
# 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 August 27th at 11:59pm.

### 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? (If you are a distance student, please also explain what you are hoping to achieve with your studies.)

### The course

1. 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 linear system using the LU decomposition without pivoting". 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?

2. 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++.

3. Would you be interested in sharing any of the matrix problems you encounter with the class in a 3-5 minute presentation?

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

5. In an effort to tie faces to names, please upload a recent photo of yourself at a reasonable resolution to the blackboard question.

### Numerical computing software

1. Have you used Julia before?

2. Have you used Matlab before?

3. Have you used NumPy/SciPy before?

4. Have you used R before?

5. Have you used Mathematica before?

6. Any other numerical computing packages?

### 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?

### Videos

1. Would you be interested in having access to the video taped lectures from the last few years I've taught the class? If so, should I provide them before or after the same lecture this year?

### Flipped classroom

1. Have you ever had a flipped classroom or flipped lecture? I am hoping to experiment with this during the class this year given that we have a large set of pre-recorded videos from previous years. If you have any reservations or concerns, please let me know.