MTH 229
MTH229: computer projects to reinforce calculus concepts from numerical and graphical points of view will be presented. Suitable mathematical software will be utilized. Problem solving techniques using the computer will be discussed. The students will be assigned a number of projects to be completed individually or in small groups.
Details
Instructor: Professor John Verzani, john.verzani@csi.cuny.edu.
Website: www.math.csi.cuny.edu/verzani/Classes/MTH229. Also the LMS will be used to message the class, as necessary.
Class time: Th: 10:10 - 12:05, 1S-108
Section: 22711 D007, F26
Office hours: Th: 12:20-2:15, 1S-220
| Date | Assignment | Assessment | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/3 | Project 1 | |||
| 9/10 | Project 2 | Quiz 1 | ||
| 9/17 | Project 3 | Quiz 2 | ||
| 9/24 | Project 4 | Quiz 3 | ||
| 10/1 | Projects 1-4 | Quiz 4 | ||
| 10/8 | Test 1 | Projects 1-4 due | ||
| 10/15 | Project 5 | Quiz 5 | ||
| 10/22 | Project 6 | Quiz 6 | ||
| 10/29 | Project 7 | Quiz 7 | ||
| 11/5 | Test 2 | Projects 5-7 due | ||
| 11/12 | Project 8 | |||
| 11/19 | Project 9 | Quiz 8 | ||
| 11/26 | No Class | |||
| 12/3 | Project 10 | Quiz 9 | ||
| 12/10 | Projects 8-10 | Quiz 10 | ||
| 12/17 | Test 3 | Projects 8-10 due |
Some adminstrative dates
9/10: Last day to drop with a 50% refund.
9/17: Last day to drop with a 25% refund. Last day to drop without a grade of W.
11/6: Course withdrawal period ends: last day to drop a course with a grade of W for the fall term (15-week regular session).
Grading
You must have at least a 50% average on your exams to pass. If you do, your grade will be based on your:
- project average (40%),
- your average on 3 exams and (50%), and
- your average on in-class quizzes (10%).
The three exams, each of equal weight, will be on
- March 5th (on projects 1-4)
- April 16th (on projects 5-7)
- May 21st (on projects 8-10)
The exams will be taken in pencil and paper format and will be completed without a computer.
Quizzes
There will be quizzes at the end of most classes, ten in total. Your lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. There are no make up quizzes.
Using Julia
The mathematical software used in this section will be Julia. Julia is an open-source software language well designed for numerical computations.
Learning resources
For most students, the online, in-class projects will provide the necessary background for completing the work. For more background, the website mth229.github.io provides longer-length learning materials.
Julia is open source. We have several different ways to use Julia in this class.
Through the department’s Juliabox setup
Once set up, you will be able to log on to a website hosting Julia and the course projects at https://www.math.csi.cuny.edu/juliabox. Your username will be the same as your WeBWorK logon. Your password will be independent and set by you when you first log on.
This is the recommended way to run Julia. The following are backup alternatives:
Binder
Binder is a free web service for Jupyter notebooks. It is resource limited, but useful in a pinch. (There are 2GB or memory and it will timeout after 8 minutes of inactivity). This image runs a lighter-weight version of the MTH229 package that has mostly drop-in alternatives to both Plots and SymPy.
Google Colab
Colab, or “Colaboratory”, allows you to write and execute Julia in your browser, with
- A light amount of configuration required
- Access to GPUs free of charge
- Easy sharing
Whether you’re a student, a data scientist or an AI researcher, Colab can make your work easier.
Some instructions are here.
Local installation
Julia can be downloaded and installed on a local computer. See https://github.com/JuliaLang/juliaup for one way to do this. In addition to Julia, there are a handful of necessary steps to download and install the projects and some accompanying libraries. Details are to be found at mth229.github.io, but basically you need to install IJulia and the MTH229 and Plots packages.
SoaceStation
The SpaceStation package wraps up Pluto notebooks in a (promised) easy install (download the “app” and use like any other app). You might find this of interest, though using Pluto is a bit different thant using Jupyter.
Using WeBWorK
The class is structured around 10 topics or “projects”. For each topic, there are a series of WeBWorK questions to complete. These will be worth 40% of your grade.
Logging on
This semester we will be use WeBWorK through Brightspace. You need to logon to Brightspace and then find the WeBWorK setup.
Answering questions
The WeBWorK questions for this class have some differences than the ones for MTH 231 and MTH 230. In particular, they require you to do the computations in Julia, as WeBWorK is instructed not to help out with certain simplifications it is otherwise capable of doing.
In addition, WeBWorK has a different indicator for scientific notation. Julia uses and e, as in 1.23e45, whereas WeBWorK would use an E, as in 1.23E45.
Most questions have a tolerance of 4 digits after the decimal point. Some questions where the answer comes from reading a graph will relax this tolerance.
The expected workflow is that the question is read in WeBWorK, the question is answered in a Julia notebook cells, the appropriate results are then copy and pasted for the WeBWorK answer. Unfortunately, the fonts used to display the WeBWorK questions do not lend themselves to copy and paste into a Julia notebook.
Policies
Integrity policy: CUNY’s Academic Integrity Policy is available online at https://www.csi.cuny.edu/catalog/undergraduate/academic-policies.htm#o3518
Disability policy: Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable academic accommodations if determined eligible by the Office for Disability Services. The site CUNY Accommodate allows a student to request such accommodations.
Absences
Undocumented students have every right to safety as their documented counterparts. For attendance: Excused absences include court hearings and immigration appointments. No documentation is needed to receive an excused absence.
Resources:
https://www.wehaverights.us, https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/for-communities/, https://www.nyic.org/resources-training/kyr/, https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas, https://www.cuny.edu/current-students/student-affairs/cuny-immigrant-student-success/undocumented-student-support/#legal
Referrals for free legal services are available at hotline@unlocal.org or 646-233-0967.
Free, confidential assistance with U.S. citizenship is available for members of the CUNY community at https://bit.ly/CUNYCitizenshipNow.
Know your rights if you are a student or employee confronted by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): https://bit.ly/CUNYKnowYourRights.