Select the following option (you have only one choice):

Submitting Assignment: Orientation Part IIIa

Your course (e.g., Mth 151, Mth 173, Phy 121, Phy 232, etc. ):

If you have one, please provide your access code.  You may leave this part blank if you do not yet have an access code. 

If you do not have an access code and have not already done so, you need to immediately go to http://vhmthphy.vhcc.edu/ > General Information, click on Request Access Code and submit the completed form. 

Remember that it is crucial to enter your access code correctly.  As instructed, you need to copy the access code from another document rather than typing it.

Access Code
Confirm Access Code

Your Name:

Your VCCS email address.  You is the address you were instructed in Step 1 to obtain.  If you were not able to obtain that address, indicate this below.

A typical assignment may consist of up to three parts:

• In most courses, at the beginning of an assignment you will run a q_a_ program which is intended to give you a gentle introduction to the main ideas of the section.  Your work on a q_a_ program will be submitted by running the appropriate assignment and submitting the resulting SEND file.
• In some courses there may be additional tasks to be submitted through web forms or by other means.  For example the lab component of a physics course consists of such assignments, and calculus courses include mathematical modeling assignments in the early part of the course. 
• In all courses you will submit the remainder of the assignment using the Query program (very similar to a q_a_ program), which is at the end of each assignment.  This program poses selected questions about the assignment, and it is expected that the program will be run with your work on the assignment in front of you so that you can answer quickly.   Submitting a Query assignment is very similar to submitting a q_a_ assignment (the only difference being that the filename of the SEND file won't include your name).

The instructor will make comments on your work, which will then be posted at your access page.

The first thing you need to do is document your thinking on each question:

• Read the question and do your best to figure out what the question is asking. 

• It is often helpful to jot down notes as you go, since the process of translating the problem into your own words and pictures helps focus your understanding. 
• Another reason to jot things down is that mathematics is generally easier to do on paper than on a computer.  In particular it is important to translate 'typewriter notation' such as x - (3 + y)^3 / (2 - z)^2 into standard notation, where it would read

. 

To do so you need to understand basic algebraic notation, which you do, and nee to be able to apply the order of operations.  Most students beginning these courses tend to make errors related to order of operations, but fortunately this is easy to remedy.  This is addressed in your very first q_a_exercise, which you will complete shortly.

• It's also a good idea to jot down notes because problems in a q_a_ are often broken down into a series of two or more questions.  When this happens you need to remember the question from one step to the next.  It is assumed you have sufficient notes to do so.

• When you answer the question be sure to include the details of your reasoning and the process you used to find your result.  Don't just write down an answer.  Write down a reasonably complete solution.

Indicate your understanding of what it means to document your work:

________________ **

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One very important and efficient learning strategy emphasized in your course is self-critique.

• A self-critique consists of either a (possibly brief) statement with enough detail to convince us both that you understand the solution ('OK I've got it' isn't very convincing) or a question that specifies exactly what you do and do not understand.

For example if you answered 'how do you put the amount $400 and the rate $10/hour together to get the time required?' with the response '$400 * $10/hour = 4000 hours', you might receive a response that says

• **We are given the rate $10/hour ar which money is accumulated and the amount $400 to be accumulated. We can visualize a string of $10 bills, each representing an hour's work, and totaling $400. It is clear that 400 / 10 = 40 bills would be required. Alternatively we can divide the amount accumulated by the rate: At $10 / hour it will take $400 / ($10 / hour) = 40 hours to make $400.Note that when we divide $ by $/hour we multiply $ by hour / $, which gives us ($ / $) * hours or just hours. **

Your response should indicate just how you arrived at the idea to multiply when division is required, how you can now and in the future reason out similar situations, and how the unit calculation of dividing $ by $/hr gives you hours while the unit calculation in your solution resulted in $^2 / hours, not in hours, which should have tipped you off that you had an error.

Explain your understanding of the nature of self-critique, and how the process might be benficial to you.

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As mentioned above, in most courses you have q_a_ exercises at the beginning of most assignments.

• These exercises are designed to engage you in the type of thinking necessary for the assignment and to give you practice and information.
• Engage yourself in the problem before you look at the solution.
• When your solution differs from the given solution you are to reconcile these differences, as best you can, in your response.
• Again your response should either convince us both that you now understand or it should ask a good question designed to increase your understanding. q_a_ exercises sometimes introduce new ideas in solutions and your responses should note those new ideas.

Please explain the role of q_a_ exercises and the use of self-critique.

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After reading the information in the next few paragraphs you will run one of the exercises in the q_a_initial_problems program. 

Don't worry about how well you do on this exercise. 

• Students in courses with strong algebra and analysis content and lots of prerequisites tend to answer most questions correctly and to easily understand their errors. 
• Students in courses that don't have heavy prerequisites often do well also, but on the average students in these courses have more difficulty with some of the questions. 

You need to complete this exercise, and you are expected to make your best effort, but you aren't otherwise being graded on your performance on any of the q_a_Introductory_Problems exercises.

• This specific exercise will ask you questions designed to introduce you to the way the Order of Operations is used when entering mathematical expressions from the keyboard.  It is very important in most courses to understand the Order of Operations well.  Most courses rely heavily on algebraic expressions, and these expressions must be constructed according to this order.  Liberal Arts Mathematics courses use less algebra, but for that course this exercise is a good introduction to using the rules of a mathematical system.
• You will be expected to self-critique your solutions in the manner described above.  Part of the purpose of this exercise is to introduce you to the idea of constructively critiquing your work, which will more deeply engage you in your learning process and which you will in the process develop into a powerful learning tool.

When you run the program you will be asked a standard series of three questions, which will be asked every time you run a q_a_ file:

• The first question will ask for your full name.  The SEND file created by the program will include your name, as you give it, in the filename, along with the current date.
• The next prompt, which you will ordinarily ignore, gives you the opportunity to change the location of the SEND file.  It is suggested that you simply click on OK or hit the Enter key without entering anything into the box, which will cause the program to write to the c:\vhmthphy folder as before.  However if for any reason you want to use a different folder on your computer (e.g., the desktop or some other folder of your choice), you may enter the path to that folder in this box.
• The third question will ask you for the assignment number.  Enter 1 for the assignment number.

You will then run the program just as you earlier ran the q_a_prelim.  Start by clicking on Next Question/Answer, and proceed as before. 

You will encounter two things in this program you did not encounter in the q_a_prelim: 

• After responding to the question, you will be asked to rate your confidence in your answer. 
• After then viewing the solution you will be asked to assess the need for, and if needed the quality of your self-critique.

The instructor's posted responses will then give you feedback on your responses.

You won't understand what all this means until you run the program. 

A few final words before you run the program:

• In the introductory problems exercises, the first couple of questions are usually relatively easy, questions you will either get right or will very likely understand after responding and then seeing the solution.  These exercises are designed to also include subsequent questions of intermediate difficulty, and a few very challenging questions that only a few students get right. 
• The idea is that everyone should succeed at some level, and be challenged at some level, and should learn something in the process. 
• Do your best, don't worry if some of the questions seem unreasonably difficult (again the design is to challenge everyone), and try to enjoy the challenges.

You are invited to comment before running the program, but it is not required that you do so:

________________ **

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You should now run the program q a initial problems, either by clicking on this link and choosing to Run the program or by running it from your hard drive. 

When you have completed the last question, you will see End Program in the question box. 

• At this point you may if you wish click on the button entitled 'Display SEND file', which will display the SEND file in the Question box.  You can highlight and copy this file without having to browse to your hard drive.  Note that CTRL-A does not work to highlight the contents of the box; if you go to the top of the box and use the combination Shift-Ctrl-End the contents should be highlighted.  Then you can either right-click and choose Copy, or use CTRL-C to copy the contents to the clipboard.
• Alternatively you can quit the program, then locate the SEND file on your hard drive, as you did previously with the q_a_prelim.  Highlight and copy the contents.

To submit your SEND file work, click on the link

• submit work

and follow the instructions on that page to submit a copy of your file.  In the box below briefly describe the process you have followed.  Include your comments on the process of self-critique:

________________ **

This Orientation assignment has been reviewed to see if you have missed any of the ideas or asked a question. It appears that you understand this information. If you have a question about anything, or if you asked a question and I missed it, then please submit a copy of this document and insert your questions, marking your insertions with #### so I can easily locate them.

Orientation Part IIIa

assignment #001

001. Only assignment: prelim asst

qa prelim

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12:18:41

`q001. Part 1 includes six activities. If you have completed an activity, just enter the answer 'completed'.

This question is appearing in the Question box. The box to the right is the Answer box, where you will type in your answers to the questions posed here.

To use this program you read a question, then enter your answer in the Answer box and click on Enter Answer. In your answers give what is requested, but don't go into excruciating detail. Try to give just enough that the instructor can tell that you understand an item.

After entering an answer click on Next Question/Answer above the Question box.

Do you understand these instructions?

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RESPONSE -->

Yes, I understand the instructions.

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12:20:17

This program has created the folder c:\vhmthphy on your hard drive.

Browse to that folder and locate the file whose name begins with SEND. The name of this file will also include your name, as you gave it to the program, and the file will show as a Text file.

Never tamper with a SEND file in any way. It contains internal codes as if these codes are tampered with you won't get credit for the assignment. However you are welcome to copy this file to another location and view it, make changes, etc. Just be sure that when requested to do so you send the instructor the original, tamper-free file.

State in the Answer box whether or not you have been able to locate the SEND file. Don't send the SEND file yet. Note that more questions/instructions remain in the q_a_prelim.

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RESPONSE -->

Yes, I have found the SEND file.

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12:22:58

`q002. Note that every time you click on Enter Answer the program writes your response to your SEND file. Even if the program disappears all the information you have entered with the Enter Answer button will remain in that file. This program never 'unwrites' anything. Even if this program crashes your information will still be there in the SEND file. Explain this in your own words.

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RESPONSE -->

Every time I click Enter Answer, the program adds my response to the SEND file. The program never erases anything from the SEND file, even if the program crashes.

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12:24:25

Any time the instructor does not post a response to your access site by the end of the following day, you should resubmit your work using the Submit Work form, and be sure at the beginning to indicate that you are resubmitting, and also indicate the date on which you originally submitted your work.

If you don't know where your access site is or how to access it, go to

http://www.vhcc.edu/dsmith/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/request_access_code.htm and request one now. You can submit the q_a_prelim without your access code, but other assignments should contain your code.

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RESPONSE -->

I understand the instructions.

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12:28:39

`q003. If you are working on a VHCC computer, it is probably set up in such a way as to return to its original configuration when it is rebooted. To avoid losing information it is suggested that you back up your work frequently, either by emailing yourself a copy or by using a key drive or other device. This is a good idea on any computer. Please indicate your understanding of this suggestion.

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RESPONSE -->

I understand that it is a good idea to back up my work frequently.

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assignment #001

001. typewriter notation

qa initial problems

08-29-2008

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15:37:31

`q001. Explain the difference between x - 2 / x + 4 and (x - 2) / (x + 4). The evaluate each expression for x = 2.

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RESPONSE -->

The first expression indicates that only the 2 is to be divided by only x, whereas the parentheses in the second expression indicates that the entire expression (x - 2) is to be divided by the entire expression (x + 4). When 2 is substituted for x in the two expressions, the first answer = 5. The second answer = 0.

confidence assessment: 3

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15:41:04

`q002. Explain the difference between 2 ^ x + 4 and 2 ^ (x + 4). Then evaluate each expression for x = 2.

Note that a ^ b means to raise a to the b power. This process is called exponentiation, and the ^ symbol is used on most calculators, and in most computer algebra systems, to represent exponentiation.

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RESPONSE -->

I got the answer right.

confidence assessment:

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15:42:17

2 ^ x + 4 indicates that you are to raise 2 to the x power before adding the 4.

2 ^ (x + 4) indicates that you are to first evaluate x + 4, then raise 2 to this power.

If x = 2, then

2 ^ x + 4 = 2 ^ 2 + 4 = 2 * 2 + 4 = 4 + 4 = 8.

and

2 ^ (x + 4) = 2 ^ (2 + 4) = 2 ^ 6 = 2*2*2*2*2*2 = 64.

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RESPONSE -->

sorry. i think i messed up and skipped a question.

self critique assessment:

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15:56:55

`q003. What is the numerator of the fraction in the expression x - 3 / [ (2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 ] - 2 + 7x? What is the denominator? What do you get when you evaluate the expression for x = 2?

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RESPONSE -->

first of all, the first x is not part of the numerator since it is not grouped with the 3, so simply the 3 is the numerator. The denominator includes the entire expression within the brackets [ (2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1]. When 2 is substituted for x, the fraction becomes

3/ [ (2*2-5)^2 * 3(2) + 1 ]

3/ [ (-1)^2 * 6 + 1 ]

a negative raised to an even power is positive

3/ [ 1 * 6 + 1]

3/7

The rest of the expression looks like this

2 - 3/7 - 2 + 14 which simplifies to

14 - 3/7 or 101/7

confidence assessment: 2

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15:58:49

The numerator is 3. x isn't part of the fraction. / indicates division, which must always precede subtraction. Only the 3 is divided by [ (2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 ] and only [ (2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 ] divides 3.

If we mean (x - 3) / [ (2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 ] - 2 + 7x we have to write it that way.

The preceding comments show that the denominator is [ (2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 ]

Evaluating the expression for x = 2:

- 3 / [ (2 * 2 - 5)^2 * 3(2) + 1 ] - 2 + 7*2 =

2 - 3 / [ (4 - 5)^2 * 6 + 1 ] - 2 + 14 = evaluate in parenthese; do multiplications outside parentheses

2 - 3 / [ (-1)^2 * 6 + 1 ] -2 + 14 = add inside parentheses

2 - 3 / [ 1 * 6 + 1 ] - 2 + 14 = exponentiate in bracketed term;

2 - 3 / 7 - 2 + 14 = evaluate in brackets

13 4/7 or 95/7 or about 13.57 add and subtract in order.

The details of the calculation 2 - 3 / 7 - 2 + 14:

Since multiplication precedes addition or subtraction the 3/7 must be done first, making 3/7 a fraction. Changing the order of the terms we have

2 - 2 + 14 - 3 / 7 = 14 - 3/7 = 98/7 - 3/7 = 95/7.

COMMON STUDENT QUESTION: ok, I dont understand why x isnt part of the fraction? And I dont understand why only the brackets are divided by 3..why not the rest of the equation?

INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE: Different situations give us different algebraic expressions; the situation dictates the form of the expression.

If the above expression was was written otherwise it would be a completely different expression and most likely give you a different result when you substitute.

If we intended the numerator to be x - 3 then the expression would be written (x - 3) / [(2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 ] - 2 + 7x, with the x - 3 grouped.

If we intended the numerator to be the entire expression after the / the expression would be written x - 3 / [(2x-5)^2 * 3x + 1 - 2 + 7x ].

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RESPONSE -->

The only mistake I made was I added the 3/7 to 14 instead of subtracting it from 14.

self critique assessment: 2

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16:07:23

`q004. Explain, step by step, how you evaluate the expression (x - 5) ^ 2x-1 + 3 / x-2 for x = 4.

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RESPONSE -->

substitute for x

(4 - 5) ^ 2(4) - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2

first i simplify the exponent. the -1 is not part of the exponent because it is not joined by parentheses.

(4 - 5) ^ 8 - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2

solve within parentheses

(-1) ^ 8 - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2

raise (-1) to the 8 power

1 - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2

the 3 is divided by the four. all that is left is addition and subtraction.

3 / 4 - 2

3/4 - 8/4

-5/4

confidence assessment: 3

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16:12:04

We get

(4-5)^2 * 4 - 1 + 3 / 1 - 4

= (-1)^2 * 4 - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2 evaluating the term in parentheses

= 1 * 4 - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2 exponentiating (2 is the exponent, which is applied to -1 rather than multiplying the 2 by 4

= 4 - 1 + 3/4 - 2 noting that 3/4 is a fraction and adding and subtracting in order we get

= 1 3/4 = 7 /4 (Note that we could group the expression as 4 - 1 - 2 + 3/4 = 1 + 3/4 = 1 3/4 = 7/4).

COMMON ERROR:

(4 - 5) ^ 2*4 - 1 + 3 / 4 - 2 = -1 ^ 2*4 - 1 + 3 / 4-2 = -1 ^ 8 -1 + 3 / 4 - 2.

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS:

There are two errors here. In the second step you can't multiply 2 * 4 because you have (-1)^2, which must be done first.  Exponentiation precedes multiplication.  

Also it isn't quite correct to write -1^2*4 at the beginning of the second step. If you were supposed to multiply 2 * 4 the expression would be (-1)^(2 * 4). 

Note also that the -1 needs to be grouped because the entire expression (-1) is taken to the power.  -1^8 would be -1 because you would raise 1 to the power 8 before applying the - sign, which is effectively a multiplication by -1. 

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RESPONSE -->

i should have worked inside the parentheses first and then raised to the exponent. instead i multiplied the exponent by 4 which i shouldnt have done.

self critique assessment: 2

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16:14:09

*&*& Standard mathematics notation is easier to see. On the other hand it's very important to understand order of operations, and students do get used to this way of doing it.

You should of course write everything out in standard notation when you work it on paper.

It is likely that you will at some point use a computer algebra system, and when you do you will have to enter expressions through a typewriter, so it is well worth the trouble to get used to this notation.

Indicate your understanding of the necessity to understand this notation.

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RESPONSE -->

I understand it is important to learn order of operations since it will be necessary when writing expressions through a typewriter.

self critique assessment: 2

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16:16:38

`q005. At the link

http://www.vhcc.edu/dsmith/genInfo/introductory problems/typewriter_notation_examples_with_links.htm

(copy this path into the Address box of your Internet browser; alternatively use the path

http://vhmthphy.vhcc.edu/ > General Information > Startup and Orientation (either scroll to bottom of page or click on Links to Supplemental Sites) > typewriter notation examples

and you will find a page containing a number of additional exercises and/or examples of typewriter notation.Locate this site, click on a few of the links, and describe what you see there.

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RESPONSE -->

I see 35 examples of typewriter notation and a link that shows what each expression looks like in standard notation.

confidence assessment: 3

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16:18:13

You should see a brief set of instructions and over 30 numbered examples. If you click on the word Picture you will see the standard-notation format of the expression. The link entitled Examples and Pictures, located in the initial instructions, shows all the examples and pictures without requiring you to click on the links. There is also a file which includes explanations.

The instructions include a note indicating that Liberal Arts Mathematics students don't need a deep understanding of the notation, Mth 173-4 and University Physics students need a very good understanding,

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RESPONSE -->

self critique assessment: 3

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16:19:04

while students in other courses should understand the notation and should understand the more basic simplifications.

There is also a link to a page with pictures only, to provide the opportunity to translated standard notation into typewriter notation.

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RESPONSE -->

self critique assessment: 3

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&#Your work looks very good. Let me know if you have any questions. &#