MATH 4401: Differential Equations, SPRING 2005
Section 01: HHH 310, MWF 09:00-09:50 , Course ID (CRN #): 2379

INSTRUCTOR
Yi Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
Room 315, HHH, Fairmont State University
Email: ywang@fairmontstate.edu       
Homepage: http://www.fairmontstate.edu/users/ywang/ OR http://www.fscwv.edu/users/ywang
Phone: 304-367-4621
Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 , M,W,F        9:00-10:00 Tuesday   11:00-12:00 , Thursday (by appointment)

            Welcome to Math 401, my name is Yi Wang, and I will be your instructor for this course. I wish by our joint effort, all of you will succeed this course. We will use WEB CT mainly for communication and grade book in this course. Another good resource for this course is my homepage, which can be found at  http://www.fairmontstate.edu/users/ywang/ or http://www.fscwv.edu/users/ywang. In general, you may consider my office an “open door”, and I strongly recommend that you come and see me if you are having any trouble in class (or if you find that you are not being challenged enough). Come by…I enjoy seeing my students.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: First-order and simple higher-order ordinary differential equations and their applications, linear differential equations with constant coefficients and their application, simultaneous differential equations and their applications, the numerical solution of differential equations, solution of differential equations by use of series

3 Cretdits (3 lect/pres, 0 lab, 0 other).

PREREQUISITES:  (a) Math 185 and 186 ,  (b) Math 190 and 191 OR (c) instructor approval.

GOALS: To give students an understanding of an appreciation for the theory and many applications of basic Calculus. Both computational and conceptual skills will be developed. The students will be exposed to both theoretical and applied points of view and applications to other disciplines will be stressed. This course also develops student capabilities related to several of FSU’s General Education Objectives, including:

· The ability to communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and formats.

· Comprehend the concepts and perspectives needed to function in national and international societies.

· Integrate knowledge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner.

TEXTBOOK: William E. Boyce adn Richard C. DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, Wiley, 8th  edition (July 30, 2004)  ISBN: 0471433381

WEB CT: This course will use WEB CT at http://webct.fairmontstate.edu. Class announcements, homework assignments and updated grades will be posted on WEB CT. It is the students’ responsibility to check the information posted at WEB CT.

HOMEWORK/QUIZZES/WORKSHEETS:  It is imperative that you do the homework. If you have trouble with the assigned problems (or any others in your book) then see me ASAP. Please work as many problems as you can (even beyond the assigned list if possible). The bottom line is that if you want to learn some mathematics, the only way to do this is by “getting your hands dirty” working problems. There will be a worksheet approximately for each week. The collected Homework/Quizzes/worksheets will be averaged for part of your final grade. Quiz will be given without notice in advance.

EXAMS/PROJECTS: There will be four in-class mid-term tests and one final. I also will assign some projects. I may use projects to replace one or two midterm exams.  The final exam is comprehensive and is scheduled on Wednesday, May 11,  at 8:00am .  

GRADES: Here is a breakdown of the Homework/quizzes/worksheets/tests/final:

         Homework/Quiz/Worksheet Average….10%

        Test 1…………15%

        Test 2…………15%

        Test 3…………15%

        Test 4. …….… 15%

        Final………..…30%

            If you get the following scores (out of 100) you will receive

                                                        90-100………A

                                                        80-89………..B

                                                        70-79………..C

                                                        60-69………..D

Grades in the course will reflect students’ demonstrated attainment of course objectives. I reserve the right to adjust these ranges downward if necessary because of excessive difficulty of assignments or tests. Borderline cases will be considered according to the attendance, grades of all four mid-exams and grade of the final.  

SOME IMPORTANT POLICIES IN THIS CLASS: 

1. ATTENDANCE is critical to get high points for the assessment of the Homework/Quiz/Worksheet part.  It may be taken form time to time. The attendance taken will be considered as  in-class quizzes and will also be used as one of the factors to determine borderline grades. 

2. There is absolutely no make-up for the homework/quizzes/worksheets. Late work passing the given deadline is not accepted.

3. A make-up exam will be given on the next day after a given mid- exam if one can not attend the regular exam with a reasonable excuse. No other make-up is allowed until the last day of the class. On that day one can make up any one of the four mid-exams to improve the corresponding mid-exam. However,  only one make-up on the last day of class is allowed. 

4. A reasonable excuse commonly refers to an institutional excuse, a doctor-signed excuse, or an excuse signed by some authorized people. 

5. In general an exam before the scheduled time is not offered unless under some extreme cases such as with a reasonable excuse. 

Guidelines of how to calculate your overall score:

1. The overall score is calculated according to the contributions from quizzes (10%), Exams (15% each, total 60%) and Final(30%).
2. All raw scores are converted to percentage to participate in calculating and comparison. The maximum percentage is 100% for any given quiz or exam.
3. Please note one to three quizzes with the lowest grades are dropped.   A missed quiz is scored as 0 for that quiz. If the number of missed quizzes is less than or equal to the number of quizzes dropped, your missed quiz(es) will not affect your quiz points AT ALL.  Finally, the average percentage of all the quizzes are calculated for the points of the quiz part. 
4. Please note there is no curving for all make-up exams.  In other words, when the percentage is calculated for the make-up, please note out of which total score is your make-up score.
5. The grade (percentage)  of the make-up is used to  replace  that of the SAME exam if it is higher.  The percentage of the final is used to replace one of the worst percentages of the four exams if it’s higher.

The policy of this class is to encourage students who are diligent in this course and therefore any one who is serious about his/her grades can take advantage of TWO opportunities to improve their grades.  

ATTENDANCE 

Students are expected to attend regularly the class and laboratory session of courses in which they are registered. Regular attendance is necessary to the successful completion of a course of study and is an integral part of a student's educational experience.

Each instructor shall make available on the first day of class what the attendance requirements are and what penalties shall be imposed for nonattendance. 

Please check the student handbook (online) for more information. 
The address is http://www.fairmontstate.edu/publications/campushandbooks/FS_StudentHandbook0405.pdf.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY 

Fairmont State values highly the integrity of its student scholars.  All students and faculty members are urged to share in the responsibility for removing every situation which might permit or encourage academic dishonesty. Cheating in any form, including plagiarism, must be considered a matter of the gravest concern.  Cheating is defined here as the obtaining of information during an examination; the unauthorized use of books, notes, or other sources of information prior to or during an examination; the removal of faculty examination materials; the alteration of documents or records; or actions identifiable as occurring with the intent to defraud or use under false pretense.

Plagiarism is defined here as the submission of the ideas, words (written or oral), or artistic productions of another, falsely represented as one's original effort or without giving due credit.  Students and faculty should examine proper citation forms to avoid inadvertent plagiarism.

SPECIAL NEEDS 

Services are available to any student, full or part-time, who has a need because of a [documented] disability.  It is the student’s responsibility to register for services with the coordinator of students with disabilities and to provide any necessary documentation to verify a disability or the need for accommodations.  The Coordinator of Disability Services, Andrea Pammer, is located in the Turley Center , room 304.  The office phone is (304) 367-4686 or (800) 641-5678 Ext. 8. TDD# is 304-367-4200.   

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Material presented in this course may be protected by copyright law.    

COURSE CONTENTS (SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS NEEDED DURING THE TERM):

Chapter 1. Introduction.
Chapter 2. First Order Differential Equations.
Chapter 3. SecondOrd er Linear Equations.
Chapter 4. Higher Order Linear Equations.
Chapter 5. Series Solutions of Second Order Linear Equations.
Chapter 6. The Laplace Transform.
*Chapter 7. Systems of First Order Linear Equations.
Chapter 8. Numerical Methods.
*Chapter 9. Nonlinear Differential Equations andStability.
*Chapter 10. Partial Differential Equations andF ourier Series.
*Chapter 11. Boundary Value Problems.

* These sections are covered if time permitted