Homework
This semester, we will be doing homework in MAT125 as a combination of web-based homework (completed online) and assignments written up on paper which will be graded by a human grader.
You are encouraged to discuss homework problem together. However, each student must write up the homework or complete the corresponding web-based homework individually.
Homework will be assigned weekly; check the schedule for the specific weekly assignments. Note that the odd-numbered (paper) problems have answers in the back of the textbook. If such problems are assigned, you should nonetheless try and solve these problems without recourse to the answer key, and write the problem up carefully in your own words even if you have consulted the book for the final answer: always show your work.
You will also complete part of the homework problems via a web interface. One of the benefits of the web-based system is that it will provide immediate feedback about whether your answers are right and wrong.
Web-based homework problems are much like the usual ones: you need to give answers to a series of short questions, some of them multiple-choice, others not. The only difference is that instead of doing it on paper, you are doing it over the Internet. You can access the web interface from any computer which has an Internet connection, whether from home, from one of the University SINC sites, or say from an Internet cafe in Paris. No special software is required: all you need is a relatively recent Web browser. Also, you can do the web-based homework whenever you want (of course, before the deadline). You can look at the problems, or even print some of them, then go home, think them over, and come back later with your answer. In fact, this is probably the best way of doing the web-based homework for most people.
Please note that each problem has many variants, and different students are given different variants. So do not try to compare your answers to that of your classmates. Comparing techniques of solving the problems will be helpful, however.
If you are registered for the course, an account was created for you on the WebAssign web site. Your username is your Stony Brook NetID (what you use forBlackboard, and your password should be the same as your NetID password (even if you change it).
Make sure that you go to https://blackboard.stonybrook.edu/ to log in, and not to www.webassign.net. If you get to a page that asks for the institution code, you are in the wrong place.When in Blackboard, select "Courses" tab, click on your course. In the grey area on the left choose "Tools" and select "Access WebAssign" in the main pane. WebAssign is best compatible with Chrome browser.
If you aren't registered or have other trouble logging in, please send an email to the course coordinator. Please include the number of the recitation you attend, your full name, and your Stony Brook ID number, and your NetID (I don't need the password).
After you login the first time, please go to the My Options page (in the upper right of the screen) and put in your email address.
WebAssign has a variety of different question types, ranging from multiple choice to fill-in-the-blank to symbolic questions. Here are some things to keep in mind as you work through your assignments:
Some questions require entering symbolic notation. Answer symbolic questions by using calculator notation. You must use the exact variables specified in the questions. The order is not important as long as it is mathematically correct. Clicking on the eye button previews the expression you enter in proper mathematical notation. Clicking on the symbolic formatting help button provides tips for using the correct keystrokes.
When you click on some WebAssign math questions an input palette will open. This palette, called mathPad, will help you enter your answer in proper notation.
You can save your work without grading by selecting the Save Work button at the end of the question. After you save your work, it will be available to you the next time you click the assignment.
Please note that WebAssign will not automatically submit your answers for scoring if you only Save your work. Please be sure to Submit prior to the due date and time.
You can submit answers by question part or for the entire assignment. To submit an individual question answer for grading, click the "Submit New Answers to Question" button at the bottom of each question. To submit the entire assignment for grading, click the "Submit All New Answers" button at the end of the assignment.
Some WebAssign questions check the number of significant figures in your answer. If you enter the correct value with the wrong number of significant figures, you will not receive credit, but you will receive a hint that your number does not have the correct number of significant figures.
While different students may get slightly different versions of the assignment, your questions will be the same every time you return. This means you can print out the assignment, work the problems, and then come back later and put in your answers. Since you get multiple attempts to get the question correct, be sure to leave yourself enough time to rework the problems that you did wrong.
Each question is (typically) worth one point. If a question has multiple answers, each of those are worth a fraction of a point.
If you put in a wrong answer for a question and ask to have it graded, you will be told it is wrong and be ably to try again. However, if you put in the correct answer on the second try, you get half credit. On the third try, you get 1/3 credit, and so on.
If you have issues with the assignment, you can use the "Ask your Teacher" button to send a message to your TA and/or lecturer. You should make it clear which problem you are talking about, and what, specifically, your issue is. Using "Ask your teacher" is prefered to sending an email because your question gets saved with your assignment.
Web based homeworks are due at 9 AM on Wednesdays (think "tuesday night before I go to sleep") in the week following the week in which they appear; for example, the web based homework, assigned in week 1, is due the morning of Wednesday, September 3nd. It is better to work on the problems well before the due date, both because you'll learn better and because you'll save yourself headaches when the inevitable computer glitch happens. The due date was picked so that you would have the weekend to work the homeworks, and still have one class meeting before the due date.
Paper homework assignments are due during recitation in the following the week in which they appear: for example the problems for the week of September 3 are due in recitation during the week of September 10.
Late homeworks will not be accepted.
Every student must have the following heading on his assignment:
Surname, Name
University ID Number
Date Submitted
MAT 125/ Recitation Number/Name of TA
Assignment (e.g., 2.2: 24, 36)
One problem per page. You may use both the front and the back sides of a page.
All of the homework pages MUST be stapled together.
Use black or dark blue ink when writing up answers for your homework assignments. Do NOT use RED ink and do NOT use PENCIL.
A complete solution will include the following:
The statement of the problem
An organized presentation of ideas leading to a solution
An answer that is circled or boxed
If a problem has multiple parts it should be solved as though each part were a separate problem, following the order in which parts are listed.
NO WORK = NO CREDIT. This is especially valid for problems whose answer is given at the end of the book!
Any breech of academic integrity will be pursued accordingly.