This web page describes an activity within the Department of Mathematics at Ohio University, but is not an official university web page.

MATH 3200 Applied Linear Algebra sections 101 (7479) and 102 (7480), Fall 2026-27

Catalog Entry (2026-27)

Syllabus

Instructor:
Martin J. Mohlenkamp, mohlenka@ohio.edu, Morton Hall 555. Office hours Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 9:40-10:35am. Do not hesitate to contact me with questions or to make an appointment to meet at another time.
Web page:
http://www.ohiouniversityfaculty.com/mohlenka/2271/3200/.
Text:
Understanding Linear Algebra by David Austin. This free online text works well on phones, tablets, and computers, and has some interactive content.
Class Meetings:
Attendance is highly recommended but not required.
Preview Activities:
Each section of the text has a Preview Activity to do before we cover that section in class. A canvas homework based on the preview activity is due at 8am on the date that section is scheduled. You are encouraged to work with each other on these activities.
Groupwork:
In most weeks without a test, one day will have an in-class, graded groupwork. Your lowest 2 groupwork grades will be dropped.
Tests:
There will be 4 mid-term tests. Your best 3 scores count toward your grade. Calculators are not permitted. The tests are cumulative. Tests missed due to university excused absences for illness, death in the immediate family, religious observance, jury duty, or involvement in University-sponsored activities can be made up if Otherwise, the first missed test is automatically dropped since only your best 3 out of 4 count in your grade. A second missed test will be replaced by your final exam score. Further missed tests count as 0.
Final Exam:
The final exam is in our regular classroom.
Text exercises:
Exercises are recommended for each section of the text. These are not collected or graded, but doing them is the foundation for your learning.
Grades:
Your final average is composed of An average of 90% guarantees you at least an A-, 80% a B-, 70% a C-, and 60% a D-.
Devices:
Having a tablet or laptop with you will be useful, but is not required. Reading the textbook on a phone works fine, but using the textbook's interactive content does not.
Academic Misconduct:
Preview Activities:
You are encouraged to work with each other and are permitted to use any resources (other people, internet, AI, etc.).
Groupwork:
  • You may use your book, Wikipedia, other Linear Algebra books, general websites about Linear Algebra, etc. without special acknowledgment.
  • If your group receives any help specifically on the problem you are trying to solve (such as assistance from another group or software that solves the problem), you must acknowledge in writing what help you received and from whom or what source (including internet links and AI).
A minor, first-time violation will receive a warning and discussion and clarification of the rules.
Tests, final exam:
You may not give or receive any assistance during a test or the exam, including but not limited to using notes, phones, calculators, computers, or another student's solutions. (You may ask me questions.) A minor, first-time violation will result in a zero grade on that test.
Serious or second violations will result in failure in the class and be reported to the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility, which may impose additional sanctions. You may appeal any sanctions through the grade appeal process.
Religious Accommodations
Per University Policy 40.003, Ohio University reasonably accommodates the sincerely held religious or spiritual beliefs and practices of students. You may be absent for up to three days each academic semester to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or other religious or spiritual organization. You must request any accommodation in writing no later than 14 days after the first day of instruction. There will be no academic penalty as a result of you being absent for sincerely held religious or spiritual beliefs. If you miss an assignment, quiz, or exam, you are expected to coordinate with the instructor to schedule an alternative. The alternative may be before or after the absence. If you have questions about this policy, you may contact Civil Rights Compliance.
Special Needs:
If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You should also register with Student Accessibility Services to obtain written documentation and to learn about the resources they have available.
Responsible Employee Reporting Obligation:
If I learn of any instances of sexual harassment, sexual violence, and/or other forms of prohibited discrimination, I am required to report them. If you wish to share such information in confidence, then use the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance.
Advice:
How to be successfulHow to be unsuccessful
Have a growth mindset: believe that through effort you can improve your mathematical skills. Have a fixed mindset: believe that your mathematical skills are set, so effort is either unneccessary or futile.
Show up and do the work. Skip stuff. Start with an occasional class, then some homework, ...
Figure out the solutions to activities and exercises. Find the solutions to activities and exercises by copying from classmates, looking at posted answers, searching the internet, asking AI, etc.
Be active in class: think, write, talk, do, ... Be passive (or distracted) in class, waiting for learning to somehow happen.
Read the book. Carefully. Multiple times. Don't read the book. Make excuses like "It is too confusing.", "I learn better from videos.", or "The instructor should tell me everything I need to know in class."
Do the exercises in the text. Ignore the exercises in the text. Convince yourself that since it is not collected it must not be important.
Strive for mastery. Mastery is when you can solve the problem confidently by yourself. Settle for familiarity. Familiarity is when you recognize a problem and can follow along when someone else, a video, or the book solves it.
Sparingly use videos. When you do, pay attention and work along with the video. Use videos a lot and as a replacement for reading. Count it as studying when you let them play in the background while you do something else.
Make sure all members of your group (including yourself) understand groupwork before submitting it. Do groupwork by splitting up the problems and working on them separately. That way you only have to learn a third of it.
Use resources that help you learn. Use resources that help you complete a task while avoiding learning.
When you are struggling, get help. When you are struggling, hide.
Learning resources:
People:
  • Your classmates.
  • Your instructor.
The Academic Achievement Center
has a STEM Academy in Morton 415 that offers Small Group Tutoring, Drop-in Tutoring, and Study Groups.
Software:
Other Textbooks:

Schedule (Subject to change)

Week Date Section/Topic Preview Text Exercises Other
1
Chapter 1 Systems of equations
Mon Aug 24 1.1 What can we expect (none) (none)
Wed Aug 26 1.2 Finding solutions to linear systems 1.2.1 1-6 [2,3,5,6]
Fri Aug 28 1.3 Computation with Sage (none) 1-5 Groupwork
2
Mon Aug 31 1.4 Pivots and their influence on solution spaces 1.4.1 1-9 [1,3-5]
Chapter 2 Vectors, matrices, and linear combinations
Wed Sep 2 2.1 Vectors and linear combinations 2.1.1 1-7 [1,2]
Fri Sep 4 2.2 Matrix multiplication and linear combinations 2.2.1 1-7,9,10 [3,9] Groupwork (drop deadline)
3
Mon Sep 7 Labor Day holiday, no class
Wed Sep 9 2.3 The span of a set of vectors 2.3.1 1-10 [2,5-9]
Fri Sep 11 2.4 Linear independence 2.4.1 1-7,10 [3-7] Groupwork
4
Mon Sep 14 2.5 Matrix transformations 2.5.1 1-10 [1,4,6,8]
Wed Sep 16 2.6 The geometry of matrix transformations 2.6.1 1-8 [1,2,4]
Fri Sep 18 Test 1, through section 2.5
5
Chapter 3 Invertibility, bases, and coordinate systems
Mon Sep 21 3.1 Invertibility 3.1.1 1-12 [2,3,5-8]
Wed Sep 23 3.2 Bases and coordinate systems 3.2.1 1-9 [1,2,6,7]
Fri Sep 25 3.3 Image compression 3.3.1 1,2,4 [2] Groupwork
6
Mon Sep 28 3.4 Determinants 3.4.1 1-9,11-13 [3,5-8]
Wed Sep 30 3.5 Subspaces 3.5.1 1-9 [1,3-6,8,9] Groupwork
Fri Oct 2 Fall break, no class
7
Chapter 4 Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
Mon Oct 5 4.1 An introduction to eigenvalues and eigenvectors 4.1.1 1-10 [1,3-9]
Wed Oct 7 4.2 Finding eigenvalues and eigenvectors 4.2.1 1-8 [1-4]
Fri Oct 9 Test 2, through section 4.1
8
Mon Oct 12 4.3 Diagonalization, similarity, and powers of a matrix 4.3.1 1-10 [1-7]
Wed Oct 14 4.4 Dynamical systems 4.4.1 1-7,10 [1,2,4,6]
Fri Oct 16 4.5 Markov chains and Google's PageRank algorithm 4.5.1 1-9 [1,3,5-8] Groupwork
9
Chapter 5 Linear algebra and computing
Mon Oct 19 5.1 Gaussian elimination revisited 5.1.1 1-10 [3,9]
Wed Oct 21 5.2 Finding eigenvectors numerically 5.2.1 1-9 [1,6-8]
Fri Oct 23 Catch up Groupwork
10
Chapter 6 Orthogonality and Least Squares
Mon Oct 26 6.1 The dot product 6.1.1 1-11 [1-5,7,9]
Wed Oct 28 6.2 Orthogonal complements and the matrix transpose 6.2.1 1-10 [4-7]
Fri Oct 30 Test 3, through section 6.1 (drop deadline with WP/WF)
11
Mon Nov 2 6.3 Orthogonal bases and projections 6.3.1 1-10 [7-9]
Wed Nov 4 6.4 Finding orthogonal bases 6.4.1 1-8 [6-8]
Fri Nov 6 6.5 Orthogonal least squares 6.5.1 1-7,12 [5,6] Groupwork
12
Mon Nov 9 Catch up
Wed Nov 11 Veterans Day holiday, no class
Chapter 7 Singular value decompositions
Fri Nov 13 7.1 Symmetric matrices and variance 7.1.1 1-10 [4,7,8] Groupwork
13
Mon Nov 16 7.2 Quadratic forms 7.2.1 1-8 [7,8]
Wed Nov 18 7.3 Principal Component Analysis 7.3.1 1-5 [1,4]
Fri Nov 20 Test 4, through section 7.2
14
Mon Nov 23 7.4 Singular Value Decompositions 7.4.1 1-11 [4,7-11]
Wed Nov 25 Thanksgiving Day holiday, no class
Fri Nov 27 Thanksgiving Day holiday, no class
15
Mon Nov 30 7.5 Using Singular Value Decompositions 7.5.1 1-8 [7]
Wed Dec 2 Catch up Groupwork
Fri Dec 4 Recap/ Review/ Exam preparation
16
Wed Dec 9 Section 101 (class number 7479) MWF 8:35am: Final Exam 8:00-10:00am in our regular classroom.
Fri Dec 11 Section 102 (class number 7480) MWF 12:55pm: Final Exam 3:10-5:10pm in our regular classroom.