Introduction to Math 444 Assignments

This sheet is about the regular individual assignments. There may be other written work stemming from group activity in class, etc., that is not covered by this description.

What is the purpose of the written Assignments?

As in most subjects, one masters math by doing. This means that all one's studying should involve drawing, working examples on paper, etc. But the written assignments provide the impetus to work out in polished form problems and constructions and proofs that develop understanding of geometry. They also provide a running assessment for student and instructor of what is going on in the class as to levels of understanding, areas of success, areas that need work, etc.

How often are assignments given?

In the beginning part of the course, shorter assignments will be due two or three times a week. This will gradually move to longer and less freqent assignments of about one per week. Students who don't like daily assignments are free to work ahead and treat assignments 1a, 1B, 1C, etc. as a single weekly assignment.

What kind of written assignments?

Assignment items to turn in will be of several forms.

• Fairly routine exercises or constructions.
• Problems to solve - some challenging and some less so. These can be construction problems, numerical or ratio problems, or existence of special geometrical relationships such as similarity, concurrence, etc.
• Major or minor theorems to prove.
• Physical models and drawings will sometines be assigned.
• Investigations and open-ended problems. As the course moves on, such problems will appear on the assignments.

When are assignments due?

• Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date.
• No further writing is allowed once you walk into the room. Experience has shown that this leads to poor quality presentation, and sometimes to copying from other students.
• Students may discuss problems outside of class, so long as each student writes up her/his work independently. However, "sharing" answers in the 10 minutes before class is too late for group reflection.
• Late Assignments cause problem, so they may not be accepted. Often questions on an assignment will be answered during class. Also, the grading will sometimes be scheduled on the day the assignments are due. We do realize that nobody is perfect (least of all us) and that crises occur. If it happens that a student does not have an assignment on time once or even twice and asks to turn it in late, we will probably say OK, at least for partial credit. Once or twice also will not make or break one's grade. But don't make a habit of it.

Grading of Assignments will Follow several Strategies

We feel it is important that assignments be graded and feedback provided. However, some of the problems assigned in this course are not quickly graded. A bit of calculation will show that any problem that just takes 10 minutes per student will add up to about 5 or 6 hours of grading time. Thus the instructors will adopt a number of strategies to make grading possible. In some cases, students will self-report and then groups will discuss answers.

Quality of Presentation Counts

Since Math 444 is a course for students who intend to make a career explaining mathematics, the assignments turned in should be well-written as to language and thought. Answer in complete sentences. Use white space. Break up long explanations or proofs into paragraphs. Write neatly or word process. Presentation can definitely be part of the grade (plus or minus). Egregious examples of illegibility or bad writing will not be graded

What this means is that one should often write down a draft page for brainstorming and then write a completely new page to turn in.

Good and Bad News about Assignment Grades

This section gives two contradictory messages. The good news is that in Math 444 one does not have to get 100% to get a high grade. The problems are not routine, so perfection is not required, though a high standard is expected. The bad news (for some) is that skipping the homework and trying to get a high grade by being brilliant on the tests will not work because of the weight put on assignments. Only part of the course experience shows up on the tests, so high test grades alone do not ensure a high course grade in the absence of strong assignment grades.