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Math 252 (Calculus III) Strict Guidelines for Written Homework
There will be lots of homework, necessary at this level to make sense of the concepts.
Here is the revised list of homework for Chapters 16 and 17, abbreviating the previous list, somewhat due to the irrevocably lost time the last week of October.
Course total will be officially 600 points:
- Midterms = 300 points
- Homework = 100 points
- Final exam = 200 points
Grading System
Tens of Thousands of Problems To Grade
First, an explanation of the homework grading system. At this level, especially with two full classes, I can't meticulously grade each problem for partial credit as I did in 150 and 151. The department could hire a grader, but even the best student grader, even a graduate student, cannot perform as someone can who has an advanced math degree.
10 Selected Problems per Assignment
On the advice of Dr. Grone and other senior faculty, who are faced with this same problem in 500 and 600 level courses, I am on each assignment selecting 10 problems, or 5 in the short Chapter 14, to grade out of the whole assignment. Of course, they will be the same selection for all students, but you won't know which 10 or which 5 they are beforehand.
20 Points per Assignment
You can of course gamble that the few you do will fortunately be the ones I select. Now, on the few I select, I will do a once-over lightly, giving a grade of 0 to 20 based on how many of the 5 or 10 are done, how many are right, what kind of supporting detail there is.
Homework Answers
Rather than giving out answer sheets, the printing cost of which gets prohibitive in 252, I will post the answers on this website, so that you can check them here.
- NO LATE PAPERS - You must turn it in at the start of class the day it's due. You can't sit in class and work on it. You can't slip it under my office door late. If you're not coming that day, give it to someone who is, or give it to me EARLIER.
- ABSOLUTELY NO COLLABORATION - Cases of which are easy to detect, and which will result in zeros for all parties involved, as well as possible University action under the academic integrity policies. These policies also prohibit, e.g., your paper being done, in whole or in part, by your girlfriend who has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.
- USE STANDARD NOTATION - This is essential in 252, where we have vectors and also scalars (real numbers), and compositions and combinations of both. E. g., we could have ƒ(R(t)), where the ƒ is a scalar function of the vector function R, which in turn has time, a scalar, as its independent variable. In type, vectors are shown in boldface; in writing, they must have an arrow above the letter symbol (see p. 834). Also, there are both scalar and vector differentials; dot products vs. algebraic products; partial derivatives vs. derivatives of functions of one variable (the "swirly" d vs. the "regular" d); double and triple integral signs; line integrals vs. "regular" integrals, etc. It's confusing enough without idiosyncratic homespun notations. For a sample of what I mean, see Sections 14.4, 15.5, 16.8, or 17.4.
- SOLVE ANALYTICALLY - As we all know, PCs and TI-89s have computer algebra systems, and definite integrals can be done on TI-82s. This, however, is not the way these courses are meant to be taken. You must solve, integrate, and analyze "by hand" as it were, just as we do in class, and due to the ubiquity of CASs, you must SHOW ENOUGH WORK to convince me you did it this way. In cases where I am not convinced, no points will result. After all, one can always check one's answers by machine if desired before writing the problems up, so nothing is lost by doing it the right way.
- WRITE ON ONE SIDE ONLY - Anything written on the backs will not be graded. Also, use notebook paper, plain paper, or graph paper, NOT sheets torn out of a spiral pad or tablet. Use full size, 8-1/2" by 11" paper.
- READ THE PROBLEM'S DIRECTIONS and be complete with what's required, doing it by the method specified in the text or the problem.
- JUSTIFY YOUR CONCLUSIONS where appropriate, especially in the few problems requiring proof. You can assume that "show"means "prove".
- WRITE NEATLY. In most cases this will involve recopying it nicely after working it out on scratch paper. (If you're anything like me, that is.) I don't need to see scratch paper, nor a bunch of mostly blank sheets you intended to fill but didn't. However, show your work, as stated above.
- USE GRAPH PAPER for all problems involving graphing, or at least careful work with a ruler. No sloppy sketches. This visual stuff helps your understanding, but only to the extent that your sketch conveys meaning.
- WORK IN EXACT VALUES and simplify your expressions that you show as answers, e.g., ln 2 rather than .693......etc., unless the problem clearly calls for decimal approximations.
- WRITE THE PROBLEMS IN ORDER. I will not be searching through page after page looking for problems.
- IF YOU'RE UNCLEAR about any of this, ask me about it before it's too late.
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