Syllabus for LAFF Summer 2015
The Instructors
Maggie Myers
Robert van de Geijn
Work you can expect
Material is arranged in weeks that will be released in chunks of four weeks plus an exam as indicated in the course calendar. Each week is broken into sections. Within sections you will find units that include videos, reading assignments, activities, homework, or programming assignments. We give due dates for weeks to keep you on track to comfortably complete the course but these are guides not mandates.
You Decide How You Want to Engage in the Course
You are welcome to Audit this course and have complete FREE access to all of the course material, tests, and the online discussion forum. If you audit the course, you will earn a free Honors Code Certificate upon satisfactory completion of the course materials.If you plan to commit to the lectures, assignments, and tests and want proof of your achievement to give your engagement more validity, then choose the Verified Certificate of Achievement option. A verified certificate shows that you have successfully completed your edX course and confirms your identity through your photo and ID. For more information, please visit the edx Verified Certificates of Achievement information page.Satisfactory Completion
Earn a certificate by successfully completing homework and answering questions on the midterms and final exam. There are 12 weeks for which homework will be submitted. You submit a problem by clicking the “Check” box for each problem. Each week will contribute 5% of the overall course score. Each of two midterms is worth 10% and comprehensive final contributes 20%. To earn a certificate, you must accumulate at least 60% of the possible overall score.
Exams
There are three exams: two midterms, and a comprehensive final. The midterms cover all topics up to that point in the course and the final covers the entire course. There will be sample exams available to help you study before the exams. Why do we have the exams? They may provide evidence of what and how much you are learning. But, more importantly, they are part of the learning and understanding process. We understand that your primary goal is to learn linear algebra. While studying for the exams, you will have the opportunity to review, make connections, and learn the hard-to-grasp concepts more deeply. In the end, this should enhance retention of your knowledge and skills. By taking the exam, you also have the chance to evaluate yourself.You are encouraged to post and answer questions and conduct discussions related to the sample exams.
Homework
Homework is sprinkled throughout the materials. There are different kinds of homework. Originally we were planning to organize these by type but later decided it was more natural to mix them into the material. The types are
o Practice
o Exercises to build insight
o Think about problems (Always/Sometimes/Never and True/False questions that after you answer you are encouraged to prove)
o Programming assignments (which you can choose to skip)
o Applications
We recognize individuals have personal learning styles. It is not necessary to complete everything to learn the material or even to earn a certificate. You choose how you want to engage in the course.
Homework Grading
In order to help you pace yourself, we have deadlines for completing graded homework. Some of the interactive exercises will not be graded. We hope you will find them engaging. Most of the homework is completion or multiple-choice. When you click check, your answer is submitted and scored. If you miss a question, try it again. You have multiple tries on questions to get the problem correct (even True/False). Each homework problem conveys the number of points it is worth and the number you have earned. Proofs will not be graded but you will earn credit for the correct appraisal of Aways/Sometimes/Never or True/False. Programming assignments will not be graded but you will report that you have completed these or skipped them for cedit. You don’t need to submit homework problems in order.
The percentage of responses for a given week will be calculated upon the submission deadline for that week. Each week’s homework submission will be 5% of your total. So if you complete 50% of the homework for Week 1, will earn 2.5 percentage points (50% of the 5%) towards the 60 percentage points for a certificate.
The bottom line: If you are serious about learning, we think you will find the material rewarding.
Textbook information
This course is based on materials found at ULAFF (www.ulaff.net). Notes derived from these materials are made available one week at a time as PDF documents, free of charge. They are structured to fit with the edX platform, with hyperlinks in the PDF document to the corresponding unit of the edX course and links in each unit of the course to the corresponding subsection of the PDF document. We hope this helps you navigate between the notes and the online activities.
When can I watch the lectures, read notes, and work on the homework?
The course will launch 3 June 2015 at 23:00 UTC with the release of Weeks 1-4 and Exam 1. Weeks 5-8 and Exam 2 will be released on 24 June. Weeks 9-12 and the Final will follow on 15 July. After the release of materials, you can watch the lectures, read notes, or work on assignments at any time but suggested due dates are provided in calendars to help you keep yourself on track to complete the course. For a complete schedule, look at the Course Calendar. The Regular Course Calendar gives a recommended schedule to complete the course in 17 weeks. The Fast Track Course Calendar gives a recommended schedule to complete the course in 12 weeks, so that the course
can be completed before the end of August.
Collaboration Guidelines
We always encourage our students to collaborate, as long as the purpose is to learn. Please use the discussion boards to interact with us and other participants. While we would like to interact with you on a more personal level, realize that there are potentially tens of thousands of participants and we trying to have a vacation this summer as well… We simply do not have time to answer your e-mail or take a phone call… We will monitor the discussion forums and will answer questions as quickly as possible.
Please help us create a healthy learning environment by following these simple standards:
Be polite. Please treat one another with respect, so that everyone can continue to be involved and seek friendly support.
Be sensitive. This is a global forum with participants from many different cultures and backgrounds. Be very careful not to offend one another.
Post appropriate content. Be supportive. However, avoid posting content that violates the Honor Code or Terms of Service. You may not post inappropriate or copyrighted content, advertise or promote outside products or organizations, or spam the forums with repeat content.
Be proud of your posts. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want associated with your name.
Anonymous posts aren’t anonymous to staff. We do not expect to observe any issues because we trust you to keep our forum communities strong and healthy. However, inappropriate posts may be deleted or made invisible to other students by forum moderators. People who repeatedly break these rules may be removed from the course.
Topics Covered
See the course "Outline" at the top of this page.
Deadlines and Important Dates
The course starts on 3 June 2015 and closes at 23:00 UTC time on 22 September 2015. Batches of materials will be released periodically as indicated on the Calendar (also available by clicking the "Calendar" tab at the top of this page). There are suggested due dates which we do not enforce. By sticking with the suggested schedule you will be able to stay on track. Please don’t procrastinate. Again, the course is closed 22 September 2015. We suggest you complete as much of the material as you need for your goals.
Be Patient With Us!
Unexpected complications may occur as the course proceeds. This may mean that the schedule changes if this happens. Please be flexible!
Now, LAFF with us!