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course PHY 231

8/27 12pm

Introductory Question-Answer (qa) Sequence________________________________________

There are 12 questions in this document, along with some instructions.

Copy this document into a word processor or text editor.

If you haven't already done so, answer the first two questions below, inserting your answers, Confidence Ratings and self-critiques as explained.

Then read the instructions that precede the remaining ten questions and answer those questions in a similar manner. You will submit your work using a web form, according to instructions at the end of the document.

You will probably find that you can answer many of these questions without writing anything down. On those problems where you cannot arrive at an answer 'in your head', is recommended that you work out your solutions on paper. It is often helpful to sketch, doodle, jot down ideas, do calculations, organize and test ideas on paper.

When appropriate, you will later be encouraged to use a calculator to do any arithmetic you cannot do mentally. However the calculator is not appropriate to the questions that appear on this document. Put the calculator aside and think through these questions.

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Here is some additional information on the process and how it will fit into your course:

One of the predominant features of your course is the question-answer format for submitting work.

• In most courses you will encounter sequenced questions of this nature, designed to build your understanding by engaging you in the process of answering and self-critiquing your answers on a number of questions.

• In all courses you will submit assigned problems using this format.

As with the first couple of questions, the questions in this document can be answered with just a knowledge of basic high-school mathematics.

Sometimes the given solutions are more subtle than you might expect, and you will probably find that many of your answers, while good and correct, do not completely match the given solution. This is intentional, the goal being to get you used to the idea and the benefits of the self-critique process.

• Don't worry if you have trouble with a few of the questions, or if your explanations don't quite match those in the given solutions--most students begin their course a little rusty.

• Be sure to do your best to understand all the questions and the given solutions--it's this effort that makes the process beneficial to you.

The process is fairly simple, and you'll be using it again and again.

• The process will soon be very familiar to you, if it isn't already.

• Work through the instructions given here and within the questions, and do your best.

• If you miss something in the process (as most students are bound to do the first time through), your instructor will point it out to you, and there will be ample opportunity to get everything straight.

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Your basic instructions follow. Rather than giving you the instructions at the beginning of the document, you were given a couple of questions to serve as a point of reference, and should now be better prepared to understand the instructions:

1. Answer each question, then look at the given solution:

It is expected that you will answer each question before looking at the given solution. There is no grade penalty for looking ahead, but if you do you:

• may be bypassing an opportunity to engage yourself in the solution process

• run the risk of deluding yourself about what you understand

• are likely to learn much less and

• are not as likely to do well in the course.

However your instructor understands the tradeoffs involved in being a student, and makes no judgement about how you should use this material. As long as you use it to your best advantage and succeed on tests and other course activities, you will get a good result from this course.

2. If you can't readily work it out in your head, use pencil and paper, and keep a record of your work.

You aren't expected to work out your solutions by staring at a computer screen, though you will likely find many questions and problems easy enough to do 'in your head'. However on more challenging problems, it's easier to work things out using a handwritten document than a computer-created or word-processed document.

• You should in general work out your answers to non-obvious problems on paper, jotting down sketches, diagrams and notes as you go, in such a way that you can make sense of it later. This will help you focus your work and maintain your train of thought, and will be quite valuable for periodic review. It is recommended (and may in some courses be required) that you dedicate a notebook to this course, and at least sketch out your work in the notebook.

3. There's no need for special formatting or graphs:

• Don't use special characters in your responses (e.g., characters like a, D, r that don't appear on your keyboard). The characters on your keyboard suffice to answer all these questions. If you use special characters they won't come through the form you use to submit your work, and if you use too many such characters your instructor might not be able to tell what you are saying.

• Don't try to make graphs in your document. Sketch your graphs by hand, then if necessary describe them in words (that probably won't be necessary in the present exercise; more about that later). Graphs won't come through when you submit your work. You can make a graph without understanding it, but you can't give a good description of your graph without understanding it. Your instructor doesn't need to see your graphs; he needs to see your descriptions of your graphs. The present exercise doesn't require extensive descriptions of graphs; it they apply to your course, you will see more about describing your graphs soon.

• When you submit this document (per instructions at the end), it will come to the instructor in pure text format. Any formatting you have done will not be seen by the instructor, special characters will not appear in what the instructor sees, and graphs won't come through. So don't do any fancy formatting for the instructor. You will of course want to save your original copy, and you are welcome to add formatting for your own purposes.

4. Expect to see your work posted by the instructor in a timely manner:

After submitting your work, per instructions at the end of this document, you should expect to see your work posted, along with instructor commentary, at your access page. It should be posted by the evening of the day after you submit it, and may well be posted the evening of the same day.

You have probably submitted your answers the first two questions in a preceding task. You are welcome to answer them again, but if you have already submitted them you may go ahead and skip to the third question.

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Question: `q001. If you are earning money at the rate of 8 dollars / hour and work for 4 hours, how much money do you make during this time? Answer in such a way as to explain your reasoning as fully as possible. A solution to this problem appears several lines below, but enter your own solution before you look at the given solution.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Your solution: (type in your solution starting in the next line)

To find out your dollars made you need to get the unit dollars.

Multiply 8 dollars per hour times 4 hours to get $32

Confidence Rating: 3

Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 means you are at least 90% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 90% of the solution

2 means that you are more that 50% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 50% of the solution

1 means that you think you probably got at least some of the solution correct but don't think you got the whole thing

0 means that you're pretty sure you didn't get anything right)

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Given Solution:

8 dollars / hour means '8 dollars per hour', indicating that for every hour you work you earn 8 dollars. If you work for 4 hours, then if you earn 8 dollars for every one of those hours you earn 4 * 8 dollars = 32 dollars.

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Self-critique (if necessary): If you are sure your solution matches the given solution, and/or are sure you completely understand the given solution, then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise you should include a self-critique. In your self-critique you should explain in your own words how your solution differs from the given solution, and demonstrate what you did not originally understand but now understand about the problem and its solution.

Note that your instructor scans your document for questions and indications that you are having difficulty, usually beginning with your self-critique.

• If no self-critique is present, your instructor assumes you understand the solution to your satisfaction and do not need additional information or assistance.

• If you do not fully understand the given solution, and/or if you still have questions after reading and taking notes on the given solution, you should self-critique in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

Insert your 'OK' or your self-critique, as appropriate, starting in the next line:

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Self-critique Rating: 3

Your self-critique rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your self-critique rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

(If you believe your solution matches the given solution then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise evaluate the quality of your self-critique by typing in a number between 0 and 3.

• 3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

• 2 indicates that you believe you addressed most of the discrepancies between the given solution and your solution but are unsure of some aspects of the situation; you would at this point consider including a question or a statement of what you're not sure you understand

• 1 indicates that you believe you understand the overall idea of the solution but have not been able to address the specifics of the discrepancies between your solution and the given solution; in this case you would normally include a question or a statement of what you're not sure you understand

• 0 indicates that you don't understand the given solution, and/or can't make a reasonable judgement about whether or not your solution is correct; in this case you would be expected to address the given solution phrase-by-phrase and state what you do and do not understand about each phrase)

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Question: `q002. If you work 12 hours and earn $168, then at what rate, in dollars / hour, were you making money?

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Your solution: (type in your solution starting in the next line)

Divide $168 by 12 hours to create the unit dollars per hour, giving the rate. The answer if 14 dollars per hour.

Confidence Rating: 3

Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 means you are at least 90% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 90% of the solution

2 means that you are more that 50% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 50% of the solution

1 means that you think you probably got at least some of the solution correct but don't think you got the whole thing

0 means that you're pretty sure you didn't get anything right)

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Given Solution: $168 earned in 12 hours implies that $168 / 12 = $14 were made per hour, so the rate is $14 / hour.

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Self-critique (if necessary): If you are sure your solution matches the given solution, and/or are sure you completely understand the given solution, then just type in 'OK'.

Note that your instructor scans your document for questions and indications that you are having difficulty, usually beginning with your self-critique.

• If no self-critique is present, your instructor assumes you understand the solution to your satisfaction and do not need additional information or assistance.

Insert your 'OK' or your self-critique, as appropriate, starting in the next line:

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Self-critique Rating:

Your self-critique rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your self-critique rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

(If you believe your solution matches the given solution then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise evaluate the quality of your self-critique by typing in a number between 0 and 3.

• 3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Self-critique rating:

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