Semester page for ECON4120 - Autumn 2019

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  • Today's lecture note
  • Final seminar assignment: Kept from draft assignment are Problem 3(b) of exam spring 2015, and the entire set of spring 2012. New is the entire set of autumn 2018. 
  • In Canvas: updated Rules and formulas
    • ... also in Canvas: why that fix for the remainder term (the last thing in today's lecture) won't matter on the exam. 

I will in a few days post "recommended" exam sets for you to practice on. Since Tuomas has a video on one problem from spring 2016, that is naturally one to recommend. 

 

- Nils

Nov. 13, 2019 5:07 PM
  • Solution for the autumn 2009 exam for this seminar:
    3(c) had a sign error after the approximately-equal sign. Please reload your browsers.
  • For the last seminar, I consider making changes due to the following two uploads to Canvas:
    • Tuomas' last video concerns implicit derivatives, and covers one problem from an exam. You might want to do that exam first, so therefore I consider assigning it.
    • An actual exam paper (that got an "A") from last year's exam. Again I consider assigning that exam for that very reason. 
  • At the end of the seminar series I will anyway propose a series of "untouched" exam sets for you to prepare to the exam. 
    (And: if you skipped a hand-in ... do it! Even though all of them had at least one question that for an exam would be considered really quirky.)
Nov. 8, 2019 3:52 PM
  • Problems for next seminar: no change from draft. 
  • Lecture notes for today's topic updated; I included last year's slideset in the file.
  • I was made aware of a typo in the solution to spring 2017, page 2. Now fixed.
  • Proposed minor changes to the rules and formulas collection,
    • in part due to popular demand (the section "F"): see Canvas.
    • in part for readability of (G2), topic for next (final!) lecture. Make up your mind on the new vs the old formula.
    • minor tweaks mentioned are now committed. See footnote last page.
  • Also in Canvas this week: solution to hand-in #4 uploaded, and by popular demand: added a link to the lecture notes. 
Nov. 7, 2019 5:58 PM

No change in schedule.

LA lecture bugfixed.

Implicit differentiation: scan posted. Will be updated after tomorrow.

Nov. 6, 2019 1:03 PM


Posted here and in Canvas.

 

It was pointed out to me that 3220/4220 has its hand-in deadline on Thursday, and the topic for Thursday's lecture is not at all insignificant - by a quick count, it has appeared in eight of the last fifteen ordinary exams.

We could postpone the lecture until after the hand-in deadline. Possible solutions:

  • no change, keep it!
    • Pro et contra: obvious, both.
  • Thursday after the hand-in. Say, 1530-1715.
    • Pro: after the hand-in.
    • Contra: late, at least to schedule at short notice.
  • Friday 0815
    • Pro: this is a timeslot reserved for Mathematics 2.
    • Contra: too little time until the Friday 1415 seminar; that could be rescheduled for the following week. 
      And, what about the workshop? It could be scheduled for later that day. 
      At today's seminar, some complained about 0815. I dislike it too, but i...
Nov. 4, 2019 1:34 PM

First, on the mock exam: I've had a very brief glance at the handful that has been submitted already, and to comfort you a little bit:

  • It is perfectly normal to be pressed on time at this stage of the course. You have a full month to speed up.

I am curious on how many will "submit early" (i.e. by today or maybe tomorrow). Attendance today was about like last time I organized a voluntary exam. That semester I was disappointed (more with the very low number who actually submitted, than with the turnout - hopefully more will actually submit early this time!), but now, many of you have a term paper in another course AND have (hopefully) gotten quite a lot of feedback already from hand-ins 1 to 3. Given that you have likely a tighter time budget and likely less payoff, I am actually more surprised that so many raised their hand last week, than how "few...

Oct. 24, 2019 2:29 PM

A thank you to the student who notified me they were not published.

Oct. 20, 2019 11:34 PM
  • Hand-in #4 set is available.
    • Again: if you need it approved to get your three hand-ins, see the instructions in Canvas.
    • If you don't: the same set will be handed out (on paper) on the mock exam on Thursday.
  • For those on Monday's and Wednesday's seminars: see my bugfix on the last seminar problem.
  • Lecture notes from last week available.
    • I have not had any requests to re-do the Thursday lecture (due to it being announced late).
  • I put some linear algebra quizzes in Canvas. However, the slides part of the lecture notes include more examples than we covered.
  • Videos: Tuomas put up more.
  • And, if you want linear algebra videos, there are many to be found on YouTube. For example this one by channel The Organic Chemistry Tutor: https://youtu.be/KgziWUPXkhc
    I picked this because - click the...
Oct. 19, 2019 10:52 PM

The problem set will likely be posted tomorrow Friday. 

  • If you need to have hand-in #4 approved: read the information just posted in Canvas. (It will be repeated in the problem set.)
  • If you already have completed the compulsory requirements and want to keep everything unseen until the mock exam:
    Please disregard.

Nils

Oct. 17, 2019 6:17 PM

There is lecture tomorrow and mock exam for next Thursday.

  • Three of you told me that tomorrow does not fit you. All three are on 4310, which has no lecture next Tuesday.
    • I will post lecture notes after tomorrow. If you request, I will be available for next Tuesday's 4310 timeslot to repeat what needs to be repeated. 

The problem set for hand-in #4 will be the "mock exam set" ...

  • ... although, if you need hand-in #4 approved: 
    There will be instructions on precisely what will count for hand-in #4. See Canvas.
  • The problem set will hopefully be available by this week (I have sent a draft off to a colleague). 
    It will be up to you whether you want to keep it unseen until the mock exam.

If you want to take the mock exam - or even do it earlier: 

  • Submissions within Thursday 24th will be graded first, however submissions from those who actually need hand-in #4 wi...
Oct. 16, 2019 1:48 PM
  • Entered into the schedule:
    Lecture this Thursday instead of mock exam next Thursday. Also updated the schedule topics.
    • If no objections by tomorrow's lecture, then it is decided. (Therefore, I will post a Canvas announcement too - sorry if that increases the spam factor.) 
    • If you truly dislike mock exam at 0800 (not even 0815!):
      Feel free to allocate yourselves 9-13 or 10-14, but that auditorium is not available then after 12.
      (I could assist in booking a smaller room!)
  • Hand-in results published, please see bubble comments. We worked quite extensively on this one too, the main reasons why we were done earlier were that we started earlier (even before the deadline) - and that you wrote less strange things. 
    • A solution is posted in Canvas, together with a note ranting off over your passionate aversion against checking for zero before dividing.
    • Fail rate decreasing even fur...
Oct. 15, 2019 11:44 AM

Most of you won't "need" the last attempt to sit in for the exam, so we can do that mock exam thing even if that means a later deadline. Please read. In brief first, then elaborating on notes. 

  1. First thing first: The extra lecture this Thursday 17th.
            See notes before if it doesn't suit you.
  2. For the mock exam: Thursday 24th is possible.
            Proposal: 0800-1200 (because the exam is 4 hours), the usual place Aud7. 
            See notes below.
  3. I suggest: Bring your own print-out of the formula collection. (This is a voluntary thing, no cheating checks.)
  4. I suggest: feel free to bring your own paper.
            "Hand in" by submit...
Oct. 14, 2019 2:42 PM

We are half-way done with the papers by now - that is in part due to taking a few early on.

A couple of descriptive stats: You might wonder how your writing style compares with others.

  • Average number of pages for this hand-in: 10.1.
    A couple hit twenty plus. That's something you might not have time for on an exam.
  • Myself I am on the terse side, and I would not recommend squeezing it down to the four pages I will post to Canvas next week; the shorter you write, the more you need to know precisely what you are doing, and so it will likely take you more time to edit it down than just submit what you actually did.  Besides, what if you have to discard a paper with too many answers on? 

Then file size. Submitting a handwritten work means scanning, converting, uploading and with over 275 hand-written submissions (and the odd typeset ones too), some have crashed and some of you have really go...

Oct. 12, 2019 7:12 PM

So I realize that there is only one lecture next week, and that Thursday 24th is a possible time for the mock exam. Should have discussed with you, this. Suggestion:

  • IF there is mock exam the 24th, then lecture 17th?
  • If anyone misses that lecture slot due to this short notice ... we'll find a way with my office hours?

Uploaded & updated today:

  • This week's lecture notes
  • Remarks in Canvas to the hand-in set: updated with r-is-not-the-antiderivative-of-R
  • Draft problems for the seminar week after the hand-in. Hope to get things covered next Wednesday ... or Thursday, see above
  • A Canvas quiz to get you set on vector basics. 
    • Would you like to have something similar for matrices?
    • How is this format compared to videos? 
      (I'd guess it is better for "basics" like this than for longer problems.)

Gosh. Five hours since lecture and I haven't even done anything but M...

Oct. 10, 2019 5:19 PM

Some have requested more videos for differential equations. 
If you go to YouTube, you will find a lot, many of which have "y=y(x)" as the unknown function.   If you are stuck at the basics and don't want the r?le of "x" to confuse you, here are a few which solve for a function of time "t". All from YouTube channel blackpenredpen: 

Oct. 8, 2019 2:18 PM