FAQ about the Course Help Center Learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. J. Nathan Kutz

PhD, Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University

About the Instructor

J. Nathan Kutz specializes in a unified approach to applied mathematics including modeling, computation and analysis. His current focus is phenomena in dimensionality reduction and data-analysis techniques for complex systems. This includes work in laser dynamics and mode locking in fiber lasers, neuro-sensory systems and theoretical neuroscience, and gesture recognition algorithms for portable electronic devices. Kutz has authored numerous scientific articles on these subjects as well as segments of books devoted to his area of expertise.

Course Lecture Packet:

Download: Course Lecture Notes Packet- These notes are intended as the primary source of information for this Coursera course. The notes may contain errors. Any other use aside from classroom purposes and personal research is prohibited and copyrighted.

Can I sign up to take other courses by this instructor?

Yes, of course. We hope to have more courses from Dr. Kutz in the future.

How long will the course take to complete?

The course will require approximately 10-15 hours of your time per week in total effort.

Is there a textbook to accompany this course?

A text book is not necessary as the course is self-contained and the course notes are provided. To be successful in the course, a strong background in linear algebra is required. Familiarity with methods of ordinary differential equations and basic programming structure is also required. With this background, students should be able to develop the codes necessary for the homework in the course.

To be successful in the course, a strong background in linear algebra is required. Familiarity with methods of ordinary differential equations and basic programming structure is also required. With this background, students should be able to develop the codes necessary for the homework in the course.

MathWorks is pleased to provide a special license to you as a course participant to use for your Coursera course. This is a limited license for the duration of your course plus 30 days and is intended to be used only for course work and not for commercial purposes.

Below is the MATLAB download link for your class:

https://www.mathworks.com/licensecenter/classroom/scientificcomp

Given the computational nature of the course, access to MATLAB (www.mathworks.com) is essential. MATLAB provides student editions for $99 that can be downloaded via the web.

Octave (www.gnu.org/software/octave) is a free (or by donation) alternative to MATLAB that can also be downloaded and installed via the web. Either software should suffice for all the needs of the course, but MATLAB is the strongly recommended software solution.

Is there a statement of completion or certificate issued for this course?

No there is not a credential awarded for this course.

Can I stop the lecture stream and/or the assessment quizzes without losing work?

The lectures are essentially like YouTube videos, so if you stop it mid-stream, you can just start it again. For the quizzes, there is a "Save Answers" button at the bottom of each quiz that will allow you to carry over answers from session to session.

Weekly Lecture Quiz attempts

• You now have TWO attempts ONLY to complete the quizzes assigned.
• Quizes are timed.
• Once opened, You have 3 hours to complete them before they close; Give yourself enough time to complete the quiz.
• Quiz names are reflective of their association with each lecture.

Before attempting, be sure that you have viewed the lectures and read the notes so that you are fully prepared to answer the questions.

Why can't I download the video lectures?

The University of Washington is committed to working with some of the world's leading instructors to provide high quality, free education, globally.

We have removed the ability to download course video from Coursera for a number of reasons:

1. Our video contains functionality which only works within the Coursera environment.  Downloading it to another platform, such as YouTube, prevents this from working as designed.
   
2. Our ability to bring you a free course means that we must protect its content so that it is viewed as intended, as a component of an instructionally coherent educational program in Coursera.

We apologize if this is an inconvenience for some students who would prefer more flexibility for viewing this free content.

We hope that you understand our need to maintain a quality standard and continue to enjoy the course.

 

Can I access the course and contents after it ends?

All quizzes and homework assignments need to be completed by the listed due dates. After this date, currently enrolled students can continue to access this course session via a "View class archive" button on the Coursera landing page for the course. As this course may be run in the future, students may choose to enroll in and attend a new session of the course if they wish. You can choose to Sign Up for future sessions on the Coursera home page https://www.coursera.org/uw .

We look forward to providing you with additional courses from the University of Washington in the future. 

Thanks you for your participation in this course. 
- The University of Washington

---