The last technique of the course: Matrix Multiplication
In working with graphs so far we've been able to lean on our visual system to literally see if a graph is connected, or to help us spy out the minimal spanning tree or shortest route. But it's no help when graphs get moderately large or complex. Which brings us to matrix multiplication. Matrix multiplication is a fussy procedure, but it is mechanical, and you might as well start muttering the key incantation to yourself now: "the column above times the row to the left".
Connectedness ♾️
Multiplying matrices unlocks a rich set of interpretations of system graphs. This week it will enable us to tell if a graph is connected, and which nodes are reachable from which others; a key consideration when modelling habitats in conservation ecology.
Next week we will use matrix multiplication to trace the dynamic evolution of systems using Markov models.
Make a difference: Provide feedback! 😇
Courses and teachers don't get better by accident. They get better when they get, and act on, useful feedback. I hope
you will take time to give me some by filling out both my Course Improvement
Questionnaire, and the official YukonU Course evaluation. I appreciate it! 🙏
The course isn't quite over, but I'm already thinking about the next time I teach it, and what I could do to make it better.
Please help me improve it! The things I do right in teaching are the result of suggestions and ideas from years of students. Answering the brief questions in this questionnaire will directly affect how the course is taught next time. And it's good karma for you.
(Note that this is a Moodle survey and is not anonymous.)
2) Fill out the Official Course Evaluation 👍/👎
There is also an official evaluation of the course YukonU uses for its purposes (the instructor, the chair or program coordinator, and sometimes the Dean of the school, all see them). The official
course evaluation is completely anonymous, and instructors don't see your responses until after we have submitted our final grades. I read your responses to it carefully and thoughtfully, but the questions
are not as immediately actionable as the ones on my survey above.
