General Information

Textbook

A First Course in Mathematical Modeling, 4th ed. by Giordano, Fox, Horton, and Weir. (ISBN 978-0-495-01159-0). (Other editions are also acceptable)

Scheduled Lectures

MWF 10:10—11:15
Haldeman 028

Instructor

Warren Lord
Office: Kemeny Hall 310
Office Hours: M W 2-3:30
Contact via Warren.M.Lord [aT] Dartmouth [dot] edu.

Grades

  1. Problem sets (60%): These will focus on developing, analyzing, interpreting, and critiquing mathematical models. Each problem set will contain a significant written component. The problems will often require answers in essay or paragraph format.
  2. Final Exam (30%)
  3. Quizzes (10%): Short exercises that may sometimes be given during lecture, or as take-home quizzes, which will be handed out during lecture to be turned in at the next lecture.

Many of the assigned problems will be somewhat open-ended, meaning that there is no single correct answer. These problems will be graded based on the completeness and thoughtfulness of the ideas presented in the answer, as well as the quality of the presentation of the ideas.

The Dartmouth Honor Principle applies. Students are encouraged to collaborate on homework assignments, but not to copy. This means that it is okay to talk about the problem and hash out ideas together, but the write-ups should be done separately by each individual. Quizzes and Exams are not collaborative.

Computer use

We will use MATLAB for a number of examples and homework assignments. It will be necessary to be able to use the MATLAB command line and execute MATLAB scripts. See this webpage to obtain a free installation of MATLAB per the Dartmouth site license.