are strongly encouraged for this class. The sections will provide not only a brief summary of the topics discussed during lectures, but also an opportunity for students to work on complex exercises that involve more than one topics from our course. Furthermore, these sections also involve community building and active learning, and will play a key role in your success at mastering the concepts of linear algebra.

There will be nine (9) discussion sections every Monday and Wednesday of the week, except the Monday of Week 1. Each section provides an opportunity for students to earn 0.5 point by completing the exercises within the worksheet and presenting your work in a well-organized manner. In total, students can earn up to 5 points by participating in the discussion sections and turning in worksheets (10 x 0.5 from the worksheets - while there is no discussion during the first Monday, students can still earn 0.5 point by completing and turning in a corresponding worksheet for this day). These points can be used to earn back the points you miss on the Final Exam. As the Final Exam is out of 100 points, this means you can earn back up to X% of the Final Exam score, where X is the number of points you accumulate from the discussion worksheets. Regardless, the maximum Final Exam score will be capped at 100 and any points exceeding this value will not be carried over to other category.

You have two options to earn these points:

By attending the discussion section during its scheduled time: This way, students are expected to work with their peers (under the guidance of the teaching assistants and tutors) to complete the worksheet. These papers will be collected by the Teaching Assistants at the end of the class and uploaded to Gradescope for evaluation and future review.
By working on the worksheet on your own: around 7pm on Monday and Wednesday, the same worksheet will become available on Gradescope. Those who are unable to attend the in-person discussion will now have a chance to complete the same worksheet and submit your paper to Gradescope by 7pm of the following day (i.e. within 24 hours).

Exams (70% of your course grade)

There will be two in-class midterm (20% each) and one in-class Final Exam (30% of your grade). Students are allowed one page of handwritten notes (standard 8.5x11'' size, both sides). Beyond this one page, no textbook, notes, calculator, or any other electronic devices will be allowed during the exam. The midterm will take place on campus, in the regular classroom, during of regular lecture times.

There will be no make up exam! It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the exams.

The first midterm will be held on Tuesday, July 16 (Week 3), covering topics from Sections 1.1 - 1.5, 1.7 - 1.9, and 2.1 to 2.3.
The second midterm will be held on Thursday, July 25 (Week 4), covering topics from Sections 4.1 - 4.5, and 3.1 - 3.3.
The final exam will be held on Friday, August 02 (Week 5), covering ALL materials from the course.

Grade Policy

Your grade will be based on the scores of the MatLab + homework assignments, midterm, and the final exam. It will be calculated as the maximum of the following two scores (namely, you may replace the lower midterm score with that of the final ) :

Score 1 = 10% MatLab + 20% Homework + 20% 1st Midterm + 20% 2nd Midterm + 30% Adjusted Final
Score 2 = 10% MatLab + 20% Homework + 20% Best Midterm + 20% Raw Final + 30% Adjusted Final

Here, "Raw Final" is the (raw) score you actually earn on the exam and "Adjusted Final" is your Final Exam score altered by the total worksheet points you accumulate over the quarter. "Best Midterm," of course, is the higher score between your two midterms.

You must pass the final examination (scoring at least 50%) in order to pass the course. Since there is no makeup exam, if you miss a midterm exam for any reason then your course grade will automatically be computed using the second method. In addition, if you cannot take the final exam during its scheduled time, then you should not enroll in this class. The letter grade you receive at the end of the course will be based on the following scale, which is the standard rubric at UC San Diego:

Policy on Incomplete (I) grades: Students who are unable to attend the Final Exam due to circumstances outside of their control (illness, family emergency, etc.) may be eligible to request an Incomplete grade for the course. However, the Incomplete grade is intended for use when circumstances beyond a student’s control prohibit taking the final exam or completing coursework due in the last week of classes.

An Incomplete may not be used simply to allow more time for a student who has fallen behind in coursework. Examples of unacceptable reasons for approving an Incomplete include the need to rewrite a paper; the demands of a time-consuming job; the desire to leave town for a vacation, family gathering, or athletic/scholastic contest; the desire to do well on other tests; and the like.

To be eligible for the Incomplete grade, students must score at least 65% (equivalent to a C- grade) on BOTH midterms AND accumulate at least 50% of the points from the MatLab and homework portions.

Regrade Policy

We shall grade your exams using Gradescope. All graded materials will be posted on Gradescope. If you find an error/inconsistency on any graded material, you must immediately request a regrade through Gradescope. All regrade issues must be resolved within 24-30 HOURS after the score is published. Once the regrade period is over, the score will become final and any late requests may not be considered.

At the end of Week 5, all grades will be imported over to Canvas, and only the scores posted on Canvas will be computed toward your final score percentage. You must keep all of your graded materials and check that the scores are consistent. If there is any inconsistency in the recording of your scores, you must inform the instructor or TA before the end of the Final Exam week of the quarter to resolve recording errors. Questions regarding missing or incorrectly recorded scores posted after Saturday, August 03 will have to wait until the second Summer session (mid-August).

Academic Honesty and Attendance Policy

As a student of UC San Diego, you have agreed to abide by the university’s academic honesty policy. Academic integrity violations will be taken seriously and reported immediately. Violation of such policy may result in failing the class, suspension, and even expulsion from the university. Further information regarding Academic Integrity policy are available under the "Links" button above. You should make yourself aware of what is and is not acceptable by reading this document. Ignorance of the rules will not excuse you from any violations.

Key facts about academic integrity related to our course:

You must work alone on the exams. You may not post the exam questions online where they can be answered by someone other than the instructor or TA.
You may consult other students, the instructor, or TAs while formulating your ideas on homework problems. However, you must complete your final homework solutions by yourself, based on your own understanding.
You may not copy or paraphrase solutions from another student or from any other source. If you consult any sources other than your textbook or discuss the problems with anyone other than the instructor or TA, you must acknowledge this on your homework/exam.
You may not post your homework answers online where they could be found by future students of this course. If your instructor posts homework solutions, you may not show those solutions to future students of this course, or post them online.

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