MATLAB Assignments
After the first assignment, you may (should!) work on in groups the problems in
Differential Equations with MATLAB R
. (No more than three students to a group,
please!) Prepare the MATLAB homework in the form of a published M-file (see
Differential Equations with MATLAB R
§4.4.5) and print it out (with all the input,
output, and graphics included). A homework group should submit only one copy of
a MATLAB assignment, and all members of a homework group will receive identical
grades for that assignment. The names of all the members of the group must be typed
in a text cell in each solution M-file.
Here are some tips.
•Look at the complete solutions in the book to see what your solutions should
look like.
•Start early.
•Plan to work on the problems starting three or four days before the assignment
is due (about a week before if it is a two week assignment). Begin a problem
by reading it carefully and thinking about the issues.
•When you get stuck on one problem, go to the next one.
•After this first session, think about the problems, read over your work, find
your gaps, mistakes, etc., and figure out how to fill in the missing parts. A few
days later, go back to the computer. Make sure your answers are well-written
as well as correct.
•Save your work often.
•Use lots of cells. This will make your work much more readable.
•Be sure you answer ALL the parts of each question.
•Be sure you answer ALL implied questions.
–If you solved a problem more than one way, compare the solutions.
–Is your solution reasonable? Explain how you know.
–Is there anything unusual, weird, striking, ... about what you found? Be
sure to comment on it.
•After Problem Set A, use a separate solution M-file for each problem. Staple
all the problems together in the correct order.
•If you run into a problem and send me an email requesting help, be sure to
attach the solution M-file. I’m not very good at figuring out what to do about
the problem if all you send me is a MATLAB error message.