Department of Mathematics

Maths 162: Modelling and Computation Study Guide: Semester 1 2014

This document contains important information about the course Maths 162. Please read it carefully. You should keep this document for future reference.

Course Description
Maths 162 is an introductory course to Mathematical Modelling. In this course students learn how to model a variety of real world problems and derive solutions with some levels of approximation. Analytical solution methods are used in combination with Matlab programmes to solve these problems. The topics covered are: Matlab programming and Modelling in the concept of dierence equations, solution of nonlinear equations, systems of linear equations, simulation and Markov chains.

Lecturers & Contacts

The lecturers for this course are: Weeks 1-4 Prof Hinke Osinga: Room 533, Building 303, Email: [email protected] Oce hours: Monday 3pm and Wednesday 12pm. Weeks 5-12 Dr Maryam Alavi (course coordinator): Room 413, Building 303, Email: [email protected] Oce hours: Tuesday 12pm, Wednesday 2pm and Thursday 10am. Your lecturers are here to help you. You are welcome to speak to them about any aspects of the course. If you want to talk to your lecturer, you can either speak to them after a lecture or in oce hours, or you can make an appointment to meet at another time.

Lectures & Tutorials

The lectures are at 11am on Mondays, 11am on Tuesdays, and 3pm on Wednesdays. Note that room allocations can change before or during the rst weeks of semester. Check the room allocation on Student Services Online, before each lecture in the rst two weeks for up-to-date information. You must also enrol in one of the tutorial streams, 9am on Mondays, 12pm on Mondays, 9am on Tuesdays, 9am on Wednesdays or 10am on Wednesdays. Tutorials run for 10 consecutive teaching weeks and will be held in the Teaching Laboratories in Building 303S. Check the Laboratory allocation on Student Services Online, before the rst and second tutorials for up-to-date information. It is usually not possible to attend a tutorial other than the one you are enrolled for. Tutorials start on Monday 10 March, Tuesday 11 March and Wednesday 12 March.

CECIL
Information about the course will be available on CECIL: http://www.cecil.auckland.ac.nz. This is the place to look for announcements about Maths 162, tutorial sheets and notes, assignments, etc., as well as your coursework marks. Some lectures will be recorded, but we cannot guarantee that recordings of all lectures will be available. Lecture recordings should be used as an additional resource, not as a replacement for lectures. 1

Pre-requisites and restrictions

Students entering this course should have prior or concurrent enrolment in Maths 108, Maths 150 or Maths 153, or ENGINEERING SCIENCE 111, ENGINEERING GEN 150 or PHYSICS 111. This course is not restricted against any other Mathematics courses. Speak to your lecturer if you have any concerns about your mathematics background.

Expectations
You should spend 10 hours per week on Maths 162. The expected normal pattern of student study each week is: 3 hours lectures 1 hour tutorial 4 hours lecture and tutorial preparation and revision 2 hours assignments and test preparation. You are expected to attend all lectures and tutorials and to come prepared. This means that you will have previewed the material and done any preliminary examples that have been set. As a general rule, written answers to the tutorial questions will not be distributed. Some model answers and feedback on the assignment questions will be posted on Cecil after each assignment due date. Maths 162 is a modelling and programming course; there is no unique perfect way to programme code and any assignment question will typically have more than one possible solution.

Assessment
The nal grade for the course will be calculated as follows: 50% Final exam (2 hours) 25% Mid-semester test held at 6pm on Tuesday 8 April 15% Three assignments Due dates: Thursday 27 March Thursday 8 May Thursday 22 May 5% Tutorials 3% Two short tutorial tests held within the tutorial time in Week 5 and in Week 11 2% Three modelling tutorials held during lecture time on: Tuesday 29 April Monday 5 May Wednesday 7 May You must achieve at least 35% in the nal exam in order to pass the course. The mid-semester test will be held at 6pm and the room allocation will be announced. The test will be 50 minutes long. If you have a timetable clash at the time of the mid-semester test, please, send an email to the course coordinator as soon as possible with details about the other test or lab, so we can try make alternative arrangements. 2

Assignments will be posted on Cecil one week before the due date. Assignments should be handed in by 4pm on the due date to the assignment hand-in boxes located in the Student Resource Centre, on the ground oor of building 303, through the Atrium from Sci-Space and the Science Student Centre. Late assignments will not be accepted. If illness or other problems prevent you from completing any of the assignments you should contact your lecturer as soon as possible. A medical certicate will be required if you wish to apply for exemption from an assignment. If you are ill at the time of the test or exam you should contact Student Health and Counselling (telephone 373-7599 extension 87681) immediately to obtain information on how to apply for an aegrotat or compassionate pass. Tutorial credits are given for being active in the tutorial, working on Maths 162 tutorial questions for that stream. It is not allowed to be working on other materials, including Maths 162 Assignments, during the tutorials. If you ignore this, you may be asked to leave the Laboratory or get zero credit for the tutorial. At the end of each tutorial, show your working to the tutors and make sure it gets signed o on the attendance sheet. Please note that, although the tutors approach the students and discuss the questions during the tutorial, it is your responsibility to present your work and ensure your name is recorded as proof of your attendance and being active.

Textbook and Course Syllabus

There is a mandatory course book for this course, available for $32.50 from The University Bookshop (Information commons). We follow the syllabus of the course book closely in the lectures. If you prefer to work on your own computer, the Student Resource Centre sells the student version of Matlab for about $98. Introduction and beginning with Matlab [Chapter 1; 1 lecture]; Matlab computations - Matlab as a calculator, script les, function les [Chapter 2; 3 lectures]; Dierence equations - iteration in Matlab, explicit solutions, logistic growth, long-term behaviour, cobwebbing [Chapter 3; 7 lectures]; Nonlinear equations - Newton-Raphson formula, bisection, Boolean expressions [Chapter 4; 4 lectures]; Systems of linear equations - solving systems of equations, price-sales function, vectors and matrices [Chapter 5; 3 lectures]; Mathematical modelling - Includes marked in-class modelling tutorials [Chapter 6; 6 lectures] Simulation - histograms, uniform and normal distribution, probability density function [Chapter 7, 3 lectures]; Using simulation to solve problems - examples [Chapter 8, 2 lectures]; Markov chains - path probabilities, simulation, long-term behaviour [Chapter 9, 4 lectures].

Calculators
The use of calculators in the Maths 162 test and exam is restricted. You are only permitted to use the Jastek JasCS1 Scientic Calculator which is available from the University Book Shop for a special price of $19.99. If you currently own a Casio fx-82MS Scientic Calculator (no longer in production), you are permitted to use this calculator instead. If you are in any doubt about whether you will be allowed to use your calculator in the Maths 162 test and exam, then please ask your lecturer or the course coordinator. 3

Undergraduate Computer Laboratory

Maths 162 makes extensive use of the software package Matlab, which is available on computers in the Mathematics and Statistics computing laboratory (B91) in the basement of the Mathematics and Physics building. There will demonstrators in the laboratory to assist you with technical problems with Matlab. The demonstrators will not do your assignment for you. The laboratory will be heavily used during the semester and there may be no computers available when you would like to work on your assignment. Hence, it is important to start your assignments early.

Getting Further Help

For assistance with the material covered in the course: Ask questions in class. Ask about the material in the tutorial. You can also get help and advice from the tutors in the Assistance Room next to Sci Space on the ground oor of the Maths building (open on weekdays except Wednesdays from 11am to 4pm). This is open from the second week of the semester. Visit the lecturers during their oce hours (see Lecturers & Contacts on page 1 for details). The Student Learning Centre (SLC) in the Information Commons oers some one-to-one assistance. You pay $10 to join the SLC and this entitles you to book SLC assistance for the entire calendar year.

Administrative information
Maths Tuakana Programme
Maori and Pacic students are encouraged to participate in the Maths Tuakana Programme. For information please contact Tulele Masoe ([email protected]) or visit the website: www.math.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/maori-and-pacific-students.html.

English Language Assistance

The main assistance oered to students who need help with English language is English Language Enrichment (ELE); see their website at http://www.cad.auckland.ac.nz/ele/. This computer-laboratory based service is free and open seven days a week. Tutors are available to help. Alternatively, there are credit-bearing English language courses (ESOL 100/101/102).

Collaborating & Cheating

You are encouraged to discuss problems with one another and to work together, but you must not copy another persons assignment. Assignment marks contribute to the nal mark you receive in this course. We view cheating on assignment work as seriously as cheating in an examination. Generally acceptable forms of collaboration include: Discussing assignments and tutorial examples and methods of solution with other students. Getting help in understanding from sta and tutors. Generally unacceptable forms of collaboration (cheating) include: Copying all or part of another students assignment, or allowing someone else to do all or part of your assignment for you. Allowing another student to copy all or part of your assignment, or doing all or part of an assignment for somebody else. This is treated as seriously as copying another students assignment. If you are in any doubt about the permissible degree of collaboration, then please discuss it with a sta member. If you have not done so already, take the University online Academic Integrity Course (composed of 5 modules) at www.academicintegrity.auckland.ac.nz Register of Deliberate Academic Misconduct As from 2009, if a student deliberately cheats and receives a penalty, the case will be recorded in a University-wide Register. The record of the oence will normally remain until one year after the student graduates. The Register will help identify repeat oenders, with the risk that these students will receive more severe penalties for repeat oences.

Harassment & Complaints

Complaints about marking should be taken to your lecturers who are in a position to do something immediately. More general complaints can be taken up by your class representative. You may also approach the Head of Department or the Departmental Manager for Mathematics. Harassment on any grounds, such as racial, sexual, religious and academic is totally unacceptable. Complaints about harassment are best taken to the University Mediator (extension 88905). For more information, see the website http://www.auckland.ac.nz/mediation 5