Homework
Daily homework assignments are a major component (25%) of this course. They are designed to involve each student in wrestling with the concepts presented in lectures and the textbooks. These assignments will reinforce and apply concepts discussed in class and will improve your capabilities in numbers and writing throughout the semester using the "Daily Skills."
Required Essay. Each student will write a final ~8 page essay worth 20% of the final course grade about the probability of communicating with intelligent life somewhere in our Milky Way galaxy, combining both facts and personal opinion. The final essay will be the accumulation of three separate assignments spread throughout the course. Each of these portions will be evaluated by the teaching staff and students are expected to improve their work based on these comments. Thus, your essay will be an improving, working document that will combine into a single ~8-page essay, due on the last day of class (Wednesday, Dec. 11).
The following rules apply to homework assignments and any collaborative work with other students, tutors, etc.:
1. Dr. McCarthy recommends that you adhere to each of the "Daily Skills" (numerical and communication) as they accumulate each day of our course.
2. Electronic submissions are not accepted.
3. All homework must be typewritten and stapled. Math symbols and calculations may be handwritten but must be legible.
4. Homework is due at the start of class on the specified date. If an assignment is turned in late, a late-penalty of 15% will be assessed for each class period that has elapsed since the due date. Assignments will not be accepted after Wednesday of the following week.
5. You must always show or explain how you reached a solution by recording intermediate steps in a calculation or describing your solution logically in words.
6. Some problems only require your opinion to be clearly stated. In these cases, your grade will be determined more by your reasoning and writing abilities than by the exact answer.
7. Teamwork policy: You may START an assignment in a team. However, after deciding HOW to approach a problem, you must then make all your own measurements and always use your own wording to interpret and express conclusions. Homework solutions that appear identical are a violation of the Code of Academic Integrity and will receive a grade of zero plus potential expulsion from the course.
8. "TBD" grade: Sometimes students misread a question, get started in the wrong direction, or make a simple mistake leading to the wrong conclusion. Such assignments will receive a "TBD" grade (i.e., to be determined), allowing you to get back on track if you meet with Dr. McCarthy within one week to discuss your work and arrange to improve it.
Study sessions: Dr. McCarthy will conduct optional homework study sessions each Thursday afternoon from 2-4 pm in the University's Student Union Memorial Center Bookstore, room 304A. To participate, you must have already attempted all the problems or activities. Students may be asked to help each other and to lead discussion.
The University's "Think Tank" offer tutoring opportunities at locations across campus.