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AME 30315 Course Syllabus

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:42 am
by goodwine
University of Notre Dame
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering


AME 30315: Differential Equations, Vibrations and Control II

Instructor: TAs: Time and Place:
  • Hayes Healy Center 127
    MWF 9:35-10:25
Course Web Page: Grading :
  • The final grade will be based on homework sets and two exams with the following initial distribution:
    1. Homework (10%)
    2. Class participation (5%)
    3. Pendulum control project (10%): due May 4, 2011, no extensions.
    4. Exam 1 (22.5%): Wednesday, February 16, 2011
    5. Exam 2 (22.5%): Wednesday, April 13, 2011
    6. Final exam (40%): 1:45-3:45pm, Friday, May 13, 2011, 101 Jordan Hall of Science
    All examinations except the final are in-class. Any student missing an examination without an excuse from the Office of Student Affairs will receive a grade of zero for that exam.
  • The instructor will periodically inquire with other instructors this semester regarding the adequacy of the preparation of their classes with respect to the subjects covered in AME 30314. If they, or the instructor for this course, is of the impression that the students are not demonstrating reasonable proficiency in the subjects from the fall course, quizzes will be added to this course to help the students with their proficiency. The first time this appears necessary, the quizzes will be weekly. If this does not appear to be sufficient to remedy the situation, twice weekly quizzes will be added. If this still does not appear to remedy the situation, daily quizzes will be instituted. If the status at the end of the semester is that no quizzes are administered then the grade distribution is as above. If weekly quizzes are added, then they will be worth 15% of the grade for the course and the homework will be worth 5% of the grade and each midterm exam will be worth 15%. If more frequent quizzes are necessary, then the amount of the grade that the quizzes are worth will be increased by an additional 5% for each increment, with a corresponding 2.5% reduction in the midterm grade allocation.
  • Guaranteed grades:
    1. (overall grade > mean + 1.5 stdev) OR (overall grade > 90%): A-
    2. (overall grade > mean + 0.5 stdev) OR (overall grade > 80%): B-
    3. (overall grade > mean - 0.5 stdev) OR (overall grade > 70%): C-
    4. (overall grade > mean - 2.0 stdev) OR (overall grade > 60%): D
Regrades:
  • I am happy to regrade anything that was not properly graded. I tend to collect regrades and save them until I have a critical mass, which is often the very end of the semester. Please write on the front what you want me to regrade and why you think it was not properly graded. If you talk to me in February about it and I regrade it in May there is no way I'll remember what you thought the issue was. Submit it directly to the instructor, not in the stack of regular homeworks. Especially with exams, please consult the grading method that I post for the exam before submitting a regrade request. If it is graded consistently with the posted method, then there is not any point in asking for a regrade.
Homework Policy:
  1. Homework sets will be assigned weekly and will be due before the beginning of class on Wednesdays. Late homework will not be accepted without permission from the instructor prior to the time it is due.
  2. Students must submit their homeworks with their Notre Dame ID number (ndID) written on the homework. Homeworks will be returned on the table outside the elevator on the third floor of Fitzpatrick. You may put your name on it if you wish, but they will not be graded without your ndID number.
  3. Collaboration on homework assignments in encouraged. Unless otherwise prohibited, you may consult outside reference materials, other students, the TAs, or the instructor. However, all material that is submitted must be the result of your own individual effort and accurately and substantively reflect your understanding of the subject matter at the time of writing.
  4. Examples of allowed activities include:
    1. working on homeworks and projects as a group provided every member of the group submits material that is consistent with paragraph 3 above;
    2. obtaining help debugging computer programs provided that the computer program submitted is consistent with paragraph 3 above; and,
    3. consulting another person regarding any aspect of a homework assignment provided that what is ultimately submitted is consistent with paragraph 3 above.
  5. Examples of dishonest activities include:
    1. unless expressly allowed by the instructor, submitting material that is not entirely the result of your own intellectual effort;
    2. submitting material that is intentionally misleading such as plots or graphs that were not generated by an accompanying computer code listing, a computer code listing that is purported to be correct that is not or a homework problem that has the correct answer that does not result from the work preceding it;
    3. submitting material that is copied, wholly or in part, in any form; and,
    4. any activity not expressly allowed above that violates either the letter or spirit of the University Academic Code of Honor.
  6. You may not consult homework solutions from prior years. If you submit a homework with a mistake that appears on the solution from previous years that is unlikely to happen by chance an investigation into a possible honor code violation will be pursued.
Some Student and Professor Obligations:
  • I consider it part of my job to make it as easy as possible for you to develop a mature and sophisticated understanding of differential equations, their solution methods and the role they play in engineering. As such, I am happy to answer any and all questions you may have (or to direct you to others, if I think they could do so better) as many times as is necessary to help further this goal, provided that you meet your similar obligation to make a substantive and mature effort to achieve the same goal. Hence:
    • If you regularly attend class, are not disruptive, make an effort to make class time productive for yourself and others, outside of class study the material and regularly complete the assignments, I will make every effort to promptly respond to any communication addressed to me.
    • If you skip class, are generally disruptive, inattentive, texting, surfing the web, completing other coursework, reading the paper, doing the crossword puzzle, etc., I will answer your questions at a time that is convenient for me, which may be never. If you ask questions regarding administrative matters, e.g., test coverage, that I already announced in class, I will not answer them.
    The rationale for this policy is to both manage my workload as well as to prepare you for the realities of the professional world.
Course Text: Subject Outline:
  • This course covers three broad topics: solving systems of linear, first order ordinary differential equations, Laplace transforms and classical control theory.