MTH 256H Honors Applied Differential Equations
Winter Term 2012

Instructor: Juha Pohjanpelto
Office/Phone: Kidder Hall 282B, (541) 737-5156
Office hours: Monday 11:00 – 11:50 a.m., Wednesday 1:15 – 2:15 p.m., or by appointment
Email: juha@math.oregonstate.edu
Homepage: www.oregonstate.edu/~pohjanpp

Prerequisites : MTH 251, MTH 252, MTH 254, or equivalent

Texts: Boyce, DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, 9th ed., Wiley&Sons, 2009.
Learning objectives: Upon successfully completing this course a student Success in MTH 256 as in any other mathematics course requires a serious commitment on your part.  Class attendance and involvement as well as extensive regular reading and homework practice are pivotal to succeeding in this course.  For every hour spent in class, plan to spend a minimum of 2-3 hours outside class studying the material. If you have a weak background in calculus or have had difficulties in succeeding in your previous mathematics classes, you may have to dedicate much more effort than this in order to master the course material. I strongly recommend that you study and solve problems in small groups and seek help from other students when you get stuck on a new concept or an exercise. As preparation for this class, you should review the materials covered in the differential, integral and vector calculus courses MTH 251, MTH 252, MTH 254.

If you miss a day of class you should try to obtain notes from one of your classmates and study the missed lesson as soon as possible. Calculus classes move fast and MTH 256 will be no exception, and you will find it difficult to catch up if you fall behind. Be sure to seek help immediately if you are having trouble with any concepts by asking questions in class, by making full use of the free tutoring services provided by the MLC located in Kidder 108, or by visiting your recitation instructor or me during the scheduled office hours. I will also attempt to respond promptly to questions sent to me by email in the course of the term.

You can find insightful (and at times witty) advice on how to survive a calculus class on the websites How to Ace on Calculus and Calculus Tips. Additional online exercises on integral calculus can be found on the COW and Visual Calculus webpages. COW also offers an extensive collection of problems in vector calculus.

A list of recommended homework problems can be found here. These problems will not be collected or graded but solving them will be important to your understanding of the course material and excelling in the exams.

Exams: During the term you will be given four 15–20 minute quizzes, an in-class 60 minute midterm exam, and a final exam. No notes or books are allowed in the quizzes; however, you may use a 5 by 8 inch sheet with hand-written notes on both sides in the midterm and final exams. You may also use a basic scientific calculator, with specifications comparable to those of FX-300, HP-35, TI-36, in all the exams. No make-up midterm or final exams will given after the scheduled time under any circumstances.

Grading information:
Quizzes120 points
Midterm Exam150 points
Final Exam200 points
Total points possible470 points

The grading scale for the course is guaranteed to be no higher than the following cutoffs:
A:420 – 470
B:370 – 419
C:282 – 369
D:260 – 281
F:0 – 259

You can view a day-by-day course calendar by clicking here.

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Last Modified on December 28, 2011