The online homework for this class may be found at Webassign. Your Webassign username is your @uark.edu email address (for example, my username is aeb019@uark.edu). If you already have a Webassign account with that username, you should use your existing password; otherwise, an account has been created for you and your password may be found in the Grade Center of Blackboard. Your exam and lab grades will also be posted to Blackboard.
| Date | Event |
| Monday, Jan. 13 | First day of class |
| Friday, Jan. 17 | Last day to add a course |
| Monday, Jan. 20 | Martin Luther King holiday (all classes canceled) |
| Monday, Jan. 27 | Last day to drop a course |
| Friday, Feb. 14 | First midterm exam—good luck! You will be allowed a non-graphing calculator and a double-sided 3 inch by 5 inch card of notes. Some suggested review problems may be found here. If you would like to review calculus before the exam, here are some suggested problems. |
| Friday, Mar. 20 | Second midterm exam—good luck! The exam will be taken online; see WebAssign or Blackboard for more information. Some suggested review problems may be found here. You will be allowed a non-graphing calculator and a double-sided 3 inch by 5 inch card of notes. If you would like to review calculus before the exam, here are some suggested problems. |
| Mar. 23–27 | Spring Break—have fun! Office hours are by appointment only over Spring Break. |
Review of online course structure
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| Friday, Apr. 17 | Exam 3 conducted online. Some suggested review problems may be found here. Notice that on this exam, you will be expected to explain your answers carefully; a correct answer with no supporting computation or arguments will receive no credit.
Exam 3 will be made available via WebAssign at 12:55 p.m. You are to download the exam, write your answers on blank paper or a tablet, and scan and upload your answers to the Blackboard content tab by 2:05 p.m. Answers to exams should be handwritten (not typed). The exam is open book, open note, and open calculator; however, you are not allowed to discuss the exam in any way with any person other than Professor Barton while taking it. You will need a table of Laplace transforms. You can write one by hand, use the one in your book, or print this one out: Table of Laplace transforms The extra credit will involve drawing graphs. If you don't have any graph paper, you can print some out: Graph paper |
| Friday, Apr. 17 | Last day to withdraw from a course. If you would like to estimate your likely course grade, here is a grade estimation worksheet.
If you have three final exams scheduled on the same day, then under university policy you are entitled to an alternative exam date; please inform me by email (aeb019@uark.edu) that you need a make-up exam on or before April 17. |
| Wednesday, Apr. 29 | Last day of class |
| Friday, May 1 | Complete the online course evaluation on or before this date. If at least 80% of the class completes the course evaluation before the deadline, I will drop your 2 lowest lab scores; otherwise, I will drop your 1 lowest lab score. |
| Monday, May 4 | Final exam, 12:45–2:45 p.m. or time indicated on the registrar's website.
Good luck! Some suggested review problems may be found here. Notice that on this exam, you will be expected to explain your answers carefully; a correct answer with no supporting computation or arguments will receive no credit. The final will be made available via WebAssign at 12:45 p.m. You are to download the exam, write your answers on blank paper, a whiteboard, or a tablet, and then scan, photograph, or export your answers and upload your answers to the Blackboard content tab by 3:00 p.m. Answers to exams should be handwritten (not typed). The exam is open book, open note, and open calculator; however, you are not allowed to discuss the exam in any way with any person other than Professor Barton while taking it. You will need a table of Laplace transforms. You can write one by hand, use the one in your book, or print this one out: Table of Laplace transforms |
| Instructor | Ariel Barton (email aeb019@uark.edu) |
| Course assistant | Surya Lamichhane |
| Lecture | Video lectures hosted through Blackboard; discussion/Q&A sessions will be hosted through Blackboard Collaborate Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 12:55–1:45 p.m. |
| Drill |
Section D011: Thursday, 2:00–2:50 p.m.
Section D012: Thursday, 8:00–8:50 a.m. |
| Office hours | Ariel Barton: MWF 12:55–1:45 p.m. or by appointment. |
Course Description: First and second order ordinary differential equations, the Laplace transform, and matrix systems of ordinary differential equations.
Prerequisites: MATH 2564 or 2564C (Calculus II) with a grade of C or better. Knowledge of the mathematical concepts learned in Calculus I and II, especially differentiation and integration techniques as applied to polynomial, rational, exponential, and trigonometric functions. MATH 2574 (Calculus III) and MATH 3083 (Linear Algebra) are helpful but not required.
Attendance: Attendance will be taken on the first day of class. Students not present on the first day of class will be marked as “Never Attended” on UAConnect until they turn in their first homework assignment.
Text: WebAssign access for Differential Equations with Boundary-Value Problems, 9th Edition, by Dennis G. Zill, Cengage Learning. All students registered for this class should have automatically been charged for and provided with WebAssign access as part of the University's Inclusive Access program. You can log in to Cengage following the instructions here. If you are taking more than one course that uses a Cengage program such as WebAssign, you can purchase Cengage Unlimited to allow access to many courses at once. (Students begin the course with a trial version of Cengage Unlimited. Students who are not taking any other Cengage courses should simply let this trial expire. For more information, see this video.)
Drill Sessions: Attendance in your drill section is required, and you must attend the section in which you are enrolled. Drill sessions are led by the course assistants and meet once every week, including the first week. In drill sessions you will normally complete laboratory assignments in groups or prepare for exams.
Course grade: Here is how I plan to weigh your grades:
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Homework: All students registered for the class have purchased access to online homework and other instructional resources connected to the required text. An electronic version of the text can be accessed from the online homework site. Instructions for accessing online homework will be given the first week of class and posted on the course web site. Online homework will be assigned from each section of the text and is normally due at 11:59pm on the Sunday following the week the material was covered in class. No online homework scores are dropped.
Group projects: Group lab assignments were held in drill sections every week (except exam weeks) prior to the closing of campus. They may be resumed if students have no better use for their drill time. There will be no makeup group lab assignments. Non-graphing calculators will be allowed on lab assignments. Your lowest score (or two scores) will be dropped.
Tests: There will be three midterms tests and a final exam. I plan to hold midterm exams during class time on the dates indicated in the calendar above. The final exam will occur in our regular classroom at the time indicated on the registrar's website.
Students may use non-graphing calculators and portable timepieces on exams. All other electronic devices, including watches that do anything other than tell the time and date, are prohibited.
If you require accommodations on an exam, notify your instructor as soon as possible, but in all cases at least one week before the exam is to be held. Documentation from the CEA may be required, depending on the nature of the accommodation.
As homework for this course is assigned through WebAssign, exam grading will stress clarity of exposition and other stylistic issues that cannot be assessed by a computer.
Make-up exams: Make-up exam requests also require written documentation as to your conflict. Except in the case of medical or other unforeseen emergencies, make-up exam requests must be made at least one week before the exam is to be held. Make-up exams are at the instructor's discretion; if you do not provide a documented reason why you cannot take the exam at the usual time, if your reason is considered inadequate, or if your request for a make-up exam is not made in a timely fashion, I reserve the right to refuse a make-up exam or to assess a late penalty (deduction from your score).
If you have three or more final exams scheduled for Monday, May 4, then under University policy you are entitled to reschedule one of your finals. If you wish to reschedule the final for our class, please notify me by email by April 17, and I will arrange for you to take a make-up final later in the week.
Incompletes: Only given in extreme circumstances, and only when the student has satisfactorily completed all but a small portion of the work in the course. Students must make prior arrangements with the professor well before the end of the semester.
Academic Integrity: Academic dishonesty on any exam, quiz, or other graded item will result in a score of zero that cannot be dropped or replaced. Suspected cases of academic dishonesty are referred to the All-University Academic Integrity Board. The following passage is quoted from the referenced website and is the policy in this course:
As a core part of its mission, the University of Arkansas provides students with the opportunity to further their educational goals through programs of study and research in an environment that promotes freedom of inquiry and academic responsibility. Accomplishing this mission is only possible when intellectual honesty and individual integrity prevail. Each University of Arkansas student is required to be familiar with and abide by the University's Academic Integrity Policy which may be found here. There are harsh penalties for violations as prescribed by the Sanction Rubric. Students with questions about how these policies apply to a particular course or assignment should immediately contact their instructor.
Commercial Note Vendors: Some commercial vendors may reach out to you to sell the notes you take in this class. Notes derived from class lectures are the intellectual property of the instructor. Selling or otherwise sharing these notes outside the class is a violation of the instructor's intellectual property rights and constitute a violation of the University's academic integrity policies. Your continued enrollment in this class signifies your understanding of and your intent to abide by this policy.