Course Syllabus

Overview of CSE Topics

Part 1: Models and Simulation

  • Introduction to Initial Value Problems (IVP), discretization, explicit methods for IVP.
  • Systems of equations, elimination, implicit methods for linear systems of IVP.
  • Nonlinear models, root-finding and Newton's method, implicit methods for nonlinear IVP.

Part 2: Optimization and Control

  • Constrained and unconstrained formulations
  • Classification of minima
  • Iterative methods

Part 3: Uncertainty Quantification

  • Probability: random variable, distribution, moments, conditional probabilities
  • Estimation of the mean and standard deviation, confidence intervals
  • Monte Carlo sampling

Many examples from mechanics (robotics, planetary motion, particle motion, vehicle motion), chemistry, Earth and climate science, biology (epidemiology), brain and cognitive science (neuron bursting), etc. 

Assignments & Grading

There will be no final exam.

The evaluation will consist of

  • 5 problem sets: 
    • Problem sets will have two grade components:
      • a code score based purely on your submitted code considering both the ability of the code to accomplish the stated objectives.
      • a check-off score based on: your explanations of your code to the TA as well as the quality of the code (clarity, style, efficiency, etc).
      • for a given pset, the code score will be between 50-70% of that pset grade and the check-off score will be between 30-50%.
    • See Pset Collaboration Policies (below) for how you may work with others on psets.
    • The check-off for a pset submission which you used a late day(s) must still be held on the days offered by the staff.  We expect psets will be due on a Tuesday at 5pm and check-offs will be offered that immediately following Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Completing all five check-offs is mandatory to pass the class.
    • To avoid surprises, we suggest that after you submit your pset, you double check to make sure the submission was uploaded correctly. We strongly urge you to see the late days as backup in case of an emergency. Your best strategy is to do the psets early before work starts to pile up. 
  • 3 microquizzes: given in class. You may use the class resources, but you may not otherwise use the Internet. You may not collaborate with others for the quizzes. 
  • Finger exercises: will be made available on-line immediately after (most) lectures, and due before the start of the next lecture. They will include short answer questions and small Python programming problems that are automatically checked for correctness.

The grading policy will be:

  • 60% psets
  • 30% microquizzes.  Your lowest microquiz score will be dropped.
  • 10% finger exercises. 

In addition, we will be offering extra credit for finding errors and making suggestions for the MITx content.  Specifically:

  • You can receive a maximum of up to 5% extra credit (this will just get added directly to your overall percentage.  So, if you had an 88.518592% without the extra credit, and you earned 3.1% of extra credit, then your overall grade percentage will be 91.618592%.
  • You can earn extra credit by being the first person to:
    • find a typo, grammatical, or other similar non-technical error.  You will receive typically 0.05% but could be higher.
    • find a technical error (in a Python code, in the notes, in the videos, ...).  You will typically receive 0.5% but could be lower.
    • suggest a useful new addition to the content (e.g. suggest a new finger exercise including a fairly detailed description of the problem and solution; or, suggest adding content to better/more fully explain a concept; etc).  You can receive up to 2%.
  • You may only submit an extra credit request on Piazza in the extra_credit tab.  And you must do so with a public posting with your name on it.  This is so that other people can see that a problem has been already found, and also so we know who to award the extra credit to.
  • If multiple people were working together when they identified the problem, the person submitting the error to Piazza can also include in their post the names of the other people.  The credit received will then be equally split among those people.
  • The staff will decide what category (non-technical vs technical vs new addition) and how much the extra credit received will be. 
  • Again, extra credit will only be given to the first person that makes the suggestion!
  • Only suggestions submitted before the last lecture will be considered.

We do not post final letter grade cutoffs, but the highest the cutoff (as a percentage of the total possible grade) will be is:

  • A: 90%
  • B: 80%
  • C: 70%
  • D: 60%
  • F: below 60%

Late Day Policies

  • We offer late days for the submitted component of the problem sets. All students are given 3 late days (24 hour extensions) to use in this course.  Late days are discrete (e.g. a student cannot use 0.314 of a late day).  For example, turning a pset on Saturday 7PM when it was due on Friday 5PM would cost two late days. You can use as many of your late days as you want on a pset, but you will be responsible for handing in the following pset on time. 

  • You must ultimately complete every pset, even if you have run out of late days (if you have run out of late days, you will receive a zero but it still must be completed). Failing to do so results in an "incomplete" for the overall course, no matter how well you performed otherwise.

  • To avoid surprises, we suggest that after you submit your pset, you double check to make sure the submission was uploaded correctly. We strongly urge you to see the late days as backup in case of an emergency. Your best strategy is to do the psets early before work starts to pile up.

  • We grant extensions only in special circumstances where the request comes from S^3.

Pset Collaboration Policies

  • For psets, we allow collaborations in groups (pset buddies) of no more than three students altogether
    • pset buddies may hand in the same code, but that is not required.
    • when you submit your code, you must indicate who your pset buddies were.  This will be done through a comment in your submitted code.
    • you are allowed to form your own pset buddy group for each pset.
    • alternatively, you may use the psetpartners.mit.edu website and you will be matched with pset buddies around the same day as the pset is released.
  • Collaboration does not mean divide and conquer!
    • each student is expected to work on and understand each component of the problem set
    • we will evaluate individual understanding in check-offs

Check-off Policies

  • check-offs are individual (i.e. you do not do them with your pset buddies)
  • your total problem set grade = grade on submitted code + check-off grade
  • the completion of both components is required for the completion of the course
  • we will send an email with sign up instructions for check-offs
    • generally, we anticipate offering check-offs for the three days following the code due date.  e.g. if the code is due at 5pm on Tuesday, we will offer check-offs on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
    • please show up on time!
      • we will allow you to reschedule a missed check-off only if it is your first offense. Subsequent missed appointments result in check-off grade = 0
  • check-offs are an important part of the learning experience and are mandatory!
    • late check-offs will receive check-off grade = 0.
    • but check-offs must ultimately be completed, late or not! Failing to do so results in an "incomplete" for the overall course, no matter how well you performed otherwise.
      • You are responsible for ensuring you have completed each check-off … we will not send email about this.
  • In general, the check-off for a pset submission which you used a late day(s) must still be held on the days offered by the staff.  e.g. if the pset is due Tuesday at 5pm and you submit it on Friday at 2pm (assuming you still had three late days!), then you will need to have your check-off on Friday (since our plan is to only offer three days of check-offs, Friday will be the last planned day for check-offs)