topics and books - Intro. Linear Algebra & Differentl. Equatns

symbolipoint

The courses called "Introductory Linear Algebra & Differential Equations" are potentially
diluted too much in order to form into a one-semester course; the one which often follows
the third semester of Calculus. This becomes a terminal Math course for students who will
usually not go further with Math, and so some topics are given far less treatment in the
effort to help the students more comfortably earn their credit.

Since these combination courses de-emphasize so many topics, could anyone tell us exactly
which topics need to be well developed for this kind of combination course, especially in
regard to the Linear Algebra portion of the course? Also, which textbooks, by author and
title, are some of the best ones to use for these combination Linear Algebra & Differential
Equation courses? (I gave away my book many many years ago, having no further use for it at
the time, and I do not remember its title or authors)

robphy

I believe that the key point of such a course is to develop the
methods for solving simple ODEs with constant coefficients
... effectively turning these differential equations into algebraic equations.

Vid

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013...pr_product_top

This is the book they use for such a course where I am. I didn't take it so I don't have anything to say. Judging from the reviews, it seems everyone either really liked it or really hated it.