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EA-I Fall 2014: General Information

Required texts:

David C. Lay, Linear Algebra and its Applications, fourth edition, Pearson Addison Wesley 2012
Stephen J. Chapman, Essentials of MATLAB Programming, second edition, Cengage Learning 2009 (or
the original edition by Thomson/Nelson 2006)

Required software:
MATLAB (Release 2014a is the most recent).
Meeting times:
You will meet for 50-minute lectures/labs on each weekday (Monday through Friday).
Grading:
Your final grade will be computed according to the following chart:
Lab assessments
Homework quizzes
Homework programs
Midterm 1
Midterm 2
Final Exam

5%
15%
20%
15%
15%
30%

Midterms:
There will be two midterms held on Thursday evenings. The first will be on October 16 at 7 p.m. and the
second will be on November 13 at 7 p.m.
MATLAB proficiency exam:
The first midterm exam will be a MATLAB proficiency exam. A passing grade on this exam is a grade of 70%
or higher. If you do not pass this exam on your first try, then you must retake the exam until you do. There will
be multiple opportunities to retake the exam throughout the quarter; the first retake will be on Thursday,
October 30 at 7 p.m. If you do not pass the exam by the end of the quarter, then you will receive a course grade
of Incomplete (Y) and not earn credit for the course. Also, if you retake the exam, then the grade used for this
exam in calculating your course grade will be either 70% or the average of your original score and your highest
retake score, whichever is lower. For example, if your original score on the exam is a 50%, and you retake it
twice and earn 60% and 70% then your score for grading purposes will be 60%. If your original score is 50%
and your highest retake score is 100%, then your score for grading purposes will be 70%. Finally, once you pass
this proficiency exam, you cannot take it again.
Final Exam:
The final exam will be on Tuesday, December 9, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Labs:
Except for the first week of class, the Wednesday class meeting times will be lab sessions rather than lectures
(for the first week only, there is lecture on Wednesday and lab on Friday). Attendance is mandatory and 5% of
your total course grade is based on in-lab assessments. You are required to bring your laptop with MATLAB
installed to each lab session. Lab assessments should be submitted through the course Canvas page, and will be
due by 6 a.m. on the Thursday following the Wednesday lab session (although you will typically finish and
submit the lab assessment during the lab session itself). Late assessments will not be accepted, except in
extraordinary circumstances. Because it is common for a student to be ill for a day or two during the course, we
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allow every student to fail one lab assessment without penalty. In other words, your lowest lab assessment grade
will not count toward your total lab grade.
Homework:
There will be weekly homework assignments posted on the course Canvas page each Thursday. Each assignment
will consist of two parts, a homework quiz and a homework program. You will take each homework quiz
online on the course Canvas page, and will turn in each homework program by uploading it through Canvas.
Both parts are due by 6 a.m. on the following Thursday morning (so that you have one week to complete
them). Late assignments will not be accepted, except in extraordinary circumstances. Because it is common for a
student to be ill for a day or two during the course, we allow every student to fail one homework quiz and one
homework program without penalty. In other words, your lowest homework quiz and homework program grades
will not count toward your total homework score.
Policy regarding grading errors:
In rare cases the TA grading your midterm exam may make an error. If you believe that there has been an error in
your grade, you may resubmit the graded exam in question to the instructor (not the TA) with an attached,
written statement explaining which problem was graded incorrectly and why. There resubmissions must be given
to the instructor within 24 hours of the graded exam having been made available to the student. Exams submitted
for grading corrections are subject to a complete and fair review of all problems; there is a chance that your
grade could become lower as a result of the resubmission!

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