Math 104 Spring 2008

Section 218 (Prof. Crotty)

Homework Assignments


General Information and Possibly Useful Links

  • Professor Crottys Math 104 Webpage
  • Math Advising (tutors, online help, hours & locations)
  • The Tutoring Center
  • Blackboard (check your grades)

  • Recitation and TA Information

    Contact Information:

  • OFFICE: DRL 4C17 (In case you forgot it from my homepage)
  • OFFICE HOURS:
  •       Monday 4:00pm-5:00pm

          Thursday 5:00pm-6:00pm

  • EMAIL: rupinski AT math DOT upenn DOT edu
  • (The different colors indicate this stuff is important)

    Recitation Hours:

    Section 217, Thursday 8:30-9:20, Room 3C2
    Section 206, Thursday 9:30-10:20, Room 3C2



    Exam Policy

    The in class exam is scheduled as follows:

  • Midterm Exam:

    The final exam is currently scheduled for:

  • If the given midterm or final exam dates create a conflict for you, please contact the professor immediately to explain your problem.


    Homework/Quiz Policies

  • The homework assigned each week should be done before recitation the following week. Homework will not be collected; rather there will be a quiz each week in recitation. The quiz will consist of two questions either taken directly from that week's homework or very similar to the homework questions. Your solutions will be graded for quality of ideas, so even if you get the wrong final answer but did the work mostly right, you will get most of the points.

    Some commonly encountered questions concerning homework and the class in general:

    Q: Anything else I should know about homework?

    A: It will be assigned, you should do it, and it will count toward your final grade via the quizzes mentioned above.

     

    Q: How is homework graded?

    A: Quizzes are graded out of 10 points. You will receive 5 points for each totally correct answer (including work), or some points if you answered it, even if you did every problem incorrectly; this partial credit will depend on whether you are on the right track or not. At the end of the semester, one or two of the lowest homework scores will be dropped, so if you are having a bad week for some reason (didnt do the homework, death in the family, etc.), dont worry about it.

     

    Q: What if I did the homework, but my dog ate it or there was a death in the family, so I come to take the quiz?

    A: Did the dog die from thallium poisoning as a result of ingesting the ink used to write the homework?

              A to the Q in my A: Ummm, yeah.

    A, continued: Then it counts as a death in the family. Go mourn the dog, and do the next homework in memory of the dog.

     

    Q: How much of the homework do I really have to do?

    A: ALWAYS AT LEAST ATTEMPT THE HOMEWORK. THE HOMEWORK IS ASSIGNED TO HELP YOU. If there is something that is giving you trouble on the homework, ask about it in rescitation, email myself or Prof. Schneps, or see one of us during our office hours. If you dont figure out your problem early, it will only become worse by the time the exam comes around. REMEMBER: the homework is here to give you practice as well as figure out what you still dont understand. Ask questions in rescitation about problems that gave you difficulty. Chances are, other people have similar difficulties too.

     

    Q: What is your email policy?

    A: If you are trying to sell something, I will instantly delete the email and will hunt you down. If you are having trouble with one or more problems on an assignment, email me and let me know which problems and what difficulty you are having. Although I might not respond to your email immediately (not because I dont like you but rather because I dont have enough time), I will use the first part of rescitations to go over stuff which seems to be troubling people.

     

    Q: What are office hours for the class?

    A: Office hours are times that I am guaranteed to be in my office to help answer your questions, but thats not important right now. What is important are the times of my office hours. My regularly scheduled office hours are currently:

          Monday 4:00pm-5:00pm

          Thursday 5:00pm-6:00pm

    If you cannot make either of these and have a question about the class, you may either go to Professor Schneps Office Hours or email me to set up a time that does work with your schedule.

     

    Q: Can I ask anything in office hours?

    A: Yes.

     

    Q: Really?

    A: Yes.

     

    Q: Even questions about 14th century English Literature and is relationship to the feudal system?

    A: This sounds suspiciously like you have a paper due tomorrow in your freshman English class and you havent started yet. However, you are free to ask as many questions as you like during office hours. If they are not related to Math or the University in general I reserve the right to decline to answer them.

     

    Q: What else?

    A: I realize that having a cellphone is vital to your learning mathematics, so I dont mind if you have it in class. Your classmates will not mind it either, provided IT IS TURNED OFF. Meeting new people is an occasional hobby of mine, so if it does go off, I reserve the right to talk to the person before giving it back to you. If it is something really important (i.e. your dog just died of thallium poisoning), deal with it out in the hall; otherwise just turn it off and call the person back later.

     

     

     

    SOME GENERAL ADVICE:

    If at first you dont succeed, skydiving is not for you.

    Work together on homework. Explaining how to do a problem to someone else is one of the best ways for you to learn it yourself. If you do homework in groups, please indicate who you worked with. This information will NOT be sold to a government database. I promise.

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