Xinfeng Liu
Email:
xfliu@math.sc.edu
Phone: 576-5849
Office Location: LC 317Q
Online office Hours: T TH 11:30AM-12:30PM or by prior appointment
Syllabus
Homework Assignment
Textbook: Differential Equations (computing and modeling),
Fifth Edition, by C. H. Edwards and D. E. Penney.
Prerequisites: A grade of C or higher in Math 142.
Important Date: The deadline to change/drop or withdraw the course
without a grade of "W" being recorded is Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
Subject Materials: We shall cover most of the material presented in
Chapters 1-4 and in Chapter 7 of the text (tentatively).
Learning Outcome: Students are expected to master mathematical
concepts and apply these concepts to solve problems
of first order and higher order linear ODEs based upon the methods they learn from this class.
Reading: Reading the textbook
in advance of the lecture is strongly
encouraged. Benefits of this preparation include obtaining a familiarity with the terminology and
concepts that will be encountered (so you can distinguish major points from side
issues), being able to formulate questions about the parts of the presentation that
you do not understand, and having a chance to review the skills and techniques
that will be needed to apply the new concepts.
Homework and Quiz:
Homework will not be collected, but you are supposed to do them all.
REMEMBER: the more problems you do, the better you understand the material.
Students are encouraged to work together on homework sets.
There will be approximately one quiz per week on Thursday,
and no quiz during the exam weeks.
There are two to four problems for each quiz.
The quiz problems will be either the same as, or very similar to those
from the homework. Thus, if a student has made a good attempt at the
homework, he/she should do well on the quiz.
One lowest quiz grade will be dropped from the final grade calculation.
Exams: There will be two midterm exams and a comprehensive final exam.
Exam 1: Thursday, March 4, 10:05AM - 11:20AM (in person)
Exam 2: Thursday, April 8, 10:05M - 11:20AM (in person)
Final Exam: Thursday, April 29, 9:00AM - 11:30 AM (in person)
The exams are "closed book" – no books, no notes, no
graphing calculators, no labtop computer or equivalent technology, etc. You
may use the scientific calculator.
Picture I.D. is required and must be presented upon request.
There are no early exams. A make-up exam is only possible for
written legitimate documented reasons of illness, family emergency, or participation
in a University sponsored event.
You must take your exams with the lecture for which you are registered.
Grades:
Quizzes: 20%
Two Midterms: 25% each
Final exam: 30%
Grading Scales: A (90-100%), B+ (86-89%), B (80-85%), C+ (76-79%), C (70-75%), D+ (66-69%),
D (60-65%), F (0-59%)
Attendance: Attendance at every class meeting is important - and expected.
Academic Dishonesty: Cheating and plagiarism in any form is not tolerated.
If a student is caught cheating, I will follow the guidelines as set
forth in the USC Honor Code and other University guidelines.
Cell Phone Policy:
Please remember to turn off or silence your cell phone prior to class. No texting
allowed during class. Computers can only be used to make notes, and playing computer games
during class is not tolerated.