Matrix Algebra with Computational Applications (Colbry)

Matrix Algebra with Computational Applications is a collection of Open Educational Resource (OER) materials designed to introduce students to the use of Linear Algebra to solve real world problems. These materials were developed specifically for students and instructors working in a “flipped classroom” model that emphasizes hands-on problem solving activities during class meetings, with students watching lectures and completing readings and assignments outside of the classroom. The materials are organized into a semester long course with “pre-class” and “in-class” assignments. The “pre-class” assignments include readings, video lectures and coding projects (in Python), which students are expected to complete before attending class. The in-class assignments consist of hands-on individual and group activities intended to be completed during class. These in-class activities are supervised by the instructors, who actively answer questions and help guide the students in achieving the learning goals for the course.

To be successful in this course, students need to have strong Python programming skills. Students will leverage these coding skills to write programs that use Linear Algebra to solve science and engineering problems. Although it is important for students to understand the mathematical concepts behind the materials, this course is not intended to teach students how to do mathematical proofs.

Complete Pre-class Assignment

You are expected to come to class ready to complete the in-class assignments. To prepare for most classes, students are required to complete pre-class assignments (typically two pre-class assignments per week). These assignments will be in the form of jupyter notebooks and will include reading, videos and programming activities. The required time for each pre-class will vary but the instructors have tried to make them take approximately 30-minutes. Each pre-class assignment ends with an online survey which students are required to complete in order to earn credit for the assignment. Your first weeks assignments are available on the course OER website or downloadable from the course website.

Introducing the Course Textbooks

Student self guided learning through assigned readings are required for students to be successful. The course strives to use Open Educational Resources (OER) to help reduce financial burden on the students. To this end we have selected the following textbooks for reading assignments and supplemental examples:

• Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra by Boyd and Vandenberghe
• Linear Algebra by Jim Heffron
• A First Course in Linear Algebra by Robert A. Beezer

DO NOT WORRY You will not be expected to read all three textbooks in this course! In fact, we try to keep the reading at a reasonable level and focus on problem solving. However, most students benefit from seeing material in multiple ways (Reading, Lecture, Practice, etc). Different students (and instructors) also prefer different writing styles and may learn better with different text (which is why we provide more than one).

Students are encouraged to review and become familiar with the style and layout of each text to act as a common reference for the course. If you get stuck on a topic try looking it up and reviewing it in one of the other texts. If you are still stuck you can search the Internet. Do not be afraid to also ask your instructors questions and come to office hours. That is why we are here!!!