Stylistic Rules for Completing Homework

Often (but not always), the homework will require you to solve problems, prove propositions, or provide examples and counter examples. In such cases, the homeworks are very difficult to grade unless certain guidelines are followed. Please adhere to the following rules. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN A GRADING PENALTY. I'm serious. I will mark you down for violating the following rules. They aren't just picky points; they help me preserve my sanity during grading.

1. If there is a lot of text and very few symbols, use a word processor. If, however, as will often be the case, your answers contain many symbols, use pencil. I would prefer a handwritten copy to a badly typed one. Do not use pen. Make all erasures neat. If you have significant erasing to do, use a Clic Eraser, manufactured by Pentel.
   
   
2. Use 8.5" by 11" good quality white paper. Do not use the cheap 8" by 10" stuff. Do not use anything larger than 8.5" by 11". If you are typing, the paper should be plain white; if you are using pencil, the paper should be ruled with blue lines (with no more than 3 lines per inch). Do not rip your paper out of your notebook.
   
   
3. If the problem requires computer output, print out the results on 8.5" by 11" paper. Key your answers to the computer output. For example, you might say something like "As can be seen from Section A, there is a significant difference between groups, t(25) = 2.54, p < .05." and then put a big red "A" at the appropriate point in the output. If your answer requires computer output, make sure you include the command language that produced the output.
   
   
4. Use only one side of the page (even if you are using pencil). Number the problems correctly, and put a brief statement of the problem before you solve it. Put no more than one problem per page. Use lots of white space. Skip lines between lines of an equation, if possible. WRITE NEATLY. When you are done, put the pages in order, and staple the packet in the upper left-hand corner.
   
   
5. Show your work, but don't use the paper as though it were scratch paper. Pretend your answer to the problem will be published: Make your answer clear enough that I always know what you're doing, but don't doodle and scribble all over the place. Write in complete sentences. Punctuate displayed equations as a proper grammatical part of the sentence to which they belong.
   
   
6. Use proper mathematical form. For example, don't confuse upper and lower case letters. Don't say two things are equal when they are not (e.g., it is incorrect to write 1/3 = .33). Use parentheses, braces, brackets, and other fences correctly. Make your fraction lines and square root lines extend as far as they should.

Reread these instructions until you understand them thoroughly. I WILL mark off for violating any of them, even if they seem picky to you.

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