Rutgers Math 421 -- Advanced Calculus for Engineering -- Spring 2006, Section 2

This section

Section 2 meets MW5 in SEC 204.

The instructor for this section is Prof. Bumby.

Class exams are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22 and Monday, April 3. The final exam is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 8 - 11 AM.

Textbook

Dennis G. Zill and Michael R. Cullen; Advanced Engineering Mathematics (second edition); Jones and Bartlett, 2000 (926 pp.); (ISBN# 0-763-71065-2)

Syllabus and homework

A syllabus will grow in this spot. The homework for each lecture is due two class meetings (usually one week) after the lecture. Here is what we have so far.

Notes on Laplace transforms are now available expressing the lecturer's preference in organizing the formulas and using them to compute Laplace transforms and inverse transforms. Examples of the main applications are also included.

Regular office hours can be found on the instructor's home page. Special office hours before exams will be announced here. The discussion tool in the Sakai site can also be used to send queries at any time.

Notes on Sturm-Liouville problems and applications to the Separation of Variables method for partial differential equations have been prepared. Since the solutions include solutions to problems from the textbook, these notes are only available through the Sakai site for the section.

Grades

The first exam has been graded. The average score was 66.7 and the median was 65. A scatter plot shows the comparison of grades on this exam with the homework score. Individual grades have been entered in the FAS Gradebook. There is also a distribution of scores (but no attempt to assign letter grades) and scaled averages (formed by dividing by the maximum possible score [or base score ] and multiplying by 10) for each problem. Scaling allows easy comparison of the difficulty of problems of different weight, since the maximum score is always 10.

The second exam has been graded. The average score was 68.7 and the median was 68. A scatter plot shows the comparison of grades on this exam with the homework score. Individual grades have been entered in the FAS Gradebook. There is also a distribution of scores (but no attempt to assign letter grades) and scaled averages (formed by dividing by the maximum possible score [or base score ] and multiplying by 10) for each problem. Scaling allows easy comparison of the difficulty of problems of different weight, since the maximum score is always 10.

A plot of homework as a predictor of midterm exams, including a tend line, was produced. This suggested that the raw score of homework (actual maximum score 152 out of a possible 170), be multiplied by 2/3 before being combined with the exam scores. Lines showing totals of 240, 190 and 150 were added to the plot. The final exam has been graded. The average score was 135.8 out of 200, with a median of 140. Another scatter plot shows the comparison of grades on this exam with the total classwork score. Individual exam scores and course grades have been entered in the FAS Gradebook. There is also a trend line and lines showing totals of 400, 365, 330, 295, 260, and 225 giving divisions between letter grades.

Comments on this page should be sent to: R. T. Bumby

Last updated: May 09, 2006