Syllabus for Math 251

Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations

Summer 2008

General Information:

• Instructor: Andong He
• Office: 430 McAllister Building
• Office hours: Monday & Tuesday 3:00-4:00pm, or by appointment.
• Email: he@math.psu.edu
• Homepage: http://www.math.psu.edu/he/Math251.htm

Course Description: This is a course on ordinary and partial differential equations which includes: first-order and second-order equations; series solutions; Laplace transform solutions; higher order equations; Fourier series;
second-order partial differential equations, etc.

Prerequisite: Math 141, or equivalent courses.

Textbook: Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, 8th edition, W. E. Boyce and R.C. Diprima, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Homework: Suggested homework will be assigned weekly via my homepage. You do not have to hand them in. However, I strongly recommend you try to solve all the problems assigned to improve your skills so that you can expect to get higher quiz/exam grades.

Examinations: There will be two 75-minute midterm examinations and one take-home final exam. Midterms are scheduled to be held during class hours, but may be changed to evening hours(6:30-7:45pm).
Midterm I: Jul 8(Tuesday)
Midterm II: Jul 28(Monday)
Final: Assigned on Aug 11(Monday), and due on Aug 13(Wednesday)

Quiz: Five 30-minite quizzes will be given on Wednesdays (except the first week and exam-week) during class hours. Exact dates are:
Jun 25, Jul 2, Jul 16, Jul 23 and Aug 6.
Note: The lowest quiz grade will be dropped.

Calculators: A calculator may be useful for some homework problems involving graphing.
However, the use of calculators is not permitted in quizzes or exams.

Grading Policy: Grades will be assigned on the basis of 450 points distributed as follows:
100 points midterm I
100 points midterm II
100 points quizzes
150 points final examination

Final grades will be assigned as follows:
A 405-450 pts     A- 390-404 pts      B+ 375-389 pts      B 360-374 pts
B- 345-359 pts    C+ 330-344 pts      C 315-329 pts       D 270-314 pts
F 0-269 pts

Questions, Problems, or Comments: If you have questions or concerns about the course, please
consult your instructor first. If further guidance is needed, you may contact the course coordinator
Zachary Tseng by sending an email to tseng@math.psu.edu.