Section 1 Welcome
¶Welcome to Math 1410 Elementary Linear Algebra. This is a first course in university mathematics, and as such, assumes no prerequisites beyond your high school mathematics. In fact, compared to calculus, linear algebra is less reliant on your mastery of high school math, beyond basic facility with algebra and arithmetic.
Where linear algebra becomes perhaps more challenging than calculus, is that there is a much larger vocabulary to learn, and more frequent use of abstraction and symbolic notation. Success in Math 1410 depends partly on computational proficiency, but also on your ability to understand and apply definitions and theorems.
Over the summer, the University of Lethbridge adopted an official recognition of our location on traditional Blackfoot territory. This acknowledgement also serves as a welcome message, and I am pleased to be able to include it here:
Oki, and welcome to the University of Lethbridge. Our University’s Blackfoot name is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. The University of Lethbridge acknowledges and deeply appreciates the Siksikaitsitapii peoples’ connection to their traditional territory. We, as people living and benefiting from Blackfoot Confederacy traditional territory, honour the traditions of people who have cared for this land since time immemorial. We recognize the diverse population of Aboriginal peoples who attend the University of Lethbridge and the contributions these Aboriginal peoples have made in shaping and strengthening the University community in the past, present, and in the future.
Subsection 1.1 Course staff
¶My name is Sean Fitzpatrick. You'll see me twice each week in class (right?), and I also handle most of the day-to-day organization. For any questions that you don't find answered in this outline, 1 you can email me at sean.fitzpatrick@uleth.ca, or drop by my office: C540 in University Hall.
Tutorials are handled by Sean Legge. He can be found in C518, and emailed at sean.legge@uleth.ca.
Subsection 1.2 Basic course information
¶- Course website
via Moodle
- Course textbook
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Math 1410 Elementary Linear Algebra, edited by Sean Fitzpatrick (that's me!).
This is an OER textbook that I've assembled from existing open textbooks. Most of the content comes from the book Matrix Algebra, by Greg Hartman. The link above provides a PDF in colour, if you want to use the book electronically. If you want to print the book, you can order a copy from the Bookstore, using their print on demand service. If you'd rather print the book yourself, you'll probably want to use the black and white version.
Both versions of the textbook (colour and black and white) will be posted on Moodle. If for some reason you temporarily lose access to Moodle, all open textbooks that I edit are always available on my website, at www.cs.uleth.ca/~fitzpat/oer.html.
- Additional resources
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In case one book isn't enough (or you don't like my book). Another good free book is Linear Algebra with Applications, by Keith Nicholson.
The downside to all the books provided so far is that they're in PDF format. PDF is good for printing, but lousy on a phone. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found (or made) a book in HTML that covers everything in Math 1410. However, a very good book that comes close is Understanding Linear Algebra, by David Austin.
- Class schedule
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Section A meets Tuesday and Thursday, 10:50 am – 12:05 pm in C610.
Section B meets Tuesday and Thursday, 3:05 pm – 4:20 pm in SA6012.
Tutorials run throughout the day on Wednesday. Check your timetable for the right time and place.
- Office hours
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Monday and Wednesday, 10:00 – 11:15 am and 1:15 – 2:45 pm.
If none of those times work you can email me for an appointment. Note however that Tuesday and Thursday I'm in class most of the day, and Friday is often filled with meetings and prep work.
- Grading
Weighting of individual course components is given in Table 2.1. Conversion to letter grades is given in Table 2.2.