This document is subject to major updates until the first day of classes!
This syllabus is subject to corrections and updates at any time!

Last update: Monday, December 9, 2024

LINEAR ALGEBRA
(MATH 2164-090, Spring 2025)

Instructor: Gábor Hetyei
Office: Fretwell 335F, Phone: 704-687-2543, E-mail: ghetyei@charlotte.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00-5:00 pm or by appointment (eventual changes will be announced in class).
Text: Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 6th Edition, by David C. Lay, Steven R. Lay, and Judi J. McDonald, ISBN-13: 9780135851258.
Prerequisites: MATH 1120 or MATH 1241 with a grade of C or above or consent of the department.
Topics: Chapter 1: systems of linear equations, Gaussian elimination, vector equations, matrix equations, applications, linear transformations and their matrices (Sections 1.1-1.9).
Chapter 2: matrix operations and inverses (Sections 2.1-2.3).
Chapter 3: determinants and their properties, Cramer's rule (Sections 3.1-3.3).
Return to Chapter 2: subspaces of ℝn, dimension and rank (Sections 2.8-2.9).
Chapter 5: eigenvalues and eigenspaces (Sections 5.1-5.3).
Chapter 4: general vector spaces (Sections 4.1-4.8).
Test Dates:
Test 1 Thursday, February 13, 2:30 - 3:45 pm
Test 2 Thursday, March 27, 2:30 - 3:45 pm
Final Exam Tuesday May 6, 5:00 - 7:30 pm Tuesday, December 10, 2:00 - 4:30 pm
(Double-check in the UNCC Exam schedule!)
The final exam will be cumulative. If you have a valid reason for missing one of the tests, I will use your final exam score to replace the test score.
Calculator policy: Only TI-89 calculators and below (or their equivalents) are allowed during tests and the final. You can use your calculators only to perform the four basic operations (+,-,/,*) and raising to a power. For anything else you must show your work.
Attendance: Required. Each absence reduces your total score by 1% (not to exceed 5%). Furthermore, having 9 or more (even excused) absences results in an automatic course grade of F!
Homework: Some of the homework will be due online using Webwork, some will be have to be worked out on paper. Handwritten assignments will have to be uploaded as scanned PDF files to Canvas, any other file format may be rejected. Past due assignments will be rejected.
Evaluation: Grades will be based on: 5% for attendance, 18% for the homework, 22% for each of the tests, and 33% for the final.
Tentative grading scale: 90 - 100 % A, 75 - 89% B, 60 - 74% C, 50 - 59 % D, 0 - 49% F. (This scale is applicable only if you have 8 or less absences.)
Class meeting: Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:30-6:45 pm in Bioinformatics 217
Disabilities: UNC Charlotte is committed to access to education. If you have a disability and need academic accommodations, please provide a letter of accommodation from Disability Services early in the semester. For more information on accommodations, contact the Office of Disability Services at 704-687-0040 or visit their office at Fretwell 230.
Rules of the Classroom:
  1. No conversations during class. People who disturb the class in any manner will be asked to leave the classroom and counted as absent twice. Raise your hand if you have any question. Cell phones have to be turned off.
  2. Laptops and tablets are only allowed for note taking in the classroom.
  3. If you attend the class via Zoom (currently this is not an option), your microphone should be muted. Use the "chat" feature to ask questions.
  4. Students must have proper registration to attend the class. The instructor has the right to check students IDs during classes and exams.
  5. Students are not allowed to leave the classroom in the middle of the class, except for going to the bathroom, or emergencies. If you know that you have to leave early for a valid reason, let the instructor know before class starts. Do not mark yourself present if you miss more than 15 minutes of the lecture. Signing the attendance sheet and leaving early constitutes a serious academic misconduct, when discovered, the minimum penalty is being counted absent three times.
  6. For further rules (banning discrimination and harassment of any kind) see the following University policies: Policy 406, The Code of Student Responsibility, Policy 502, Sexual Harassment Policy and Grievance Procedures; and see the Information Technology Services Standard for Responsible Use
  7. As for my behavior, correct me, if I address you incorrectly. If you changed your name recently and it is not reflected on the official roster, please use your Ninernet login ID to identify yourself on exams. This is also a good idea if you have the same name as someone else in class.
Academic Integrity: All students are required to read and abide by the Code of Student Academic Integrity. Violations of the Code of Student Academic Integrity, including plagiarism, will result in disciplinary action as provided in the Code. Definitions and examples of plagiarism are set forth in the Code. The Code is available from the Dean of Students Office or online. In this class, the following special rules apply:
  • You are allowed to collaborate on homework solutions, but you have to put them in writing using your own words. If two or more write-ups are identically worded, all of them will be rejected.
  • Exams will be closed book, without notes. Verbatim quotes from the textbook, including theorem and page numbers will be considered academic misconduct.
Copyright issues: My lectures and course materials, including presentations, tests, exams, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. I am the exclusive owner of copyright in those materials I create. I encourage you to take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. However, you may not, nor may you knowingly allow others to reproduce or distribute lecture notes and course materials publicly without my express written consent. This includes providing materials to commercial course material suppliers such as CourseHero and other similar services. Students who publicly distribute or display or help others publicly distribute or display copies or modified copies of an instructor's course materials may be in violation of University Policy 406, The Code of Student Responsibility. Similarly, you own copyright in your original papers and exam essays. If I am interested in posting your answers or papers on the course web site, I will request your written permission.

I wish to especially underscore that under no circumstances should you make homework solutions publicly available.