MA 265 Spring 2010 Walther Discussion HWsolutions - Rhea

I think the availability of solutions to the homework online does give people advantages when looking at the homework part of the grade, but the fact of the matter is when those people take exams they are not as prepared as people who actually take the time to do the homework instead of copying it.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Usually I would agree, however, personally I have gained a lot from having solutions posted online. Though I use it as a tool to help me when I am stuck and I have no direction on how to solve a problem. I use it as a self tutoring system, which helps me learn the processes of the specific math problems and helps me overall with my understanding. I know that you do not want students merely using the 'cookie cutter' method, but I think that the majority of students would benefit from such a resource.

============================================

This could be beneficial for some, but I know a lot of people would probably just copy most of it. Especially if they wait until the last minute to do the homework.

============================================

I agree i think that most people would copy the solutions from online however, some people may be actually doing the homework themselves and get stuck on a part. If the solutions were posted you could get a little help. On the other side if you are stuck on a problem you can ask for help on Rhea or go to office hours as long as you dont wait till the last minute to start the homework.

===================================================

I have always felt that having online solutions or at least answers to problems is beneficial. No one is perfect, especially when learning new material. Therefore, sometimes checking one's work as they go along or their answer at the end, is an important building block and confidence booster that I believe helps the learning process. Yes, any student can simply copy posted online solutions and can probably get away with it, getting a 100% on homework, but unfortunately for them, no test are posted online.....

===================================================

I believe that the homework solutions should be available online because then people who are having difficulty with a certain problem, can then go see how it is done. There will be people that will just copy down the answers without even looking at how to do the problem, but that will hurt them in the long run since they probably will not do that well on the exams. The people that use the solutions the right way will in my opinion will be able to learn much faster and easier because there will be a step by step for the problem right there rather then either going in to office hours or sending an email to the professor for a small question and waiting for a response. I think that there will be more people benefiting from the online solutions then those that use it just to get their homework done faster.

===================================================

I believe solutions should be available online. I think answers should be given (not solutions) to check to see if the student got it right, after the homework is handed in, solutions will be posted. This can also help students see before a test how to do a certain problem if they made an error somewhere. I think people would benefit greatly from this.

===================================================

I also believe that homework solutions should be available online. In regards to the issue of students copying the solutions and not being as prepared on exams, that would be the student's problem. Each student knows what he or she must do in order to be prepared for an exam, and it is known that copying solutions as opposed to working out a problem does not help one to understand the solution as well. With online solutions, students who do care about learning the material in the best way could check to see that they are going about a problem correctly, and do it in a quicker manner than always having to see an instructor.

===================================================

I think that a complete online homework program is more beneficial then anything. When you click submit, you get instant feedback to whether or not your answer is correct, feed to help your through a problem, and the ability for the program to change some of the numbers in a problem to avoid the straight copying of answers. It is also automatically graded so you don't have TAs spending hours grading papers.

===================================================

I think that homework solutions should be available online because what is the point of doing if you do it wrong. With solutions, students are able to check their work and learn from mistakes before they have to hand it in, which is beneficial because most people forget about their homework by the time they get it back and at that point they don't care enough to go back and look over their work again.

===================================================

I strongly believe that the Homework solutions should be posted online. It will be very beneficial for students if the homework solutions are posted online. There are times when students get confused or are doubtful about the possible solutions of any particular question from the homework and also it happens a lot of times that there are couple of questions in which students have doubts or they are not even able to solve the problem of those type and that type of question comes on the exam. If we look at the general trend, students often skip those hard questions in the homeworks' and totally avoid going to the office hours and ask about those questions. If the solutions are posted online, we will be able to have access of solutions of each and every homework questions and this will definitely strengthen our preparation for the exam and also better understanding the course material. Posting of homework solutions online will also make it easier for students and faculty to view them from anywhere and at anytime at their convenience.

Having solutions posted online, in my opinion, is great. I personally miss having the online math homework where right away I know if the answer I got is correct and having the solutions online or in a solution manual will give me that gratification of knowing if the problem is right of wrong. On the same note, it sometimes is tough to put away the solutions long enough to actually solve the problem first and then look at the answer, but that takes discipline and self-control.

====================================================

Having solutions can be both beneficial and harmful to students doing the math homework. Having the solutions will give others the ability to correct problems and get higher homework grades as well as learn how to complete the problem correctly. the only thing you have to watch out for are people just copying the solutions and turning it in as their won work. A solution to that is to put up solutions to one problem and have a similar problem without a solution so they can try the firsts problem and correct themselves with the solution and use that knowledge to complete the second problem.

====================================================

There are pros and cons. As mentioned by many, having solutions helps students to understand and solve problems correctly. It also helps students to use them as guidelines when studying for exams. However, there are possiblities for students to misuse them; for instance, directly copying solutions without actually understanding them. This might cause students to not only take solutions for granted but also fail the course.

=====================================================

I think that having homework solutions online is hugely beneficial. If I can't see the solutions or at least answers when I'm finished with a problem I'll generally assume that I got it right, even if I didn't. If I mis-understand an entire homework and don't know it until a week later I will have a tough time un-learning the mistakes I was making. Being able to check answers as you go and see what step you mess up on makes it easier to study things that you specifically don't understand.

=====================================================

I think that having homework solutions online would be greatly beneficial as well. There are many times that I can't figure out a type of problem and this can be very problematic if there are multiple types of that problem. By having the solutions online I can figure out how to solve those problems and learn from the solutions. There are some people however who would use the solutions to cheat and not to figure out how to solve the problems. However, I think the people who do that will not do well in the class because they will be unable to do well on the exams. So overall, I think having the solutions online would be a good thing.

=====================================================

Has anyone found any solutions online? We all know it would help. If people are using them to "cheat" they are only cheating themselves for the exams.

=====================================================

I believe on the positive side having homework solutions online would reinforce understanding on the detail solution methods of problems. Sometimes even when we do get a correct answer for a particular question that does not necessarily means that we really understand the mathematical concept behind the answer. Especially problems which require proofing and therefore solutions manual would help on that note. But the bad side of this though is obviously, as have been pointed out many times before this entry, is that students would cheat and copy straight from the solutions manual. Well all I can say its their loss.