Each homework set has a due date that is strictly enforced except for unavoidable cause affecting the whole class. Normally the due date is a class day, and in that case the set is due at the start of class; if it is due on a non-class day, the time due will be stated explicitly. If class on the due date is canceled for any reason, the next class meeting becomes the due date. If you have a well-documented excuse for unforseeable and unpreventable absence on a due date—for example, serious illness or arrest—then your homework set gets only 75% credit if handed in at the next available opportunity. (That only the best 80% of homework sets are counted is designed, in part, to allow for such emergency contingencies.)

Homework set format: For each homework set:

• Use 8.5-by-11" paper and write with a pen or dark pencil.
• There should be no "frizzies" along an edge due to removing pages from a notebook (but punched holes are OK).
• Arrange your work in the order in which the problems were assigned and number them in the same order as assigned (1, 2, 3, etc.).
• Do not do different problems side-by-side in two or more columns on a page.
• Intermix any computer printouts with the written work on each question—do not collect the printouts for all questions at the end or beginning. You may include written work on the computer printouts themselves or include appropriate text cells.
• Put your name at the top right of every page.
• At the top left of the first page, write "Math 421" and the Problem Set Number: "Set 1", "Set 2", etc.
• If possible, staple the pages together in their upper left corner only; don't use any cover or folder.

Computer use

Many problem sets will require you to use the course software. You may use Mathematica in any problem except where explicitly indicated otherwise, or where using Mathematica would render the problem largely pointless. (If in doubt, include written work.) If you use Mathematica to do basic calculations, be sure you still know how to do them with paper and pencil.

Whenever you use Mathematica on problem sets, include a printout showing the input along with the corresponding output (and, as indicated above, intermix computer printouts with written work).

Collaboration and plagiarism

You are encouraged to work in a group of two or three. However, you must turn in a separate paper of your own, on which you name any collaborators. Representing somebody else’s work as your own is plagiarism, for which there can be severe penalties under University policy.

Homework grading

Since I want to return papers as soon as possible, some problems you turn in will not be graded at all, while others will merely get a “checkoff” as to whether you made an honest attempt to solve them. Of course, all papers will be treated alike in this regard.

Graded exam paper return: I will return homework papers in class as soon as they have been graded. If you miss class when a homework set is returned, you will need to see me at office hours, or otherwise, in order to retrieve your paper. Unfortunately, the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits me from leaving unclaimed papers outside my office.