
# Initial survey -- your course goals

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences in a typed manuscript and submit the solution on blackboard by on January 15rd at 5pm.

### Yourself

1. Please tell me about yourself: name, MS/PhD objective, adviser (if you have one), year in program, research area.

2. Why are you taking the class?

### The course

2. The homeworks will be a mix of examples, applications, coding, and theory. For instance, I might have a few easy "practice" questions about solving small linear systems. Then I might have a multi-step application that develops a general problem such as... "figure out where people are moving and where they are likely to be in 2050" into a matrix algorithm. There will also be some coding work, such as "write a program to solve a nonlinear system using Newton's method". Finally, there will be a theory component to the homeworks. These problems will ask you to prove a matrix statement.

Do you find you learn better with any particular type of problem? If so, which one?

3. Would you be interested in extra credit opportunities that extend the homework questions in more difficult ways? For instance, making your implementations fast or in C++. Derive higher-order error bounds for accurate methods?

4. Would you be interested in sharing any of your research problems related to material you encounter with the class in a 3-5 minute presentation?

5. What have other professors done that you've found helps you learn?

### Numerical computing software

1. Have you used Matlab before?

2. Have you used NumPy/SciPy before?

3. Have you used Julia before?

### The course

1. Which of the topics from the syllabus are you most excited about?

2. Anything missing from the syllabus you were hoping to learn about?

### Flipped classroom

1. Have you ever had a flipped classroom or flipped lecture?

2. If so, should we try this for a few lectures in CS514 this year? Why or why not?

### Math Trivia

1. Who is responsible for using $e$ to represent the base of the natural log?