MA 114 News

Test post

2013-02-12T07:49:00.001-05:00

This is a test post to the MA 114 News page.

2010-04-17T10:48:00.002-04:00

This is a test post via iPhone. A short test. Even though it's a short one, let's make it long enough to illustrate word wrap. What is going to happen when I get to the end of this line?

Let's see if it will recognize a new paragraph.

2006-05-05T10:41:00.000-04:00

Final grades will be reported to Registration and Records over the weekend and should be available to you at the beginning of next week. However, the grade calculations shown in WebAssign have now been updated to coincide with the grading method described on the Grades Info page. So the grade showing in WebAssign will in most cases be consistent with the grade you officially receive for this class.

2006-05-02T08:16:00.000-04:00

The online sign up form for choosing your exam time has been taken down. (When I posted it several weeks ago, I said it would remain up until May 1.) At this point 62 students are signed up to take the test Wednesday evening. So if you are NOT signed up for Wednesday, I advise you to come on Thursday because very few extra seats remain for Wednesday.

If you are signed up for Wednesday and decide you would rather delay until Thursday, you may do that without requesting special permission. Since Thursday's time period is much longer, we shouldn't have crowded conditions on Thursday.

2006-05-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

57 students have signed up to take the exam during the Wednesday time period. This means that space is quite limited for anyone who has not signed up. If you do intend to take the exam on Wednesday and have not yet signed up to reserve a seat, I strongly recommend that you do so at once.

2006-04-24T10:41:00.000-04:00

Please keep in mind that it is your responsibility to complete all aspects of this class by May 4. No makeup work (tests, homework, exam, etc.) will be authorized after May 4.

2006-04-22T09:51:00.000-04:00

The course evaluation is now available via WebAssign. This is your chance to comment on the various aspects of this course, and to make suggestions for changes you think would be helpful. The course evaluation is not a homework assignment, so it has no effect on your grade. But your thoughts are useful and will be appreciated since this course is under constant revision.

2006-04-15T19:22:00.000-04:00

This information first appeared here on the news page 10 days ago, but not many students have signed up for the exam. If you don't sign up and come to the May 3 session, you run the risk of being turned away. So it is very important to sign up before the number of people selecting that time exceeds the capacity of the room.

There are two exam sessions:

Wednesday, May 3 --> Arrive between 6:00 and 6:30 PM
Thursday, May 4 --> Arrive between 1:00 and 3:15 PM

To be certain that we can accomodate everyone who comes each day, we are requesting that you indicate which day you will be taking the exam. This form is now available (click here) for selecting your time preference for the final exam. Those who have signed up for an exam time will be given first priority in seating for the exam.

2006-04-13T11:16:00.000-04:00

The Chapter 5 test went smoothly. The class average was 70 for this test, which was a bit higher than for Test #2.

If you'll get a reasonably quick start on Chapter 6, you'll find that the pace between now and the final exam is quite leisurely. So from here on out, unless you are a real procrastinator things should be a bit less frantic.

I've updated the grades info in WebAssign so that it should give you a more or less accurate picture of your overall standing in the class at this point. WebAssign is now set so as to estimate your overall grade based on counting the 3 tests as 50% of your grade and the past due homework as the other 50%. Do keep in mind that this is just an estimate. The final grade, as explained on the grades page, will be 40% HW, 36% tests, and 24% final exam.

Attached here is a picture of what the grades tab might show for a typical student. The image shows an overall grade of B+ based on an 89.54 average, with a HW average of 93.08 and a test average of 86 based on the 33 past due homework assignments and the 3 test grades.

2006-04-12T08:53:00.000-04:00

We had a pretty sizeable group at last night's test, so I that means we don't have to worry about overcrowding tonight. Tonight (unless everyone comes right at the beginning of the test period) the test room is unlikely to fill up.

2006-04-11T10:01:00.000-04:00

As in the past, we have taken down the grade information provided by WebAssign during test week. The reason is that during test week we always have some students who have taken the test and others who haven't. Therefore WebAssign can't calculate meaningful test averages during this period. So for this week all you will find if you look for your overall grade in WebAssign is your homework average. Combined homework and test averages will be back up by Friday.

2006-04-05T14:12:00.000-04:00

The final exam dates have been set. There are two exam sessions and you can take your choice.

Wednesday, May 3 --> Arrive between 6:00 and 6:30 PM
Thursday, May 4 --> Arrive between 1:00 and 3:15 PM

2006-04-05T11:34:00.000-04:00

Thursday and Friday of next week are university holidays. So if you're planning to start your holiday break Wednesday afternoon or evening, you should plan to attend Tuesday's test session.

2006-03-29T09:20:00.000-05:00

Jennifer offers some good advice in her newsletter, but she also oversimplifies some things. For example, Jenn says, "Remember that and = multiply, or = add". Language is used in many different ways, and it's easy to think of ways in which Jennifer's rule is just plain wrong. For example, if I take 4 eggs in one basket AND 6 eggs in another basket and combine them, how many eggs do I have? Obviously the answer is 10. But notice that this sentence uses AND and does not use OR, and yet the proper arithmetic is to ADD, not MULTIPLY. So be careful with generalizations like the ones suggested.

Furthermore, such "rules" are frequently misapplied by those who lack understanding. For example, in general if A and B are events, then it's NOT true that the probability that A and B occur can be obtaining by multiplying P(A) times P(B). This is true ONLY when the events are independent (see Section 5.6). So just blindly plodding along and multiplying every time you see an "AND" in a problem isn't going to get you very far.

No matter how much you try to tighten up such rules, the rules are no substitute for thought and a little understanding. Don't be afraid to think. A little thinking will take you a long way in Chapter 5.

2006-03-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

The serious work in Chapter 5 begins with Section 5.3. Allow as much time as possible for working on Sections 5.3 to 5.7. The WebAssignment for Section 5.3 is due in about 10 days, so you should be starting that section about now. If you'll pace yourself so that you start each of these sections about 10 days before it is due, that will allow for an orderly processing of the info in Chapter 5 and should avoid the kind of "brain dump" that occurs if you try to digest all of Chapter 5 at once.

The Chapter 5 test scores are generally lower than for the other tests. Don't be scared of it, just be prepared. Chapter 5 is also the must fun of any part of the course if you'll allow time for it to soak in.

2006-03-20T17:17:00.000-05:00

Keep in mind that Chapter 5 requires a while for digestion. You won't be able to do the assignments for Sections 5.3 through 5.7 in one sitting. So put in a bit of work several times each week STARTING NOW. That way you want be trying to cram everything in on the eve of the test.

2006-03-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

Comment from Student: The test was too long! If I had been given more time, I could have made an A.

My Response: Yes, the test requires a very efficient effort in order to get an A, and a reasonably efficient approach to make even a 75 or 80. Is that fair? Yes. Here's why ...

All the tests consist primarily of recycled homework questions. Anyone with sufficient time could sort through the homework to see how they had worked the problem, and then translate that solution into a solution to the corresponding test question. Doing that doesn't require a very deep level of understanding. So the price you pay for getting recycled questions is that you have to work fairly fast. I intentionally don't give enough time for you to go back and shuffle through all your old homework to remind yourself how to approach each question.

Several times I've polled a class to ask if they would prefer shorter test where all the questions were different from the homework questions. Every time I've posed that question the answer has been a resounding "NO".

The tests require more than just that you do a good job of cataloging the solutions to the homework. They require that you have an understanding of how to think through at least some of the problems.

2006-03-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

Some observations about this week's test ...

Some chickens came home to roost. Jenn and I were astounded to see on Monday that half of the class waited until the last day to begin on Section 4.5. That is a suicidal policy, and a lot of students suffered because of it. If you did shoddy, last-minute work in Chapter 4, face up to it.

Tuesday's test grades were much better than Wednesdays. (Tuesday the average was around 80 and Wednesday around 65.) Usually the best prepared students opt to take the test early. This week that really showed.

Do a reality check with yourself. Are you starting work on the assignments early enough to be able to digest concepts? Or are you cramming everything into the last minute and just trying to get correct answers? Knowing a rote method for doing a problem without understanding the reasoning is very shallow learning. It doesn't carry over to another similar problem. Strive for conceptual understanding, but realize it comes with time and effort and experience, not from one night of cramming.

2006-03-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

During test weeks the WebAssign grades tab displays misleading information since some students have taken the test and others haven't. For that reason I have shut down the grades module until Test #2 is completed. All you will see there now is your homework average with no information about overall average. The accurate overall average should be available by the end of the week.

2006-03-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

This week's test sessions are on Tuesday and Wednesday. If previous patterns are repeated, it is likely that the Wednesday session will be much more crowded than will Tuesday's. So if you are very interested in not having to wait for a seat and a quieter test environment, I strongly suggest that you consider attending Tuesday's test session.

2006-03-09T10:11:00.000-05:00

Expect a lot of questions from Sections 4.4 and 4.5 on the upcoming test. These two sections incorporate most of the important topics that arise in Chapter 4, and they are essential to understanding Chapter 5. So give considerable emphasis to these sections in your study for the test.

2006-02-27T15:55:00.000-05:00

Dr. Perry and Dr. Page will be out of town from Feb. 28 until Mar. 7. If you need assistance with anything during this period, please contact Jennifer George.

2006-02-25T10:01:00.000-05:00

I've posted an additional WebAssignment for Chapter 3 called Chapter 3 Review. This is NOT a homework assignment. It is a batch of additional practice problems you can optionally do to help prepare for Test #3. The main thing to notice about these questions is that most of them include giving values for the slack variables corresponding to the optimal solution. You'll certainly have a question or two on the test that requires giving values for the slack variables, so make sure you're well versed on this. But again let me emphasize that this assignment has absolutely no effect on your grade for this course. It is purely for practice. (These are newly constructed questions. If you find any bugs in them please let me know. -- Dr. Page)

2006-02-23T18:04:00.000-05:00

Jenn has submitted academic progress reports for students in the class who performance has been unsatisfactory up to this point in the class. Whether you receive a report is determined by your grade as it appears presently under the grades tab in WebAssign. If you have any questions regarding your status in the class or why you have received a report, please contact Jennifer.

2006-02-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

The following announcement has been added at the top of WebAssignment 3.2 (Part A). Such issues may conceivably arise in other WebAssignments in Chapter 3, although these situations are generally rare. If you encounter a "suspect" question, follow the procedure suggested here:

We have determined that one student in the class has received a non-solvable version of problem #4 in this assignment. Many of you have versions of this question that you have solved routinely, so I am not going to "pull" this question. Simply be aware while doing this homework that there is a small possibility that the randomization that WebAssign goes through in producing these questions may produce a problem which cannot be solved via the methods taught in Chapter 3. If you think you have received such a defective question, notify Jennifer and she will check your question and give you full credit for it if it indeed is a defective question.