Information Pertaining to Homework

Information about the HW Component of Course Grade

Rather than have 6 HW assignments, and count your best 5 of the 6, like I do for some of the other classes that I teach, 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 problem, 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 60, since HW is worth 60%) will be
60*min{y, 0.9*m}/(0.9*m) = min{200*y/(3*m), 60}
(and so you can miss up to 10% of the points, and still get a perfect 60 ... 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 problems, or HW points, there will be this semester. But I'll guess that there will be more problems assigned in the second half of the semester than the first half. I expect that the majority of the problems can be simply done using StatXact.

Late HW Policy

Most problems will be due 2 weeks after they are assigned so that you will have ample opportunity to ask questions about the material and do the problems. If you don't have the problems ready to turn in on the Thursday that they are due, I will accept them up until 7:30 PM on the following Monday, and will grade them after that only if I haven't graded the papers of the other students (but I expect that most weeks I will be at GMU on Monday nights and will start grading the papers before going home).

When dropping off late HW papers, or anything else, be sure to take them to my regular office in Science and Technology Building 2 (and not the room in the Central Module where I hold my office hours prior to class). If possible, put late HW papers under my door (my office is room 153), and otherwise, if you're locked out of the hallway on which my office is located, slide your papers under the glass door to room 158, which is the main office for my department. (Do not put papers under the glass door in the little hallway that goes by the entrance to one of the computing labs.) 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 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 Thursday 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