Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
MA 354−101
Summer 2019/Summer 2020
Class Time: Asynchronous
Location: Online
Instructor: Dr. Audi Byrne
E-mail: abyrne@southalabama.edu
Office Hours: From 9 am to 11 am CST, MWF, I am available for real time questions and
answers by e-mail or Skype.
Course webpage:
http://www.southalabama.edu/mathstat/personal_pages/byrne/MA354_Summer2019.htm
Bulletin Description: This course is intended to provide the basic ideas regarding formulation,
development, testing and reporting of mathematical models of various real world problems.
Deterministic and stochastic models, optimization and simulations will be covered. Emphasis
will be on careful mathematical formulations and the use of computer software, such as
Microsoft Excel and Mathematica. A term project will be an important component of this course.
The course is taught in a laboratory setting with computers as lab equipment. Prerequisites:
MA227 and MA 238. This is a designated writing course (W).*
Course Materials
Text: A First Course in Mathematical Modeling, F.R. Giordano, W.P. Fox, S. B Horton and
M.D. Weir. (3rd Edition ISBN: 0-534-38428-5; 4th Edition: 0-495-01159-2) It is not necessary to
purchase the entire textbook. Only Chapters 1, 11 and 12 are required and these may be rented
from Cengage (link).
Software: A personal copy of Excel, PowerPoint and the student version of Mathematica is
required. Students may download Excel and PowerPoint for free from the university (link). A
student version of Mathematica may be purchased from Wolfram (link). Downloading Skype is
also required, as well as an application for creating short videos.
Online Materials: The USAonline course site (or its equivalent) will have the course syllabus
and weekly announcements. We will be making use of the textbook (your hard copy or e-text),
instructional videos, and handouts in pdf, Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Mathematica. You will
need to be able to read and create documents in these formats.
Computer and internet access: Students are required to have access to a computer and internet.
Occasionally, high speed internet access is required that can support real time video.
*
Two designated writing courses (W) are required as a general education requirement, with at least one course
chosen from offerings in the student’s major or minor.
Course Objective: There are three objectives. The first is to be familiar with common modeling
approaches, including discrete, continuous and probabilistic, and to interpret their mathematical
descriptions. The second is to analytically and numerically study mathematical models (e.g., to
calculate solutions, describe the role of parameters, build an implementation of a model, and
ascertain the validity of a model in terms of given assumptions and real-world context). The third
objective is to construct models by identifying a modeling problem, selecting an appropriate
approach for one’s goals and making appropriate simplifying assumptions.
Course Components
Weekly Homework and Modeling Projects (60%): This is a project-based course. Projects are
organized by week and typically include materials to be read, three online lectures (videos) and two
student assignments. Depending on the assignment, student submissions may have software components
(assignments completed on Excel or Mathematica) or may be conventional homework assignments
(problems from the textbook). Conventional home work assignment should be written on paper and
scanned for submission on USAonline. For this online class, each “Week” starts on a Monday and ends
on a Sunday. Assignments each “Week” will be posted on USAonline and will be due on Wednesdays
and Fridays.
Course Modeling Project (40%): Through the second half of the semester, students will complete
and present modeling projects. Five components will represent a term project that will take the place of
the course final.
Component 1 (5%): In the 4th week of classes, students submit a modeling topic for approval by
the instructor.
Component 2 (10%): In the 6th week of classes, students will submit a written essay describing
their modeling project, somewhat like a project ‘prospectus’. The essay will describe the background for
their modeling topic, including a summary of modeling approaches used historically, their modeling
question, and how they plan to investigate that question with a computational model. Essays will be
written individually, and there will be requirements for the number of words and the accuracy of the
mathematical descriptions. Both peer and instructor feedback will be provided that must be incorporated
in the final version of the essay submitted on the last week of classes.
Component 3 (5%): peer review of the written essays of three other students in the course
Component 4 (10%): in the last week of classes, students will create 10 minute presentations on
their topic with slides summarizing information from Component 1 and a set of additional slides that
describe the implementation and results of an independent modeling investigation. Several points will be
based on watching the videos of other students, learning from their presentations and constructive peer
review.
Component 5 (10%): On the day of the Final, students will submit a revised essay including six
additional paragraphs on their modeling project results, conclusions, and future directions.
Grading: Weekly Projects 60 %
The final grade will be calculated as follows:
Final Course Project 40 %
The total score will then be curved and the letter grade for the class will be determined with a
conventional grading scale as follows:
A(90-100) B(80-89) C(70-79) D(60-69) F(0-59)
Course Policies
Course Webpage: The course webpage will contain a copy of this syllabus, a detailed schedule,
a list of all assigned homework problems, and any important announcements. It may also contain
useful handouts for the coursework.
Communication: The best way to contact me is through e-mail. An appointment may be made
to communicate in person by Skype. When sending e-mails, please include your name since it
may be difficult to decode a student’s name from their e-mail address. I frequently send
announcements and course resources via e-mail to your jaguar account. Please check this account
regularly.
Late Assignment Policy: Assignments will be turned in on USAonline and are due twice a
week, with due dates at midnight Wednesday and Friday. Late assignments without extenuating
circumstances will be marked down 10%. Assignment due dates will be announced in class and
can also be found online on the course webpage.
Attendance: Upon registering for this class, you are taking responsibility for the course and you
are expected to be online at least three times a week doing work and meeting all established
deadlines as indicated on the weekly assignents posted on USAonline.
Distractions: Turn off cell phones while you are in class. Texting or working on other course
work while in class is not allowed. Surfing the internet is especially tempting in a computer lab
setting; to counter this, note that the computers may be occasionally monitored.
Help with the course: On USAonline, there will be a course chatroom where students can ask
questions and answer student questions about the assignments. The chatroom will be monitored
by the professor, especially during office hours, and the professor will answer questions that are
not already supplied by other students. Hopefully students will find this useful and the chatroom
will be active. Also, two bonus points will be given to students that participate more than average
(top 50%) in any given week of the course. (Thus in principle, every student can receive the two
bonus points by participating more in different weeks.)
Dropping the Course: The last drop day for the course is Friday, March 29th. Students drop
courses for a variety of reasons, but if there is any way that I might help, please speak with me if
you are considering dropping the course. Also, consider speaking with the department chair (Dr.
Mulekar) or the assistant to the chair (Dr. Brick) before dropping.
Disabilities: If you have a specific disability that qualifies you for academic accommodations,
please notify me and provide certification from the Office of Special Student Services located at
5828 Old Shell Road at Jaguar Drive, (251-460-7212). In accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, students with bona fide disabilities will be afforded reasonable
accommodations. The Office of Special Student Services (OSSS) will certify a disability and
advise faculty members of reasonable accommodations.
Online Writing Support: The University of South Alabama provides online writing tutoring
services through SMARTHINKING, an online tutoring service. SMARTHINKING is available
at http://services.smarthinking.com. Students may enter the site by logging on with their Jag
number and using the last four digits of the social security number as the password. For
log-on problems, technical questions and/or on-campus writing assistance, contact
the USA Writing Center at 251-460-6480 or e-mail csaint-paul@usouthal.edu. Information about
the University Writing Center and Online Writing Lab can be found online at:
http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/instruction/antiplagiarism/writinghelp.html
http://www.southalabama.edu/lowdown/academicdisruption.shtml
Student Academic Conduct Policy: The University of South Alabama’s policy regarding
Student Academic Conduct Policy is found in The Lowdown. The University of South Alabama
is a community of scholars in which the ideals of freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought,
freedom of expression, and freedom of the individual are sustained. The University is committed
to supporting the exercise of any right guaranteed to individuals by the Constitution and the
Code of Alabama and to educating students relative to their responsibilities.
http://www.southalabama.edu/lowdown/academicconductpolicy.shtml
The requirements and policies above may be modified as circumstances dictate. Such changes will be
provided to the students in class and in writing. You will often first be notified of changes by e-mail, so please
check your southalabama e-mail accounts regularly.