Schedule

In this schedule page, you will find the list of assignments you will have to complete this semester:


  1. L#: These are the PrairieLearn Pre-Lecture Assignments including the pre-recorded lectures and short questions testing concepts introduced in the videos. These PL assessments will also include links to lecture notes, slides and annotations from the lectures. You will have pre-lecture assignments opening every Tuesday and Thursday. You are encouraged to complete them on the date they appear on the course schedule. However, you can complete both of them for 100% credit by the following Tuesday at 12pm CT. You can find all the due dates directly in PrairieLearn.

  2. GA#: These are the PrairieLearn Group Activities to be completed on Tuesdays either during lecture time or at another selected time. Make sure to complete the open PrairieLearn Pre-Lecture Assignments before you meet with your group. You can find a lot more information about the group activities on the Lectures page.

  3. HW#: These are the PrairieLearn Homework Assigments due on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:59pm CT. These are individual assessments. The schedule indicates when the HW will be open, and the due date for 100% credit. Almost every PrairieLearn Lecture Assignment has a corresponding HW. You are strongly encouraged to complete the PrairieLearn Lecture Assignment before you start your HW. You can find all the due dates directly in PrairieLearn.

  4. MP#: These are the PrairieLearn Machine Problems The schedule indicates when the MPs will be open, and the due date for 100% credit (all at 11:59pm CT). These are individual assessments. You can find all the due dates directly in PrairieLearn.

  5. Q#: These are the PrairieLearn Quizzes that happen from Mondays to Thursdays from the CBTF or remotly via PrairieTest. You can find more instructions in the Quizzes page. The schedule below indicates the content covered in each quiz (corresponding HW assignments) and also the dates when the Practice Quizzes (Q#P) will be open. Practice Quizzes will not count towards your grade (zero credit).

The only required synchronous component of this class are the GAs for section N students. Attendance in the first week of classes is strongly encouraged, since we will be talking about all the logistics of the course, and having a demo for the group work. Thursday lecture time is designated to Quizzes or Optional Study Hours. During Optional Study Hours, we will work together to complete Jupyter notebooks, that are available in PrairieLearn under the label WS#: Workspace, and review content for the quizzes.

Semester Progress
100%
Aug Dec
Week 1
Tue, Aug 22, lecture 1
Syllabus and Course Content Overview



Complete your asynchronous lecture today!

L1: Introduction to CS 357 (NOR FOR CREDIT)
L2: Introduction to Python

Also opening today:

HW1: Linear Algebra Review (NOT FOR CREDIT)
HW2: Introduction to Python

Due today:


Thu, Aug 24, lecture 2
Intro to Python + mock group work



Complete your asynchronous lecture today!

L3: Errors, Big-O notation, plots

Also opening today:

HW3: Errors and Big-O

Due today:


Week 2
Tue, Aug 29, lecture 3
GA1: Working with Python (NOT FOR CREDIT)



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L4a: Floating point

Also opening today:

HW4a: Floating point
Q1P: Linear Algebra + Python + Errors

Due today:

HW2: Introduction to Python

Thu, Aug 31, lecture 4
Optional Study Hour: Topics from HW 1-3



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L4b: IEEE 754 Standard

Also opening today:

HW4b: IEEE 754 Standard

Due today:

HW3: Errors and Big-O

Week 3
Tue, Sep 05, lecture 5
GA2: Floating Point



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L5: Rounding and Cancellation

Also opening today:

HW5: Rounding and Cancellation

Due today:

HW4a: Floating point

Quiz at CBTF starts on Monday:

CBTF Q1: Linear Algebra + Python + Errors (HW1-HW3)
Thu, Sep 07, lecture 6
Online Q1: Linear Algebra + Python + Errors (HW1-HW3)



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L6: Taylor Series

Also opening today:

HW6: Taylor Series

Due today:

HW4b: IEEE 754 Standard

Week 4
Tue, Sep 12, lecture 7
GA3: Rounding



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L7: Monte Carlo Methods

Also opening today:

HW7: Monte Carlo Methods
MP1: Odds in a Texas Holdem game
Q2P: Floating Point + Rounding + Taylor Series

Due today:

HW5: Rounding and Cancellation

Thu, Sep 14, lecture 8
Optional Study Hour: Topics from HW 4-6



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L8: Vectors, Matrices and Norms

Also opening today:

HW8: Matrices and Norms

Due today:

HW6: Taylor Series

Week 5
Tue, Sep 19, lecture 9
GA4: Random Walk



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L9a: Linear system of equations

Also opening today:


Due today:

HW7: Monte Carlo Methods

Quiz at CBTF starts on Monday:

CBTF Q2: Floating Point + Rounding + Taylor Series (HW4-HW6)
Thu, Sep 21, lecture 10
Online Q2: Floating Point + Rounding + Taylor Series (HW4-HW6)



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L9b: LU factorization algorithm

Also opening today:

HW9: Linear System of Equations
MP2: Design of a truss system

Due today:

MP1: Odds in a Texas Holdem game

Week 6
Tue, Sep 26, lecture 11
GA5: Applications of Norms



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L10: Sparse matrices

Also opening today:

HW10: Sparse Matrices

Due today:

HW8: Matrices and Norms

Thu, Sep 28, lecture 12
no study hall or quiz



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L11: Conditioning

Also opening today:

HW11: Conditioning

Due today:

HW9: Linear System of Equations

Week 7
Tue, Oct 03, lecture 13
GA6: Linear System of Equations



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L12a: Eigenvalues - Part A

Also opening today:

Q3P: Monte Carlo, Matrices and Norms, Linsys

Due today:

HW10: Sparse Matrices

Thu, Oct 05, lecture 14
Optional Study Hour: Topics from HW 7-9



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L12b: Eigenvalues - Part B

Also opening today:

HW12: Eingenvalues

Due today:

MP2: Design of a truss system

Week 8
Tue, Oct 10, lecture 15
GA7: Structural vibrations



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L13: Markov Chains

Also opening today:

HW13: Markov chains
MP3: Ranking basketball teams

Due today:

HW11: Conditioning

Quiz at CBTF starts on Monday:

CBTF Q3: Monte Carlo, Matrices and Norms, Linsys (HW7-HW9)
Thu, Oct 12, lecture 16
Online Q3: Monte Carlo, Matrices and Norms, Linsys (HW7-HW9)



Complete your asynchronous lecture today!

L14: Finite Difference Methods

Also opening today:

HW14: Finite Difference Methods

Due today:

HW12: Eingenvalues

Week 9
Tue, Oct 17, lecture 17
GA8: Google Page Rank



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L15a: 1D Nonlinear

Also opening today:

Q4P: Sparse, Conditioning, Eigs, Markov

Due today:

HW13: Markov chains

Thu, Oct 19, lecture 18
Optional Study Hour: Topics from HW 10-13



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L15b: ND Nonlinear

Also opening today:

HW15: Nonlinear equations

Due today:

HW14: Finite Difference Methods

Week 10
Tue, Oct 24, lecture 19
GA9: A hybrid algorithm for root finding



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L16a: 1D Optimization

Also opening today:

MP4: Topology optimization design

Due today:

MP3: Ranking basketball teams

Quiz at CBTF starts on Monday:

CBTF Q4: Sparse, Conditioning, Eigs, Markov (HW10-HW13)
Thu, Oct 26, lecture 20
Online Q4: Sparse, Conditioning, Eigs, Markov (HW10-HW13)



Complete your asynchronous lecture today!

L16b: ND Optimization

Also opening today:

HW16: Optimization

Due today:

HW15: Nonlinear equations

Week 11
Tue, Oct 31, lecture 21
GA10: Linear regression using optimization



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L17a: Least-Squares (Normal Equations)

Also opening today:

HW17a: Least-squares (Normal Equations)
Q5P: FD, Nonlinear, Optimization

Due today:


Thu, Nov 02, lecture 22
Optional Study Hour: Topics from HW 14-16



Complete your asynchronous lecture today!

L18a: SVD

Also opening today:

HW18a: SVD

Due today:

HW16: Optimization
MP4: Topology optimization design

Week 12
Tue, Nov 07, lecture 23
GA11: Pandas and Least-squares



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L17b: Least-Squares (SVD)

Also opening today:

HW17b: Least-squares (SVD)

Due today:

HW17a: Least-squares (Normal Equations)

Quiz at CBTF starts on Monday:

CBTF Q5: FD, Nonlinear, Optimization (HW14-HW16)
Thu, Nov 09, lecture 24
Online Q5: FD, Nonlinear, Optimization (HW14-HW16)



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L18b: Other SVD applications

Also opening today:

HW18b: Other SVD applications
MP5: Breast cancer predictions

Due today:

HW18a: SVD

Week 13
Tue, Nov 14, lecture 25
GA12: Fantasy football predictions



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L19: PCA

Also opening today:

HW19: PCA
Q6P: Least-squares and SVD

Due today:

HW17b: Least-squares (SVD)

Thu, Nov 16, lecture 26
Optional Study Hour: Topics from HW 17-18



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Also opening today:


Due today:

HW18b: Other SVD applications

Week 14
Tue, Nov 21

Complete your asynchronous lecture today!


Also opening today:


Due today:


Thu, Nov 23

Complete your asynchronous lecture today!


Also opening today:


Due today:


Week 15
Tue, Nov 28, lecture 27
GA13: PCA in a soccer dataset



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Also opening today:


Due today:


Quiz at CBTF starts on Monday:

CBTF Q6: Least-squares and SVD (HW17-HW18)
Thu, Nov 30, lecture 28
Online Q6: Least-squares and SVD (HW17-HW18)



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Also opening today:


Due today:

MP5: Breast cancer predictions

Week 16
Tue, Dec 05, lecture 29
Tentative end-of-semester event



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Also opening today:


Due today:

HW19: PCA

Wed, Dec 06, lecture 30

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Also opening today:


Due today: