How to use WebAssign for your Homework

In order to access and submit your homework for grading, you will use WebAssign.

Each homework assignment has a "release date" (i.e. the day you can first view it) and a "deadline" (the last moment it can be electronically submitted for grading). The due dates are listed in the class schedule (Wednesdays of most weeks), and the deadline is at 11:59pm on the due date. Typically, the next assignment is available on the day its predecessor is due.

Because the Mathematics department has recently started using WebAssign, the company has agreed to provide a "class test". This means that there will be no student fee assessed. Other departments on campus have used Webassign for years and you may be familiar with it already.

Here is a description of how to get registered on WebAssign and begin accessing the homework.

  1. Open a web browser (Internet Explorer, Foxfire, Safari, etc.).
  2. Login to your "MyUW" account.
  3. Go to this web address: http://www.webassign.net
  4. On the right-hand side will be a window labeled "ACCOUNT LOG IN". In the blank labeled "Institution" type in: washington
    Do NOT enter a username and do NOT enter a password on this page. Click the "LOG IN" button.
  5. A new screen appears with a new "LOG IN" button. Click on this button. This should take you into a page with access to your Math 124A or Math 124B assignments. (If you had not previously logged into your MyUW account, Webassign would have forced you to do so at this point.)
  6. Under "My classes" drop down menu, select our class. You will then be able to access current assignments, homework scores, etc. Under the Help menu at the top of the page you can read about various aspects of using WebAssign.
  7. A trial/practice assignment entitled "Intro to WebAssign 2010-2011" is available for you to try out the system. I will not count your score on this introductory assignment towards your grade.
    Your first actual assignment is "Homework 1", due by 11:59 on Wednesday April 7.
  8. When you open up a homework assignment, you will see various boxes need to be filled in with answers. Sometimes the answers are numerical (like "1.25" or "5/4"), sometimes symbolic (like " 2x + x2 "). Because of keyboard limitations, we need to know how to enter an answer like:

    x 3c+d

    A palette is provided to help with this.

  9. When you open a homework assignment, you have the option to submit an answer OR save your work for later. You can also print out the entire homework, work on it away from the computer, then return and enter answers later.
  10. On each question, you are allowed 5 tries to get it correct. After that, the correct answer pops up and you are given 0 on that particular submission.
  11. When you have logged in to your account on Webassign, you can also go to the link labeled "Guide" at the top of the page for answers to a lot of common questions you may have.
  12. You will have nearly identical homework assignments as the other Math 124 students; the difference lies in the fact that many of the problems have "randomized" numbers in them. For example, on a particular problem your homework may involve working with the equation

    2 x2 + 3y2 = 7

    However, when you look at your friends homework, the same problem instead might involve the equation

    3 x2 + 5y2 = 7

    These slight randomized changes insure that no single answer key can be posted online for everyone to use.