Math 124:
Homework Guidelines
Homework is an essential part
of this course. As mentioned in the departmental
note
to students, in order to succeed in this class you are expected to spend
15 hours each week studying and doing homework outside of class.
Start each assignment early. At first, attempt to solve
the assigned problems on some scrap paper. When you succeed in solving a
question, you should write a complete and clear
solution to be turned in, and make a note to yourself regarding what you
learned or practiced. An important principle to keep in mind is that
the way you come up with and present your
solutions is more important
than getting the "right" answer!
Doing the homework is necessary in order to practice and improve your
understanding of the concepts learned in class.
It
also allows
you to learn how to express mathematical ideas
clearly (useful on tests and all further classes) and to
get a little feedback from the grader regarding your
understanding of the material; finally, your homework is a
necessary tool in preparing for exams.
Some of the
assigned problems are longer or more difficult. The skills these harder
problems develop are an important part of the learning
we aim for in this class.
Submission guidelines:
 | Always show all the steps in your work. The correct answer is not enough for
full credit. Many of the answers are available at
the back of your text so the grader will be checking that you
know how to
get that answer, not just that you can write it down. |
| Use correct and complete notation (like your
textbook or in lecture) |
| Be neat. Your grader must be able to easily read your solutions.
Excessively messy or illegible assignments may receive
partial or no credit. |
| Problems should appear in the correct order, leaving room for a grader
to write comments, if necessary.
|
| Cut off shaggy edges and staple
the entire assignment together. (we
may refuse to accept it otherwise.)
|
| List your name and your quiz section (for example,
"Section AB")
in the top right-hand corner of your assignment. |
| Homework is due in class on the posted due date. If you are unable
to come to class on a day that homework is due, then you may turn
in your
homework earlier than its due date,
or have a reliable friend
bring it to class for you.
Late
assignments are not accepted,
but we drop your lowest score.
|
GRADING: Your homework grade in this course has two
components: a completion grade and an accuracy grade. That is, you will receive some
points in proportion to the number of the assigned problems you have
completed regardless of whether or not they were done correctly. In
addition, each week, your instructor will choose some problems to be graded
for correctness. We will not announce to you which problems will be graded,
so it is important that you complete every problem assigned and
include a complete solutions. Students who make an honest
attempt at every assigned problem will generally
receive high scores on
homework (even if they don't get the correct answers).
Assignments which skip
problems, are incomplete, or just write down the answers will receive low homework scores. |