As an engineer and a professional, your work will often be read and scrutinized by others. In some instances, it can turn into a legal document or a piece of evidence in a court of law. It is your responsibility to insure that the work you turn in is presented in a legible, methodical, and logical manner. The following format is required in this course, not to punish you or force you to do something you may consider a waste of time. It is required to get you in the habit of presenting your work in a professional manner.
Your work should be prepared on 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper, probably not that important any more since you are going to photograph it for submission to eCampus from no on. It need not be on engineering paper. However, work done on paper torn out of a spiral notebook is unacceptable except in the case of RATS (readiness assessment tests), and will be returned ungraded for zero credit. All work should be legible and neat. SHOW ALL OF YOUR WORK. You will receive partial credit for problems where you have most of the problem correct but have made some minor error, if we can determine where you made the error. If you do not show your work, we have no choice but to count the entire problem as incorrect.
The following format should be used for all problems solved in this course:
Your name, the course, section number, assignment number, and date due in should be at the top of the first page in the sequence of photos, along with the page number and the total number of pages in the assignment. The assignment number, or problem identification must also be included on the first sheet. PLEASE DO NOT PUT THE DATE THE PROBLEM WAS ASSIGNED – PUT THE DATE THE PROBLEM IS DUE.
Problem: You MUST give the problem number associated with the problem being worked. You do not have to repeat the problem statement nor sketch the figures from the text, although doing so makes it much easier for you to later pull your homework out and practice with the material, rather than having to also pull out your text. This also really helps when you are practicing this material to pass the F.E. exam.
Given: For this course you do not have to restate the problem, but you must put enough stuff down so we can tell what problem you are working. At a bare minimum, state the problem number.
Required: Briefly state what you intend to find in the problem. Be specific and concise.
Solution: Present the steps and calculations necessary to obtain the required solution to the problem from the information given, in a methodical and logical manner. Engineering paper is not required. You may use any type of blank paper.
All quizzes and other papers submitted MUST adhere to the following:
You must write neatly, legibly, and large enough for me to read. Also, you must write neatly, legibly, and large enough for me to read. Furthermore, you must write neatly, legibly, and large enough for me to read. Get the idea? Work written so small that my pet ant cannot read it without his glasses will be marked “Unacceptable by professional standards” and returned with little or no credit. This includes major quizzes (ESPECIALLY major quizzes) as well as all other work. You must present your work in a logical and understandable manner so that I can follow what you are trying to do. At this level of your career, hen scratching little thoughts and tidbits all over the page is unacceptable. If I cannot easily follow your logic, I cannot and will not attempt to grade your work. I will simply assign it a random grade between 23 and 25, and let you try and figure out where and why you lost the points. Some students seem enamored by polar coordinates, starting their solution in the center of the page, and working clockwise towards the outer edge. Sorry. I’m an XY kind of guy, and grade only that type of presentation.
- (Old requirement. Today just make sure you are sending each problem in ONE photo, not 10 separate sheets.) Multiple papers in a homework set must be stapled. Not corner folded, torn and wrapped, glued with spit, folded vertically, … You are welcome to ask me in class if I have a stapler. I will say yes. You will ask “Can I borrow it”? Being the generous soul that I am I will say yes. You will ask “Uh, where is it?” I will say in my office. You will ask if I brought it with me for your convenience? Sorry, I forgot, but come by during my office hours or drop by the Student Services office at any time and they will gladly loan you one. They are on the first floor of the Dwight Look Office Building.
WHEN DUE:
For CVEN 221 and CVEN 305 – Your homework is computer graded so your due dates are specified by the McGraw Hill servers. They are pretty well impossible for us to change, so good advice is not to get behind and ask to be given more time without them being counted late. Also the following is critical – DO NOT work a few problems and say “grade them”. It grades ALL problems, even those you haven’t worked on and still have time left on them and gives you zeros on the unworked problems. You can work on any and ask if it is correct, any number of times, and go back and work on it until it is correct, but once you grade them its all over.
For CVEN 322, CVEN 345, CVEN 444, CVEN 446 – This semester we are using eCampus for submission and grading of homework. See syllabus for dates due.
In the past, and left here so we can go back to it if the eCampus method doesn’t work:
OUT OF DATE: Otherwise, unless stated on the syllabus, all homework is due one week from the day assigned. This semester in some classes we are going to try submitting a full week’s set of problems on the next Wednesday (for MWF sections) or Thursday (for TR sections) of the following week. They will be due at the beginning of class or when the submission folder comes by your seat – not at the end of class . It is unacceptable to come to class, and work (or copy) your late homework during class, and then come by my office and ask me to re-teach you the material we just covered during the class. If you come to class late (peace be upon your soul, because you will get none from me) turn in your homework BEFORE YOU SIT DOWN. Otherwise it will be marked late and worth half credit. If we are passing around a folder for homework submission, then put it in when it passes your seat. Homework is expected to be turned in on time. Period. No exceptions. Consideration will be given only if you have died, in which case your heirs can turn in the work for half credit. The following are not permissible excuses in industry, nor are they permissible in this class. Standard answers to common questions are listed below (in parentheses) so that you won’t have to ask about them:
- I had some work to do in another class. (Take only this class this semester.)
- My dog ate it. (Shoot your dog.)
- I went on a field trip or to an interview. (Have your buddy hand it in for you.)
- My buddy forgot to hand it in for me. (Shoot your buddy.)
- I forgot. (Don’t forget.)
- I have it done, but I forgot it at home. (Stick it in your shorts as soon as you finish it, and keep it there until due.)
- Can I run home barefoot 14 miles through broken glass and blinding snow to get it and hand it in? (Yes, but unless you run at c it will still be late.)
- I thought it was due tomorrow. (It wasn’t.)
- I thought it was due yesterday. (It wasn’t.)
- I didn’t know it was due. (It was.)
- I thought I had already handed it in. (You hadn’t.)
- I put it on your desk. (It’s still there, somewhere – see below.)
- Your web site was down for 30 minutes before class and I was unable to see the problem. (Stuff like that happens. That’s why you are given a week to get the work done. Do not wait 10 minutes before class to try and work the problems and print them out.)
- The lab was closed when I went to run off my homework problems 2 minutes before class. (See preceding answer.)
- The printers were down when I went to print out my answers 2 minutes before class. (See preceding answer.)
- My homework is in my locker, but I drove my roommate’s car and so I don’t have my key. (Student services has a lock cutter to assist you.)
- I would like to work on it during class while you are giving your normal boring lecture and hand it in at the end of class. It’s not really like I will be missing anything. (Unacceptable, since having missed my fascinating and informative lecture you will be in my office for hours asking me to teach you the material again. Hand it in before you sit down.)
- I would like to copy it from a friend during class while you are giving your normal boring lecture and hand it in at the end of class. (See preceding answer.)
Some students try to slip past these rules by putting their late homework on my desk, as if it just appeared there by magic. In fact, anything put on my desk is lost forever. Just come look at my desk. They also put it in my mailbox, or hand it to the secretary, or slip it under my door, or put it on my chair, in which case it still ends up on my desk, and is lost in the mess forever. Just the other day I was looking on my desk for some stuff I needed, around the 2004 stratum, and found some poor student’s homework circa 1998. I was going to give him half credit for it, but it didn’t matter, since I couldn’t read his name.
DO NOT PUT IT ON MY DESK!
DO NOT GIVE IT TO THE SECRETARY!
DO NOT PUT IT IN MY MAILBOX!
DO NOT SLIP IT UNDER MY DOOR!
DO NOT BRING IT BY MY OFFICE AND ASK IF I WILL HAUL IT TO CLASS FOR YOU SO IT WON’T BE LATE!
If you were truly ill on the date due, or have some other University acceptable excuse, you may make a note of that excuse on the front of the paper and hand it in the next time homework is due. Ask me to initial such work at that time. Excused late papers MUST be handed in IN CLASS with other normal homework papers. Unexcused late homework is worth half credit, UP TO ONE WEEK LATE, NO LATER. Also, since you pay my salary, going to a job interview to get a job is considered, in my mind, an excused absence.
WHEN HOMEWORK IS NOT COUNTED LATE:
If you are sick, or have to go to a family or friend’s funeral, or a job interview, or anything reasonable, I understand. You can turn in the homework late without penalty. Use the following procedure:
- Write “Not late due to illness (or job interview, or funeral, or …)” on the top right of the paper.
- Bring it to class next time we meet and ask me to initial it.
- Submit it along with all the other papers.
- No papers will be accepted past 1 week late.
If you know you are going to be absent for one of the above reasons you do not have to turn it in early. You can wait until the following regularly scheduled class period without penalty, if noted as above..
IF YOU DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR HOMEWORK:
Your graded work will be filed in the return/pickup folder under “N” for no-name. Simply add your name on it and resubmit it the next time the “submit” folder comes by for recording. It will not be considered late.
WHAT IF I TURNED IN MY HOMEWORK BUT DIDN’T GET IT BACK:
Please look in the other folder for large classes where there are two folders. Also, look in the letter slots adjacent to yours. Sometimes students pull out all the homework and put it back in the wrong place. If you still can’t find it, see me.