About Homework in MAT125
Fall 2008

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 provided by the publisher of the textbook. One of the benefits of the web-based system is that it will provide immediate feedback about whether your answers are right and wrong.

Doing the Web-based Homeworks

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.

Logging in

If you are registered for the course, an account was created for you on the WebAssign web site. Your username is your Stony Brook ID number, the institution code is sunysb, and your initial password is your surname, with the first letter capitalized (you should change this later).
Note that in some cases, the registrar might have a funny idea of your last name, especially if it is hyphenated. For example, if your last name is "Medina-Bonifant", you might need to use "Medinabonifant" as your initial password. Similarly, a lastname like "O'Brian" would use "Obrian" as the password.

For example, if your Stony Brook ID is 101202303, you would fill out the login as below:

Login Window
where the asterisks are your password. Don't forget that your password is your last name, with the first letter capitalized and the rest lower-case.
Then click the Log In button.

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.

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. You can also change your password on this page.

Doing the Assignment

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:

Homework Policies

Web based homeworks are due at 9 AM on Wednesdays 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 10th. 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 1 are due in recitation during the week of September 8.

Late homeworks will not be accepted.

Basic guidelines for submitting paper homework:

  • 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 organised 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.

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Page last modified on Friday, 5 September 2008 at 10:28 PM.