WARNING! Some students have tried to use my solutions to previous years' homeworks and been shocked that we recognized my words. That also is cheating, gets zero credit, and may result in a written reprimand in your university record.

FORMAT FOR HOMEWORK

FRIENDLY WARNING! Please follow these rules. The graders have to process a lot of papers and I don't want them wasting their time on hunting and deciphering.

• Type, double space, leave an inch or more right margin for comments, don't write on the back of a page.
• Put your name and any study partners' names at the top of the first page (be sure it's clear which one is you!)
• Start a new page for each question. For example, if there are five questions you should have at least five pages, unless some are group-work problems turned in separately. You don't have to start a new page for each part of a question, such as 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d.
• When you come to a group-work problem, type its number and the names of the people in the group and at the top of the next page, leave a blank line or two, then type the next question. For example, if Prob 3 is to be done as a group, your third page will be Prob 4 with a line about Prob 3 at the top. If it'sthe last question in a homework set, put the line at the bottom of the last page.
• Write complete sentences, check your spelling (please!) and grammar, be succinct while still giving a complete answer.
• Numerical work, graphs, and figures may be done by hand. When I say ``show your work," I mean that part of your credit comes from how you got your answer. You won't get full credit for just writing down a numerical answer.
  
  

  Put a box around numerical answers.

  
  
• Check with your study partners to avoid identical answers, and write notes beside figures or graphs on which you worked together.
• Do not use a cover page or binder.
• Save the text file on a disk and make a photocopy of the work, in case the paper gets lost.
• Staple the pages together.
• Group work should follow the same format rules and be handed in separately. Be sure all names from the group are on the paper. One person in the group will have to do the typing.

HANDING IN HOMEWORK
This is the least satisfactory aspect of a "distance" course. Unfortunately you can't email me your homework because the homework papers have to be portable so the graders can pass them along to each other, and also our operating systems are likely to be incompatible. So you have to get it to me on paper.

Homework is due by noon on the Wednesdays or Fridays listed at the top of this page. I must have it by then to get it to the graders. Turn it in at my office, 4205 Chamberlin, under the door if I'm not in. If you do not hand in your own, I may not get it. Keep a photocopy (some parts may be handwritten so a disk won't cover it all), in case your homework gets lost.

Alternatively, you can mail it to me SO I GET IT THE DAY BEFORE:
     Prof. Bernice Durand
     Dept. of Physics, UW-Madison
     1150 University Ave.
     Madison, WI 53706-1390
or fax it to me at 263-0800 BY THE DUE TIME.

If you put it in my mailbox on the 2nd floor of Chamberlin, a) there may not be room for more than a few, b) someone could take it out, and c) it had better be in a sealed envelope.

If you're really on top of things you can get it to me at or right after discussion before it's due, or to my office the day before to cut down on the rush.

On group-work problems, turn in only one paper for the whole group, separate from any of the individual papers. Be sure all names from the group are on the paper.

LATE HOMEWORK
Late homework must have a valid medical, family, personal, or technical excuse. Don't email me about it: call me immediately (leave a message saying what the problem is) if you find you can't get the homework in on time, then deliver it to me in my office, 4205 Chamberlin. I must know before the due time for your late homework to be accepted.

If it's a matter of having only part of it done, call me that it's not complete, then turn in everything you have done at the regular due time. The graders pick up the homework just after noon, so you must have it in before then for it to be graded on time. It is definitely not good to get it in late. It's worse to not turn it in at all.

GETTING GRADED HOMEWORK BACK
Graded homeworks and exams are returned at discussions or my office, hopefully the Monday and Tuesday following when they were turned in. Always be sure you check the total score on your homework or exams first thing when you get them back. Give your paper back to me if the score was mis-added.

GRADERS
The graders are graduate students in the English Department with physics experience. They will try to make constructive comments on your writing, and to have your graded work ready to give back to you by the dates on the syllabus.

GRADING POLICY
The solutions to homeworks and exams will be handed back with your graded papers. My guidelines for final grades are A 90-100, AB 87-89, B 75-86, BC 72-74, C 60-71, D 50-59, F below 50. We keep a running record of your grade, if you want to check it. Every point counts: a homework question worth one point (one percent of your garde) may have several parts, so their value looks small, but those tenths do add up. Always be sure you check the total score on your homework or exams first thing when you get them back. Give your paper back to me if the score was mis-added.

REGRADING POLICY
If you don't understand how a problem is graded

• first study my solution for comparison
• if you want it regraded, write your question on a piece of paper, staple or clip it to your whole homework set or exam
• give it to me within one week of getting it back.

FRIENDLY WARNING! Don't make regrading a habit.

Revised September 1, 1997.