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MATH-UA 132 006
This is the second semester of a sequence designed to give you the intuition to think about economic ideas in mathematical terms and interpret mathematical concepts in the context of economics. Your 1 understanding of economics and mathematics both will improve after this sequence. Mathematics is increasingly important in terms of the expression and communication of ideas in economics. A thorough knowledge of mathematics is indispensable for understanding almost all fields of economics, includ- ing both applied and theoretical fields. In particular, understanding of elements of calculus and linear algebra are crucial to the study of economics, and this class is designed to provide such appropriate mathematical tools. The formal derivations of the mathematical concepts needed will be the heart of this class. Economic models can often be easily and precisely described in terms of mathematical nota- tion when words and graphs would fail or mislead us. Therefore, as applications of the mathematical concepts covered in class, examples and motivation will be drawn from important topics in economics. Some key topics, roughly in order of their appearance in the course, include: – multivariable functions; – extrema and Lagrange multipliers; – linear systems; – matrix algebra; – Riemann integral; – integration techniques; – differential equations. By the end of Math for Economics II, students will have a complete understanding of optimization and will be able to apply the Lagrange multipliers approach to constrained optimization problems. They will also know how to solve systems of equations using linear algebra, and how to manipulate matrices. In addition, they will be familiar with integration and various integration techniques. They will also under- stand the basic concepts of differential equation and be able to find solutions of elementary differential equations. • RESOURCES AND PLATFORMS – Books ∗ Required. Essential Calculus: Early Transcendentals (2nd ed.) by James Stewart. An electronic version is included with WebAssign (see below), and you do not need to purchase a hard copy. · Your course is participating in the Follett Access program. This is an NYU Bookstore initia- tive that delivers required course materials at the lowest possible price. The required book for this course, Essential Calculus by Stewart, will be delivered to you digitally through the WebAssign platform. The cost of the platform & book is $108.00, which will be added as a “book charge” to your bursar bill. If you choose to find your course materials elsewhere, you must login here to the student portal and opt out of the program by September 20th. If you do not opt out by this date, you will be charged. *Please note - if you have paid for WebAssign & the Calculus book through ACCESS in a previous semester you do not have to opt out, you will not be charged. ∗ Recommended. Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis (4th or 5th ed.), Sydsaeter & al. – WebAssign The class will use WebAssign for weekly assignments. WebAssign is an online platform that provides computational exercises with immediate feedback. It can be accessed via Brightspace. WebAssign requires a subscription that you can pay via the link on Brightspace. The subscription includes the e-book. You can purchase an access code from the bookstore. By buying from the bookstore, you can bill to your student account and use financial aid. You have three options: pay for one term, pay for multi-term (if you intend to take MFE III), or pay for Cengage Unlimited, which is unlimited 2 access to all of Cengage’s texts. You will have a 2-week grace period to purchase and activate a WebAssign license. If you already have a multi-term subscription from MFE I, you should be able to use it. – Campuswire All communications will be handled through Brightspace and Campuswire. Announcements and information on assignments will be posted there, so make sure to check both very regularly. You should also ask any question regarding the class there (this can be anonymous). Your professor and TA will periodically offer some input, but it should first and foremost remain a platform for you and your classmates. For personal questions, you can send your professor or your TA a DM there. Please allow up to two workdays for responses. Campuswire is accessible through Brightspace. You will first need the code which is available by the Campuswire link on Brightspace. – Gradescope All assignments and some assessments will be administered through Gradescope. You will be able to see your graded assignments and comments from the grader there. Gradescope is available through Brightspace: you should use your NYU email address to register. – Communication The syllabus, course calendar, homework problem sets, and solutions will be uploaded to Brightspace. All other communications will be handled through Campuswire, so make sure to check it very reg- ularly. You should also ask any question regarding the class there (this can be anonymous). Your professor and TA will periodically offer some input, but it should first and foremost remain a plat- form for you and your classmates. For personal questions, send your TA or your professor a DM there. As a general practice, please check your email a couple of times a day. For our course, make sure you check Campuswire regularly, to make sure that your question hadn’t been answered there. When messaging, please practice professional etiquette, including complete sentences and correct grammar. • GRADING POLICY – Grading Scale1 Grade Score Range A 93–100% A– 90–92.99% B+ 87–89.99% B 83–86.99% B– 80–82.99% C+ 75–79.99% C 65–74.99% D 50–64.99% F 0–49.99% – Grade Distribution (Quick Reference) 1Incomplete Grades: University policy states that an incomplete grade may be awarded if the student is unable to complete their work on time due to circumstances beyond their control. Please refer to the academic policies page for more information. 3 Part Weight Attendance and Participation 10% WebAssign 10% Written HW 10% Quizzes 10% Midterm Exams 30% Final Exam 30% – Grade Distribution (Details) ∗ Attendance & Participation (10%) Attendance is expected and required during lecture. This will be assessed sporadically in lecture via real-time polls that will constitute 5% of your final grade. Those will be graded mostly on effort and completion, and on correctness wherever applicable. More information will be provided in lecture on the first day, but you cannot get the grade for those unless you are present and active at the time when they are administered. However, there will be plenty of opportunities to earn full points on this, even if you must skip class when one is administered. In case of an impending health problems, personal issues, or religious observances, you may skip class. You do not need to message me every time you skip class, but the total number of absences that will not affect your attendance and participation score is 6. In recitation, attendance is expected and required. Your TA will take attendance via a tradi- tional sign-up sheet. You are allowed 3 free recitation absences without penalty. Every absence after the 3rd one will result in a 0.5% deduction. No additional considerations will be made so please use your absences wisely. ∗ WebAssign (10%) There will be weekly WebAssign assignments for the sections of the textbook covered in lecture, due by midnight on days indicated on the schedule. These exercises are usually computational, and to be done after attending lecture and/or watching the available optional videos. You only need to submit one answer, and you get feedback immediately. There are at least 3 attempts for each question, and the lowest WebAssign grade will be dropped. No further extensions or considerations are given, no exceptions. ∗ Written HW (10%) There will be a total of 6 weekly written homework assignments with deadlines posted on the course schedule, typically midnight on some Mondays. You can find the assigned exercises and due dates on Brightspace. Please upload the HW by the deadline via Gradescope. Late assignments will be accepted based on the policy stated on the cover page of each HW (the same for every Written HW, but not for WebAssigns). In addition, the lowest Written HW grade will be dropped. No further exceptions are made. See the HW guidelines at the end of this document. ∗ Quizzes (10%) You will take weekly quizzes (generally timed for 30 minutes) due by midnight on Sundays as indicated on the schedule. Your lowest 2 quiz grades will be dropped. No further extensions or considerations, no exceptions. ∗ Midterm and Final Exams (60%) There are 2 exams and a final in the course. Since the learning goals are different and slightly unrelated, the weights are as follows: 15% for Midterm I, 15% for Midterm II and 30% for the non-cumulative Final.