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Simulated population sizes over time for a predator (solid lines) and its prey (dashed lines).

COMO101 Computational Mathematics

Second Semester, 18 points

Notices


  • A list of private tutors is available here. Many of the tutors should be able to help with COMO 101 (just ask).
  • I've re-organised the webpages. In future, all notices, handouts etc. will only be available on this page and on the resources webpage.
  • Octave installers for OSX, Linux and Windows are available here
  • Note that lecture times differ from those in the enrolment guide. Lecture times are Monday 10am, Wednesday 2pm and Friday 12pm. All lectures are in Quad 1. Lab times are Wed 9am, Thu 9am or 2pm. You will need to come along to these labs... attendance contributes 10% to your final grade

Paper details

The primary aims of the course are:
  • to introduce the fundamental concepts of mathematical and computational modelling
  • to reinforce ideas from other mathematics papers
  • to improve your problem solving, modelling and computer skills
  • to provide an introduction to the scientific package MATLAB

A wide range of problems are investigated in the course, including:
  • understanding and visualising data
  • standard numerical methods
  • simulations
  • modelling biological systems
  • modelling deterministic dynamic systems

There are three lectures a week, and one lab/tutorial. Labs start in the second week of lectures.

Prerequisites

None.

Recommended text

None.

Lecturers

  • Assoc. Prof David Bryant, Math and Stats, Room 514, Science III
  • Dr Ross Vennell, Dept. of Marine Science

Assessment

Assessment will by 50% internal assessment and 50% examination. There will be no plussage.

The internal assessment is made up of
  • Four assignments (exercises), each worth 7.5%
  • A practical test (Matlab), worth 20%
  • A mid-semester theory test, worth 40%
  • Participation in tutorials, worth 10%
Note: your grade for attendance at tutorials will appear in the final week as the 'project' mark.

The practical test will be held during tutorial times on the 15th and 16th of August. Students will be able to repeat the test until they obtain a pass and satisfy the terms requirement, though the original mark will be used for the grade.

The Test will be held on 26th August at 12pm (the usual lecture time).

Due dates for assignments are Aug 1, Aug 22, Sep 12, Oct 3. Assignments due 12pm (midday) on Monday, and must be handed in to the COMO 101 on the ground floor of the Maths/Physics building.

Terms Requirement

You have to fulfil the terms requirement in order to be allowed to sit the final exam. In this paper, to pass “terms” you must pass the practical test.

Exam format

The Como101 final examination is three-hours in length. You will be permitted to take calculators into the exam, but no notes or communicating devices.

Final mark

The final mark F is calculated from:
F = E + A
where E (exam mark) is out of 50, A (internal assessment) is out of 50.


Plagiarism

Students should make sure that all submitted work is their own. “Plagiarism is a form of dishonest practice. Plagiarism is defined as copying or paraphrasing another’s work and presenting it as one’s own” (University of Otago Calendar). In practice this means that plagiarism includes any attempt in any piece of submitted work (e.g. an assignment or test) to present as one’s own work the work of another (whether of another student or a published authority). Any student found to be responsible for plagiarism in any piece of work submitted for assessment shall be subject to the University’s dishonest practice regulations which may result in various penalties, including forfeiture of marks for the piece of work submitted, a zero grade for the paper, or in extreme cases exclusion from the University. The University of Otago reserves the right to use plagiarism detection tools.

While we strive to keep details as accurate and up-to-date as possible, information given here should be regarded as provisional. Individual lecturers will confirm teaching and assessment methods.