Math 306U: Introduction to Differential

Equations

Instructor(s)
Lecturer: Mark Sullivan
E-mail: marksull@buffalo.edu
Cell phone: (518) 227-2039
Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:00 AM ET to 11:00 AM ET
Teaching assistant: Mark Sullivan

Prerequisites
MTH 141 and MTH 142.

Textbook
The textbook for this course is free and open source. It can be found at the
following address:

https://tinyurl.com/306text

Meeting times
Monday, February 1st, 2021 - Friday, May 7th, 2021

Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:10 AM ET to 12:25 PM ET

Recitations:
Section U1: Tuesdays, 12:45 PM ET to 1:35 PM ET
Section U2: Thursdays, 12:45 PM ET to 1:35 PM ET

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 The lectures and recitations for this course will be held live over Zoom (see On-
line resources for more information). The lectures and recitations will be recorded
and made available for later viewing.

Course description
From the Mathematics Department: “Analytic solutions, qualitative behavior
of solutions to differential equations. First-order and higher-order ordinary differ-
ential equations, including nonlinear equations. Covers analytic, geometric, and
numerical perspectives as well as an interplay between methods and model prob-
lems. Discusses necessary matrix theory and explores differential equation models
of phenomena from various disciplines. Uses a mathematical software system de-
signed to aid in the numerical and qualitative study of solutions, and in the geomet-
ric interpretation of solutions.”

From me: This class has four topics:

1. First order ODEs (Chapter 1)
2. Higher order linear ODEs with constant coefficients (Chapters 2 and 6)
3. Power series methods for solving ODEs (Chapter 7)
4. Systems of ODEs (Chapters 3 and 8)
For each of these topics, we’ll have three goals:
i. Finding general solutions
ii. Finding solutions to initial value problems
iii. Creating and studying diagrams of solutions

Assignments and grades

Homework will be assigned weekly throughout the course. Each homework
assignment will consist of at most five problems. The assignments will always be
given on Wednesday, to be due on the following Wednesday at 9:00 PM ET. Home-
work will account for 40% of your final grade.
There will be two midterm tests throughout the semester. These tests will not
be cumulative; no question that could have been asked on Test 1 will appear on Test
2. Your lowest test will account for 10% of your final grade. The other test will
account for 30% of your final grade.
There will be a cumulative final exam for the course. See Final exam infor-
mation for more details. It will account for 20% of your final grade.

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 To summarize:
Homework: 40%
Your lowest midterm test: 10%
The other midterm test: 30%
Cumulative final: 20%
The following system will be used to assign letter grades:

If I deem it necessary, I will make adjustments to the scale at the end of the course.
At that time, I will assign grades that are better than or equal to the grades prescribed
above. (Thus, any “curving” will be done at the end of the course. If you ask me
about this during the semester, I will not be able to give you a complete answer.)

Final exam information

There will be a cumulative final exam for the course, scheduled for the following
time:

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021, 11:45 PM - 2:45 PM

(If you have a conflict or some other legitimate reason for which you cannot attend
the final exam at this time, you must inform me immediately.)

Expectations
Despite the pandemic, this is a serious university mathematics course, and it
comes with the usual kinds of expectations, even if certain adjustments to our literal
behavior must be made. The following technologies are essential, not suggested:
1. Stable Internet access throughout the course.
2. A second device with a camera and Internet access, such as a tablet or smart-
phone.

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 If you do not have access to these types of devices, then you must inform me
immediately.
Additionally, if, during the course of the semester, you are unable to fulfill what
would otherwise be expected of you (example: a power outage causes you to be
unable to access or submit a test), then you must inform me immediately. For this
reason, I have provided my cell phone number at the beginning of this syllabus. If
your excuse is legitimate, and you inform me of the problem with appropriate haste,
then I will be willing to discuss accommodations. If you fail to do so, then there
won’t be much that I’ll be able to do to help.

Controlled enrollment
This is a Controlled Enrollment Course. If you need to repeat this course in the
future (because you failed it, resigned from it etc. at the first attempt) you may be
forced to do it in a UB summer or winter session. Registering to repeat this course
in a Fall or Spring semester may be difficult or impossible. For more information
see the Repeat Policy in the UB Undergraduate Catalog: https://catalog.
buffalo.edu/policies/repeat.html.

Accessibility
Reasonable accommodations for equal access to this course because of disabil-
ity should be requested through Accessibility Resources located at 60 Capen Hall,
(716) 645-2608.

Academic honesty
The University at Buffalo’s policy on academic honesty can be found here:

https://catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/integrity.html

I really don’t want to have to deal with this. If, during the course of the semester,
I discover that you have not closely adhered to the university’s policies, then you
will get no sympathy from me. I will pursue the most severe punishment possible
in that case. In short, I assure you that it would be far better for you to fail the
class honestly than to disobey the rules.

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Advice
This class is hard. I have worked with many students in this class before, and
not one of them has ever expressed to me that they found this course easier than
Math 141 or Math 142. It would therefore be reasonable to expect that it will be
harder than either of the previous courses. Of course, my job is to teach you, so I
have some pieces of advice for handling the class.

1. There is exactly one way to improve your skill in mathematics, and it’s
to practice doing the types of problems that you’re studying. For some reason, we
humans simply cannot learn how to do an activity well just by being told how to
do it, or by watching someone else do it. To believe that you can become better at
mathematics by watching someone else do it is equally absurd as believing that you
can become a pianist by watching someone else play the piano.

2. Confidence comes from familiarity. As a psychological corollary to the pre-

vious point, the only way to get over any anxiety that you might feel (especially in
preparation for a test) is to become so familiar with the material that nothing could
possibly surprise you. Think of any task that you feel you could easily do. Surely
you didn’t always think you could do it. So, how did you overcome your self-doubt?

3. Budget your time. This is important in general, but especially so for tests.
The standard amount of time you’ll get for exams in this class is seventy-five min-
utes. Take the first sixty (or so) of those minutes. Divide sixty (or so) by the number
of problems on the test. This tells you how much time you should spend on each
problem. The remaining time (fifteen minutes, or so) is dedicated to possible diffi-
culties that you may face during the test.

4. Check your e-mail daily. This is pretty much the only way I can make an-
nouncements to the entire class. If you miss my e-mails, there won’t be much that
I can do for you.

5. Don’t hesitate to ask me for help. Educating you is my job, and I happen
to love my job. If there’s ever anything I can do to help you learn, let me know.
Additionally, if you have any suggestions for how I should run the course, I’d be
open to those, as well.

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Online resources
Seeing that this course will be (by necessity) completely online, there will be
quite a few online resources that you will need to reference from time to time. All
of these resources will be linked on UB Learns.

Course webpage:
https://tinyurl.com/5743w2tq
All homework assignments and lecture notes will be posted here. This webpage
also contains links to everything below and more.

Link to the Zoom meeting for lectures:

https://tinyurl.com/36hffom9
This is the link we’ll be using for our lectures. Meeting ID: 940 9384 4927,
Passcode: 194666

Link to the Zoom meeting for recitations:

https://tinyurl.com/yubcczwt
This is the link we’ll be using for our recitations. Meeting ID: 959 1260 8844,
Passcode: 162432

Course calendar:
https://tinyurl.com/11cc9ybo
This calendar will document every major event in the course. This calendar is
subject to change, and I will be updating it throughout the semester.

My YouTube channel:
https://tinyurl.com/247wx5jo
Here I will be uploading the recordings of every lecture and recitation.

Gradescope:
https://tinyurl.com/ydx74wyf
You’ll need to use this site in order to access all of your assignments and tests,
and also to view your grades.