Math 53
Spring 2024

Weekly Homework Policy

If you have worked on a problem for a while and remain stuck, please ask for hints from your instructor or teaching assistants in office hours. You may also discuss problems with classmates, but must always write up solutions on your own (this helps to reinforce your own understanding of the solution). In particular, if you have taken notes when discussing homework problems with classmates or course staff, you should put these notes away when writing your solution to be sure it is in your own words. The Honor Code applies to this and all other written aspects of the course.

Watching someone else entirely solve a problem will not help you to learn the material or be prepared for exams. Avoid the trap of relying on others to get through homework assignments, since it is precisely by grappling with the homework that you reinforce your understanding and identify the concepts or skills on which you should seek an improved understanding.

Students are expected to take care in writing their assignments. For instance,

• assignments should be written neatly;
• assignments should contain clear, complete solutions (but they do not need to repeat the question statements).
• A short guide on writing mathematics well.

Partial progress toward solutions on problems will be awarded partial credit, but simply writing answers down without explanation or justification will receive zero credit.

Mathematics is a cumulative subject, with many concepts building on prior ones. Homework assignments reinforce concepts and prepare students for upcoming material. Solution sets are posted shortly after submission deadlines so that students can promptly see where they had misconceptions and alternative approaches. Release of such solutions also supports exam preparation. Extensions of additional time on homework assignments beyond the release of solution sets are not granted because this would fundamentally alter the course and its cumulative nature.

It is always recommended that students submit partially-completed assignments even if they are not able to finish the full assignment by the deadline.

Logistics for Weekly Homework: The weekly homework submission is handled electronically via Gradescope. Gradescope accepts only electronic submissions, so you will need to scan your homework before uploading it.

Assignments will be posted no later than a week before they are due, and it is strongly recommended that you begin assignments promptly. Any change to a posted assignment will be announced via Canvas Announcement.

The due date is always Wednesday morning at 08:00am, and no late homework will be accepted under any circumstances. (This is as much a courtesy to the grader as an incentive to stay current with the course and not fall behind.) To accommodate situations such as a serious illness or anything else that may arise (even if it is an obstruction known in advance due to your schedule), your homework score will be multiplied by 1.25 (not to exceed 100%) at the end of the quarter; please do not rely on this scaling factor early in the quarter.

Students are encouraged to examine their graded homework assignments promptly. Usually only a portion of each week's assigned problems will be graded (and the selection of problems chosen to be graded will not be announced in advance); as a result, be sure to look over the posted solutions to check over your solutions to the ungraded problems when your graded assignment is returned. It is ultimately your responsibility to look over your graded assignment while consulting the posted solutions, not only to check your understanding but also to find any grading errors. If you find an error in how an assignment was graded, please appeal to your TA section leader within a week. After a week has passed since a graded assignment has been released in Gradescope, your score can no longer be changed.

Untagged problem policy: Untagged homework problems on Gradescope will not be graded by the graders. Once you submit a regrade request due to a problem tagged incorrectly, there will be a 50% penalty for that problem. This policy is in effect starting with Homework #2.

Gradescope

Gradescope is an online platform for grading exams and homework. For each problem, you will be able to see clearly which rubric items your solution satisfied and any additional comments the grader has for you.

How do I actually upload my homework?

For each homework assignment, you must

• Produce a legible PDF of your complete solutions to each problem. Make sure your problems are clearly labeled!
• Upload the PDF to Gradescope by the deadline (08:00am on Wednesday mornings).
• Select the page(s) that contain the solution to each of the assigned problems (as mentioned above, failure to do this finalizing step will mean that some or all of your problems will not be graded! Once you submit a regrade request due to a problem tagged incorrectly, there will be a 50% penalty for that problem. This policy is in effect starting with Homework #2).

Instructions on how to create a pdf and upload it on Gradescope:

• Instructions for "submitting PDF homework": click here.

• Instructions for scanning your handwritten homework into a PDF using your phone: click here.

What if I notice an error in my solution or forgot a page of my homework when I submitted it?

If the deadline has not passed, you can resubmit your homework. Simply go to Gradescope and click on the relevant assignment to view your submission. In the bottom right hand corner of your browser, you should see a "resubmit" button. This will allow you to update your submission to correct the error you noticed. Only your final submission will be graded.

Note: Choosing to resubmit your assignment will completely erase your current submission, meaning you will have to reupload your entire solution again. Gradescope does not currently allow you to just update a single question.