Linear Algebra (Math 201)

Sabancı University, Fall 2021-2022

Lecturer: Canan Kaşıkcı

Class Hours and Lecture Format: Lectures will be in-class and simultaneously live-streamed via
Zoom. For those of you who wish to follow online, the Zoom links are posted on SUCourse+. In order
to have access to them, you must be logged in to Zoom with your Sabancı account.
The lecture recordings will be made available afterwards, so that you can also watch them at a later
time. They are going to be posted on SUCourse+. I will also share some material for you on SUCourse+
to read or watch before/after the lectures. You will find a tentative breakdown of course material in the
syllabus.

Lecture Hours:Section A:Tuesdays 08:40-09:30 (FENS G077) and Thursdays 08:40-10:30 (FENS G077).
Section B:Tuesdays 09:40-10:30 (FENS G077) and Thursdays 14:40-16:30 (PAC - SGM).

You are responsible for every announcement made in the (online) lecture or in SUCourse+.
Not attending the (online) lecture or not following SUCourse+ regularly is not an excuse,
in case you miss something.

Recitation Hours: Fridays 10:40 - 11:30 (A1, A2, A3, A4),

Recitation Format: Recitations will be live-streamed and held as Zoom polls integrated discussions
with the TAs via Zoom. You can find the Zoom links for recitations on SUcourse+. In order to have
access to them, you must be logged in with your Sabancı account. Students must attend the online
recitation classes to which they are registered.

Course Content: Systems of linear equations, Gaussian elimination, vector spaces, subspaces, linear
independence, dimension, change of bases, linear transformations, inner product, orthogonality, eigen-
values, eigenspaces and diagonalization.

Objectives: This course aims to introduce basic concepts of linear algebra such as vector spaces, bases,
linear transformations, eigenvalues and eigenspaces. The course gives students training to develop their
mathematical skills, analytical and critical thinking abilities, their ability to apply these capabilities to
practical problems, and to communicate their knowledge of these areas.

Course Support Materials:

• Strang, G., Introduction to Linear Algebra, 5th edition, Wellesley-Cambridge Press and SIAM,
2016. (Majority of homework problems will be assigned from this book.)
• Axler, A., Linear Algebra Done Right, Springer.
• Leon, S. J., Linear Algebra with Applications, Prentice Hall.

• Bretscher O., Linear Algebra with Applications, 2nd Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2001.
• Poole, D., Linear Algebra: A Modern Introduction, 3rd Edition, Brooks Cole, 2011.
• Friedberg, S., Insel, A., Spence, L., Linear Algebra, 4th edition, Pearson, 2013.

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Tentative Course Outline:
• Week 1-4: Introduction to vectors, matrices, solving linear equations
• Week 5-6: Vector spaces and subspaces
• Week 7-9: Linear transformations
• Week 10: Determinants
• Week 11-12: Eigenvalues, Eigenvectors, Diagonalization
• Week 13: Orthogonality
• Week 14: Applications (if time allows)

Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this course the student should be able to:
• Understand the notion of mathematical thinking, mathematical proofs, and able to apply them in
problem solving.
• Present simple proofs in a precise and formally correct way.
• Solve a system of linear equations using matrix reduction.
• Do basic arithmetical operations with matrices.
• Understand the notions of linear independence, basis and dimension of a vector space.
• Find a basis and dimension of Euclidean or abstract vector spaces.
• Geometrically interpret the above concepts.
• Represent linear transformations as matrices and, conversely, interpret matrices as linear maps.
• Compute eigenvalues and eigenspaces of matrices.
• Identify whether a matrix is diagonalizable or not.

Grading:
Your grade exclusively depends on the below listed items. There will be no other extra-credit
opportunities.
Midterm (06.11.2021 at 15:30) 35%
Final (TBA) 40%
Self Study (Online Assignments) 15%
Lecture Attendance 5%
Recitation Grade 5%

The passing grade will be determined after the last exam. Be aware that this passing grade may not
match the overall average of the students.

Midterm:
The midterm exam will be given in-person, on campus. The date will be announced later. More details
will be announced on SUCourse+ in due time.

Final Exam:
The final exam will be given in-person, on campus, during the finals period. The date and time of the
final exam is determined by Student Resources and the instructors cannot change it. More details will
be announced on SUCourse+ in due time.

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Self Study (Online Assignments):
This consists of online assignment which will be given via SuCourse+, consisting of up to 3 problems. You
will be asked to solve the questions on A4 size papers to be submitted as in the format prescribed below.
There will be 5 such online assignments. The best 3 of your online assignment scores will determine
the self study grade. There will be no make up for any of these assignments for any reason.
Students found having a behaviour in contrast with Academic Integrity multiple times, will receive 0
from the Self Study Grade.

Important Warning:
Every document that requires a student submission,
- must be in pdf format, and hand-written,
- must have name, surname, student ID, and signature on the top left corner of the document
on each page submitted,

- Sabancı Student ID card or a valid ID card with name and photo on it must be placed
on the top right corner of the first page.
Submissions must be uploaded as a single pdf file. Any submission that is not in the described format
will NOT be taken into account. Moreover, any solution that contains notations that are not used in
the lectures/recitations will be completely ignored.

Lecture Attendance:
In-class quizzes will be given randomly to check lecture attendance. These quizzes will be given as Tophat
questions. Make sure that you have a Tophat account with your sabanciuniv.edu address. There will be
no make-up for those quizzes. Best 70% percent of them will be counted. Students with time conflicts,
please see the Registration Overrides section of the syllabus.

Recitation Grade:
You are expected to study the lecture notes before you enter the recitation so that you can actively
participate in the discussion. In each recitation, a certain number of pop-up questions will be presented
to the students, via Zoom polls. Students attending their correct Zoom sessions will get participation
point if they also answer all of the questions. Disturbing your classmates, being late, leaving early during
online classes will not be tolerated and will affect your recitation grade. At the end of the semester, the
best 8 scores will be counted for the final recitation grade.

Supplementary Exercises:
There will be supplementary exercises assigned each week via SuCourse+. You are not expected to return
the solutions but you are strongly advised to solve them (even if not in full detail) before the recitation.
It will be given in two parts, the ones that will be solved in the recitation and the ones whose recorded
solutions will be shared via SuCourse+ later on.

Make Up Policy:
Make-ups are only allowed for the midterm and the final examinations to those with an official report
and to those with an official permission notice from the university on the date of the exam in question.
Students must submit their reports/notices to the instructor before the exam in question. The ones hav-
ing other excuses should contact the instructor within the day of the exam to be missed and then it will
be decided whether these students are allowed to take the make-up exam. Any excuses to be brought to
the attention of the instructor after the exam will not be considered. No exceptions to these rules! Dates
and details of the make-up examinations will be announced later. If the student do not contact with
the instructor and do not take neither the exams nor the make-up, then (s)he gets NA
(even though online assignments and attendance checks appear in the grading).

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Academic Honesty:
All university policies on academic integrity apply to our course, and they will be enforced. (more infor-
mation on http://www.sabanciuniv.edu/en/academic-integrity-statement).

In particular, no form of cheating is welcome in the exams or quizzes, such as copying whole or part
of each other’s answers, using cheat-sheets etc. Students are not allowed to give or receive outside help.
The action against such violations could range from getting a zero on the particular exam to explaining
the case in front of the Disciplinary Committee.

In online assignments or exams, if we suspect any breach of academic integrity, we may ask for an
oral validation of the quiz/exam. In this case the student will be invited to an oral interview and will be
given the opportunity to explain their solution. If the student cannot provide sufficient explanations, or
does not show up to the interview, their quiz/exam grade will be replaced with zero (0).

Class Discipline:
It is our responsibility to provide students with excellent teaching and learning environments. We are
therefore asking you to respect both our responsibility to teach and the right of other students to learn.
Any action that disturbs your classmates or disrupts the online activities is unacceptable. Repeated
violations of the above common sense rules may cause a student to be counted as absent for a lecture or
a recitation.

Attention must be taken regarding COVID-19 spread prevention. Students attending classes must
comply with the rules list at https://mysu.sabanciuniv.edu/en/covid-19-rules, especially those regarding
”OPEN AND CLOSED AREAS”. The maximum capacity of the classrooms will always be respected
and students are required to correctly wear a mask and sit only in the designated seats at all time. The
class may not start, or may be suspended, otherwise.

Suggestions:
• Feel free to ask me and your TA questions in and out of class, especially during office hours.
• Math 201 is a combination of computational mathematics and theoretical mathematics (that is
abstract definitions and Theorems). The computational aspects of the course will feel more familiar
and easier to grasp, but we will also focus on the theoretical aspects of the subject. Whenever you
encounter an abstract concept in the lecture, take a pause and give yourself some time to think
about it.
• In linear algebra, definitions and Theorems build on each other quickly. If you fall behind, it will
be difficult to catch up. Work hard from the beginning, and come to office hours immediately if
you do not understand something.
• Studying out of class for this course should become a routine. Key to success in mathematics is
practice.

• Students are expected to follow the announcements made during the lectures or in SUCourse.
Not attending the class or not following SUCourse+ regularly is not an excuse, in case you miss
something.

Registration Overrides:
Time conflict requests for lecture hours will be accepted. However, any and all negative outcomes that
may result are solely the student’s responsibility.