Developmental

• Math 372
• Math 372L
• Math 376
• Math 376L
• Math 380
• Math 380L
• Math 101
• Math 120
• Math 120L

College Transfer

• Math 4
• Math 5
• Math 15
• Math 25
• Math 30
• Math 45
• Math 50A
• Math 50B
• Math 50C
• Math 52
• Math 55

Course Proposals (Drafts)

Course Outlines

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Math 4 --- Matlab Programming

Click here to download Curriculum Committee document

Catalog Description

An introduction to programming in Matlab, with emphasis on programming applications in science, mathematics, and engineering.

Special notes or advisories: Students will be issued usernames and passwords which will allow them to complete their assignments in the computer lab in the Physical Sciences building on the Eureka campus. Students wishing to work on assignments on the their home computers must purchase the Student Edition of Matlab. See: www.mathworks.com.

Prerequisites

Math 30 and Math 25 with a grade of "C" or better.

Describe representative skills without which the student would be highly unlikely to succeed: Students must be comfortable with the language of functions. Students must be familiar with certain classes of functions, such as linear, absolute value, quadratic, polynomial, rational functions as well as possessing understanding of functions containing radical notation. Students must be well acquainted with the elementary functions, such as the exponential, logarithmic, and the trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant, cosecant) and their inverses. The knowledge of the theory of functions and the particular knowledge of the aforementioned classes of functions will prepare the students for a number of programming applications that they will design and implement in a course that emphasizes programming applications in the areas of science, mathematics, and engineering. Finally, some previous work solving system of equations using matrices will help with many of the applications studied in this course. These are precisely the skills the student encounters in the prerequisite courses Math 30 (college algebra) and Math 25 (trigonometry).

Recommended Preparation

Although not required, some previous experience with the definition of the derivative will help prepare students to work with applications involving numerical differentiation.

Course Learning Outcomes

What should the student be able to do as a result of taking this course? State some of the objectives in terms of specific, measurable student accomplishments.

1. Students will be able to demonstrate the capability for independent work and research.
2. Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively, both in oral and written presentations.
3. Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to apply their knowledge of basic science, mathematics, and engineering principles to solve computing and information processing problems.
4. Students will demonstrate the ability to write correct, efficient, and well documented programs.

Course Content

• Themes: What themes, if any, are threaded throughout the learning experiences in this course?
  • Abstraction.
  • Modularity.
  • Documentation.
  • Independence.
  • Teamwork.
  • Communication.
• Concepts: What concepts do students need to understand to demonstrate course outcomes?
  • Students need to understand how computer implementations of numerical algorithms can enhance the learning experience in their field, be it science, mathematics, or engineering.
  • Students need to learn how to break a complex project into manageable components.
  • Students need to develop an appreciation of well documented programs and develop the skill of documenting their own programs.
  • Students need to understand the importance of trial and experimentation in refining and improving program efficiency and design.
• Issues: What primary issues or problems, if any, must students understand to achieve course outcomes.
  • Students must learn to function effectively as part of a team, completing individual tasks assigned by the group in a timely manner.
  • Students must be willing to refine their programs in order to optimize design, performance, and documentation.
• Skills: What skills must students master to demonstrate course outcomes?

  Extended Course Outline: What follows is a list of topics taught in this course. Approximately equal amounts of time are used in developing student written implementations (programs) of numerical algorithms and learning to use the built-in functions that are available in the Matlab platform.

  1. The Algebra of Matrices. Operations with matrices, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and scalar mulitplication.
  2. Arrays and Array Operations.
  3. Plotting. Plotting functions of a single variable in the plane, including parametric and polar equations. Plotting space curves. Effective use of plot annotations.
  4. Introduction to Programming, Data types, control structures, script and function files.
  5. Root Finding. Bisection method, Newton's method, and using Matlab's built-in root finding methods.
  6. File Input and Output. Loading and saving data. Saving plots to disk for inclusion in reports. Loading, filtering, and saving image files.
  7. Numerical integration.
  8. Optimization. Optimizing functions of one and two variables. Surface and contour plots.
  9. Solving Linear Systems. Gaussian elimination and back substitution. Gauss-Jordan elimination. Applications of systems to science, mathematics, and engineering. Polynomial Interpolation.
  10. Least Squares Data Fitting. Fitting linear, polynomial, exponential, power, and logarithmic functions to data sets.
  11. Numerical Solution of Differential Equations. Implementing Euler and Runge-Kutta routines and analyzing the error inherent in each method.

Represenative Learning Activities

What will the students be doing (i.e., Listening to lectures, participating in discussions and/or group activities, attending a field trip, etc.)? Relate the activities directly to the Course Learning Outcomes.

• Students will write and submit programs that reflect the goals outlined in the Course Learning Outcomes listed above.
• Part of each class meeting will be spent in lecture format, where students will be introduced to new ideas, concepts, and programming technique.
• Class time will also be used to discuss difficulties that students encounter in writing their programs.
• Students will present a term project in written and oral form as part of their final assessment.

Assessment Tasks

How will the student show evidence of achieving the Course Learning Outcomes? Indicate which assessments (if any) are required for all sections.

• Representative assessment tasks:
  • Writing programs will be one of the major components of assessment. Programs will be assigned, collected, and graded. Test runs of an individual program assignment will be used to determine if the program actually completes the task is was designed to perform. Attention will be paid to documentation, design, modularity, and refinement in determining an overall grade for each program.
  • Students will be expected to develop an application in their area of study of interest. This application will be of the "term project" category, so the programmatic implementation of the application should be significant. Students will make both an oral and written presentation of their work. Both presentations will take place on the day assigned for the final examination in the class. Students will be encouraged to work in teams of two.
• Required assessments for all sections – to include but not limited to:

Examples of Appropriate Texts or Other Readings

• Author: Palm, Williams; Title: Introduction to Matlab 7 for Engineers; Date 2003
• Author: Hanselman, Duane; Title: Mastering Matlab 7; Date 2004
• Author: Moler, Cleve; Title: Numerical Computing with Matlab; Date 2004