Syllabus for Math 204: Differential Equations
Koç University, Fall 2014
Instructors, their offices & office hours:
Altan Erdoğan: Sciences Building 104, Tuesdays 10:00 – 12:00
Emre Mengi: Sciences Building 114, Thursday 15:30 – 17:30
Ali Mostafazadeh: Sciences Building 154, Mondays and Wednesdays 14:20-15:20
Ali Ülger: Sciences Building 105, Tuesdays and Thursdays 13:00-14:00
Web address: To be announced.
Textbook: W. E. Boyce and R. C. DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, 10th Edition.
Topics to be covered: Introduction to differential equations (Chapter 1), First order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) (Chapter 2), Second and higher order ODEs, Power series solution of ODEs, The Laplace transform, Systems of linear ODEs , Partial Differential equations and Fourier Series (PDE’s) .
Objective: To provide the student with a basic knowledge of ODEs and PDEs. This includes the general theory of and solution techniques for general first order ODEs, second order linear ODEs, systems of first order ODEs, and the heat and wave equations.
Homeworks: Suggested homework problems will be assigned regularly but not collected for grading. Students are advised to solve these problems in order to gain a better understanding of the subject.
Evaluation method: Students’ progress will be evaluated according to their performance in two midterm and one final exams. Each of the midterm exams will contribute as 30% to the total grade while the final exam will have a 40% weight.
Eligibility to take the Final Exam: Students will be permitted to take the final exam, only if the average of their midterm exam grades is 25 or higher.
Make-ups: The final exam will be the make-up exam for the missed midterm exams. If a student takes the final as the make-up for a missed midterm exam(s) and as a result the average of his (her) grades for the midterms is below 25, the final exam (s)he had taken will serve only as the make-up for the missed midterm(s) and not as the final exam. If a student is eligible to take the final exam but misses it and has a valid excuse, (s)he will be given a make-up exam.
Suggested method of study: Reading the lecture notes and the books is necessary for grasping the subject, but it is by no means sufficient. Students must try to reproduce the definitions and proofs of the theorems, and apply the techniques to other problems.
Attendance and auditing students: Students are advised to attend all the lectures and PSs. Attendance will be taken during the lectures on random dates. (These may correspond to dates when the number of attending students is unusually low.) A maximum of 5 bonus points due to attendance will be added to the total grade of a student. This bonus point will be proportional to the ratio (# of times the student is present when attendance is taken)/(# of times attendance is taken).
Academic dishonesty: If a student is caught cheating in an exam, (s)he will be punished according to the YÖK regulations. These consist of one or two semesters of prohibition from attending the university.