You will do much of your learning in this course by interacting with the computer software. However, it is important that you do some paper-and-pencil problems, and the textbook provides a large number of problems for your practice.
Here are the assignments. It is your responsibility to check your answers and use these intelligently to help you learn the material. So, if you miss any problem in the paper assignment, you should do at least a couple of additional similar problems for practice. See the example and instructions below.
Label each page with the section number (like 1.1, etc.) and, of course, make the problem numbers clear. It isn't necessary to put your name on every page, but do put it on the top page when you turn it in.
How to do it: (This is an example of a single page, not a complete assignment.) Example || Description If you don't follow these rules about showing your work on appropriate problems, you'll receive a substantial grade penalty on the paper assignments. It will be an even more substantial grade penalty on later assignments if you continue to not show the necessary work. The point of doing the homework is to practice correct and useful methods of doing the problems.
Words: On many applied problems, you need to give the units of the answer, such as dollars, feet, centimeters, percent, etc. Those units are given in the answer keys. Don't count your answers right unless you include them too.
Submit it: Submit it on the day you take the test. If you receive permission to take the test late, that includes permission to submit the paper homework at that same time. Collect one entire assignment (the first one is Lessons 1.1 - 2.3), write your name on the top page, put it in a sealed envelope with my name and your name in the appropriate places for the address and the return address. (If you must fold it, fold the entire set together rather than as individual pages.) You may submit it by campus mail or US mail. While I want you to send it the same day you take the test. I understand that may not be postmarked that day and that it will take a few days to reach me. It is unlikely that you need to pay extra postage for earlier delivery than normal. If you are concerned about that, email me and ask. If you submit it by campus mail, you don't have to pay postage at all, of course.
Label each page with the number of the section from which the problems are taken.
Work each problem, showing your work and answer on the same page. For each problem you work, check your answer in the back of the book immediately (including checking to see if you have the right units for the answer, like dollars or feet.) Put a check or an X by the problem in your homework.
If you got it wrong, go back to the examples in the text to find a similar problem and use that to understand your mistake. If that isn't enough help, then either send me an email message with a question or go back to the computer software and review. When you understand your mistake, rework the problem correctly. Don't erase the first attempt, just lightly cross it out and put the corrected problem nearby.
It is important to practice more on the problems you did wrong. Find at least one more similiar problem in the exercises and do it and check it in the same way. Put this right in your homework assignment along with the original problem. Obviously, you should find an odd-numbered problem if possible, so it is easy to check the answer. But if the only similar problem you can find is even-numbered, you can do it, send your solution (or at least your answer) to me in an email message, and ask me to check it for you.
Larger version of example (Takes four times as long to load, but is easier to read.)
