DORDT COLLEGE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Fall Semester, 2011

HOMEWORK STANDARDS
For Professor De Boer's Classes

Learn by Showing—Earn Grades by Showing How to Solve
The overall goal of doing homework is to learn by showing how problems are solved. You need to present a clear sequence of rational statements to show how a problem is solved, not simply a correct answer.

Skipped steps may be interpreted as a lack of understanding on your part and may be graded down accordingly.

You must write something to show that you know how to solve the problem, especially if the answer is given. (After all, you cannot expect credit for simply copying the answer!) Oftentimes you will use equations and math to show how you solved the problem, but sometimes you will need to explain how you solved the problem by using a sentence or two.

Type of Paper
    —Use letter size paper (about 8.5" x 11")
    —Paper ripped out of a spiral binder is not acceptable unless
         you neatly cut off the ragged edge.
    —Engineering paper is recommended but not required.

Staple
Staple in the upper left corner if there is more than one page.

One Side Only
Write on only one side of each sheet of paper. Do not write on the back side of the paper. Exception: Computer-printed pages may be printed on both sides in order to conserve paper.

Use a Pencil
Most engineering problems include too much detail to hold in your head without writing intermediate steps down. Thus you need to write in order to think. But then mistakes happen because you started writing before thinking all the way through the problem. By using a pencil you can erase your mistakes. Writing, thinking, writing more, erasing, re-writing, and so forth is the best and fastest way to solve engineering problems. Keeping a neat and easy-to-read page by erasing and re-writing is the right way to work. Write a lot and when needed, erase.

Page Heading
Put the course number, problem set number, date, and your name at the top of each sheet of paper. Example:

EGR 999                       PS#99       9/9/2099    Van VanderVander

Neat Page Layout
Write legibly. Consider using white space to set off important parts of the problem or answers. Boxes and underlining can also be helpful for the grader. You may be graded down if the grader has difficulty deciphering what you have written or finding an answer.

One Problem Per Page (usually)
Start each new problem at the top of a new page. Exception: if the problem is short enough to finish it on the same page you started it. If the problem takes more than one page, that is OK, you may continue on second and subsequent pages if needed, but only if the problem started at the top of a new page. You may be graded down for violating this rule.

Problem Summary Required
Start each problem with a summary of the problem statement. As an alternative, you may photocopy the problem statement page, cut the problem statement out of the photocopy, and paste it onto your homework with a glue stick.

Units
When the problem statement includes units (seconds, volts, etc.) then the answer should include appropriate units.

Significant Digits, No Leading Decimals
Use an appropriate number of significant digits for your answers (often 3 digits unless the answer is obviously an integer quantity) and use engineering or scientific notation appropriately. Do not allow leading decimals. (Right: 0.125, Wrong: .125)

Graphs--Label Axes and Make 'em BIG
Graphs should be an appropriate size. If the graph is an answer, this usually means at least two inches high and 3 inches wide. It is also necessary that the graph be appropriately scaled. If you can cover the interesting area of the graph with your thumb, the graph is either too small or not scaled appropriately. Title the graph and label both axes with quantity and units where appropriate. See Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. An example of a properly labeled
graph that is large enough.

Proofs (Also "Show," "Explain," "Derive," Etc.)
You cannot convince most people by simply telling them the "correct answer." People want to know more. Sometimes we need proof. Note: Words like "show," "explain," "derive," etc. usually mean the same thing as "prove."

An engineering proof is a chain of statements leading from given information to a conclusion. This chain of statements must be accompanied by the names of the relevant definitions, theorems, principles, and so forth. (In a normal problem solution you only show the chain of statements, omitting the names and assuming the reader will recognize the definitions, theorems, etc. that have been used.)

Engineering is about technical problems in a social context. Engineering is not simply applied math and science. This means that an engineering proof needs to convince people by exposing a thought process which establishes the believed truth of some statement. Generally, you cannot do a proof by computer because the computer does not expose the thought processes, it only gets "the right answer." The "right answer" alone is not convincing.

Use of Calculators and Computers
Use calculators and computers appropriately to perform routine and tedious operations and calculations. Computers are also ideal for producing clear and accurate graphs.

You may be graded down for using a calculator or computer to do a trivial operation. For some examples, you should know how to do simple definite integrals without needing a calculator. You should also know the sines and cosines of common angles such as cos(0) = 1, and you should know simple exponentials and logs such as exp(0) = 1 and ln(2e) = ln(2) + 1. Relying on a calculator for these is about as rewarding as watching your friend play your favorite video game instead of learning to excel at the game yourself.

If you will not be allowed to use a calculator during the tests, consider doing some homework calculations entirely by hand so that you are prepared better for the tests.

Never use a computerized symbolic math program (e.g. the "symbolics" menu in MathCAD or the equivalent in your calculator) to do work that you don't know how to check. Students who try this frequently get the answer wrong, have no way to realize the answer is wrong, and never learn how to solve the problem. Even if the answer is in some technical mathematical sense correct, it might be in a useless form which betrays your ignorance. Example:
f(t) = exp(it) + exp(–it) when a useful solution is
f(t) = 2cos(t) Those expressions of f(t) are technically equivalent, but would you know what the first one means?

If you use a computer program (e.g. Mathcad) to help you solve a problem, you must print the file and staple it to your homework. If you write a program (Matlab, Java, Visual Basic, etc.) print the source code (use a fixed pitch font such as "Courier New" if you have a choice) and print the output of the program too. Missing a printout? Credit may be denied!

If you use an unusual feature of your calculator, say an equation solver, definite integral solver, or matrix inverse operator, make a marginal note. (e.g. "Used matrix inverse on my TI-89 calculator.") If you use such a feature repeatedly, you only need to note your method once, near the first instance.

Reference Books
If you use a table of integrals or trig. ID or a theorem or other such material from a reference book, you need to cite the source. (e.g. "Used table of integrals in calc. book by Edwards & Penny, 4th edition." Subsequent citations can be even shorter, e.g. "Integral Table.") Since this is homework, a full citation (such as in IEEE or APA or MLA style) is not required so long as your classmates could reasonably find your source from the information given.

Do Your Own Work
Presenting someone else's work as your own work is called plagiarism. Working from another student's paper, or from an e-mail or a computer file that essentially contains the solution, or using someone else's graded homework from a previous offering of the course are just a few ways to commit plagiarism. Professor De Boer also counts giving such information as plagiarism. Keep your papers and computer files private. The only times when you may legitimately share are during peer grading in class (if peer grading is offered) and any work done in connection with a team in the lab, in which case the team may share any of their own materials among themselves whenever the result will be a single project or lab report.

The above is in addition to Dordt's policy on Academic Dishonesty.

Professor C.S. Lewis was once asked by another professor what he did about plagiarism. Here is his advise, which Prof. De Boer thinks is insightful:

I told him I was not a detective nor even a schoolmaster, nor a nurse, and that I absolutely refused to take any precaution against this puerile trick; that I'd as soon think it my business to see that he washed behind his ears or wiped his bottom. He... [dropped out] of his own accord the next week and I never saw him again. I think you ought to make a general announcement of that sort.... It is bad for them to think this is "up to you." Flay them alive if you happen to detect them; but don't let them feel that you are a safeguard against the effects of their own idleness.
      What staggers me is how any man can prefer the galley-slave labour of transcription* to the freeman's work of attempting [the assignment] on his own.
                --Letter from Lewis to Dr. Alastair Fowler,
                  December 10, 1959.
*By "transcription," Lewis means copying with non-substantive variations so that it looks like your own work.

If you need (or want) help more frequently, consult the secretary at the ASK center and request "peer tutoring." (Or fill in an online form to make the request, see this page** and click on the "Peer Tutoring" link to get started.) Professor De Boer believes that the grade of most any student can be improved by about a half or a full letter grade simply by routine participation in the tutorial services of the ASK center.

Tutorial help is available for many 100 and 200 numbered courses at Dordt College, and for some other courses too, so ASK!** When tutorial help is offered for a class, any student in the class may participate. The ASK center is located in the lower level of the library.

** Link only works on-campus or via VPN*.