Required Homework:  WeBWork
WeBWorK is a system that allows you to submit solutions online to problems assigned each week.  

In WeBWorK, you can try to answer homework problems more than once.  After each try, a message tells you immediately whether your answer is right or not. This allows you to try to find out what you did wrong and, I hope, to understand the question better.  

WeBWorK is supposed to be a learning tool for students and ultimately it functions on an "honor system." You can help each other with ideas or hints on the problems, or to get over some point where you're stuck. But in the end you are to solve the problems yourself and submit your own work. 

Actually doing problems for somebody else just intereferes with an opportunity for people to learn and get feedback, and getting a few points boost in the WebWorK score doesn't contribute that much to the overall course grade anyway.  In any case, WebWork problems will usually vary slightly from student to student so that just "knowing the answer somebody else got" usually won't help.  
If there are indications (from the computer system, or otherwise) that you are not doing so, it may constitute an academic integrity violation.

We will using WeBWorK very briefly in class.  Then you should go to the WebWorK page (and probably "Bookmark" it on your computer for the semester).  From this page, select the link for Math 131 and logon to WebWorK.  

First Time Logging On   You will need a username and a password. Your username is your 6-digit WU Student ID Number and this is also your initial password. This is a terrible choice for a password -- so after logging in the first time, you should immediately:  

  • Change your password to something else
  • Use the menu to update your email address, if necessary.  This will let me or the WebWorK coordinator respond to any message you send us from within WebWorK. 
  • What if I forget my password?  Send an e-mail your instructor who will be able to reset your password.  Or, instead, you can send a message to webwork@math.wustl.edu 
WeBWorK is fairly easy to use, and many of your initial questions during the first couple of weeks can probably be answered on one of the following pages.  Otherwise, send me an email:  Ron Freiwald
There is a set of "Review Problems" now available for practice. These problems will let you review some of the precalculus review material in Section 1.1 - 1.6 that we are not going to discuss in class, and they will let you see how to enter answers in WebWorK.  Generally, the syntax is very much like what you find on a graphing calculator -- for example,  x^2  is entered to represent x2 and sqrt(x) is used to represent "the square root of x."  Any solutions you submit (or don't submit) for the questions in the review set will not be counted toward your WeBWorK score for the course.
On Monday, September 6 (even though it's a holiday) the first real WeBWorK problem set HW1 will "open" -- meaning that you can start working on it. When you're ready, you should open HW1 and print out a copy for yourself to work on until you're ready to submit answers.  There will probably be about 15 problems, so start early.

When you enter answers for some or all problems, WeBWorK will tell you whether you're right or wrong.  If a solution is wrong, you can try the problem again and resubmit an answer as many times as you like up until the HW1 deadline at 5 p.m. on the following Monday, September 13.  At that time, HW 1 will be automatically close online and HW 2 will open up a few minutes later.  

The usual pattern for 
WeBWorK assignments throughout the semester will be "Assignment opens Monday, and solutions are due by 5pm the following Monday, at which time the next assignment opens online."  The Daily Assignments page will remind you of the dates.  Problem set will usually contain about 15 problems for the week.

Each question will be worth 1 point. At the end of the semester, your total WeBWorK points will be converted to a percentage = your WEBSCORE, and WEBSCORE will count for 10% of your grade in the course.