Information Pertaining to Homework


Note: Go to this webpage pertaining to homework assignments to find out about specific homework assignments and due dates.

Information about the HW Component of Course Grade

Rather than have 6 HW assignments, and count your best 5 of the 6, or have 12 assignments and count your best 10 of 12, like I've done for some classes that I've taught in the past, I will make the problems assigned throughout the semester worth various amounts of points, and just keep track of your cumulative points earned. In order to make some allowance for illness, work-related travel, canine urination, etc., that may make it hard for you to turn in a good solution to each exercise in a timely manner, at the end of the semester I'll compute the HW component of your course grade as described below:
letting m be the sum of all of the point values for the problems assigned throughout the semester, and y be the sum of all of the points that you earn (your cumulative total), the number of HW points you receive (out of a maximum of 40, since HW is worth 40%) will be
40*min{y, 0.9*m}/(0.9*m) = min{400*y/(9*m), 40}
(and so you can miss up to 10% of the points, and still get a perfect 40 ... and extra credit points will count toward the numerator sum (y), but not the denominator sum (m)).
At this point in time, I don't know how many HW exercises, or HW points, there will be, but I'm guessing that anywhere from 5 to 20 points of HW will be due each class meeting starting Feb. 4 and ending April 28 (and most of the time the points per assignment will be in the 10 to 16 range). (Note: The dates given here may change if any classes are cancelled due to bad weather. But I suspect that there will be some homework solutions/answers due during every class from the 3rd class of the semester to the 14th class of the semester.)

Late HW Policy

The solutions to most exercises which will be graded will be due approximately two weeks after the exercise was assigned, so that hopefully you will have a good opportunity to ask questions about the material and do the work. (I indicate approximately two weeks since since some weeks I may post the homework after class. I hope that usually it will be just a few hours after class, but sometimes it may be as late as two days after class, in which case you will just have 12 days before the due date.) For the last assignment, you may only have about one week to work on some of the problems.

If you don't have your solutions ready to turn in on the night that they are due, you can take advantage of a grace period and submit your solutions by 10 PM the following night.

When dropping off late HW papers, take them to my office in Nguyen Engineering Building / Volgenau School, putting them under my door (my office is Room 1706 (not 1707)). (Note: The building may be locked between 11 PM and 6 AM.) Whether you fax your paper, or leave it for me under my office door, send me an e-mail indicating that you turned in your paper late (with late meaning that you did not turn it in at the classroom, or put it under my office door or fax it to me by 11:59 PM, on the nominal due date).

If you fax your paper, or drop it off, and for whatever reason I don't get it, then I won't give you any credit. So the best plan will be to always turn in your paper to me in the classroom on the night that it is due (but it is usually safe for you to put your paper under my office door --- I don't know of any instances when students have done so and I didn't get the paper).

Other Comments about HW