Spring 2010: Math 198 Section 4
Methods of Ordinary Differential Equations
MWF 2:10-3:00 pm in 1307 Stevenson Center
Instructor: Associate Professor Schechter (pronounced "doktur shektur"). Email: eric.schechter@vanderbilt.edu. Office: Stevenson 1529; that's in the top floor of the Math Bulding. Tentative office hours: MWF 3:10-4 pm without appointment. Also available at some other times by appointment. More information about instructor at this link.

Textbook: A First Course in Differential Equations with Modeling Applications, 9th edition, by Dennis Zill. I will focus mainly on Chapters 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, plus some handouts distributed in class; I might also cover some material from other chapters.

Handouts:
n-parameter familes of curves
Introduction to linear operators
Introduction to complex numbers
Recipe for constant coefficient nonhomogeneous problems

Style of material: I will emphasize computations, not proofs. On the quizzes and tests you may use a calculator, but not books or notes. (When we cover Laplace transforms, I will make a small table of transforms available to you durring quizzes and tests.) Odd numbered problems have answers in the back of the book, and I recommend you work lots of those for practice.

Grades will be based on quizzes, tests, homework, and the final exam. A more detailed explanation of the grading scheme will be posted here in a few days, along with the schedule of quizzes and tests. The final exam for this class is 9-11 am on Wednesday, May 5; no alternate exam date will be given. Attendance at all lectures is recommended for most students, but attendance will not actually be recorded. Some allowances will be made if you miss a quiz or test, or turn in homework late, for a reason that I find acceptable (e.g., illness), but not for a reason that I find unacceptable (e.g., Mardi Gras); feel free to ask me about it. (Tell me that you're ill before you take the test, not after.) Students who need accomodation at the Opportunity Development Center should notify me at the beginning of the semester; services of the ODC are by appointment only.

Grades will be calculated as follows:

Three 50-minute tests	on Jan 29, Feb 26, Apr 2	each worth 14%	totalling 42%
Three 20-minute quizzes	on Feb 12, Mar 12 Mar 17, Apr 16 Apr 19	each worth 6%	totalling 18%
Homework			worth 20%
Final exam	9-11 am on Wednesday, May 5, in our usual classroom.		worth 20%
			100%

Answers to graded tests and quizzes:
T1 T2 T3
Q1 Q2 Q3
Final exam

Common errors in undergraduate mathematics

Homework and Study Guide

A tutored study hall, for this and several other courses, has been provided by the Engineering School. It is available 7-9 pm Sunday through Wednesday in Featheringill (Engineering) room 136.

Other important dates:

Mon Jan 18	Martin Luther King Day. This is NOT a holiday at Vanderbilt. (And Vanderbilt also does not pay some of its employees a Living Wage.)
March 6-14	Spring break
Wed Mar 10	deficiency reports due
Sun Mar 14	skip from 2 am to 3 am (Daylight saving)
Fri Mar 19	drop day
Mon Apr 26	last meeting of this class