Doing Homework Assignments Diligently

Many years ago a student got an F in Statics, a required course in civil engineering, from one of the authors. The student came to complain and said I feel I understand all the subjects and can teach the course, but you gave me an F. Well, he failed to mention that he skipped all the 

There are three levels of difficulty in homework problems. The easiest are those problems similar or even identical to the example problems. Doing those problems serves the purpose of an exercise or a drill. The second level of difficulty is for those problems that are variations of example problems such as changing the role of variables from unknown to known or vice versa. The highest level of difficulty is for problems involving synthesis of two or more concepts or using two or more tools. Those problems often appear as out of the blue and require careful analysis of what is given and what is to be found. 

It is important to develop the ability to ascertain the correctness of one s answer, not by checking to see if it is identical to what is given at the end of the book, but by verifying the steps taken in arriving at the answer. That involves checking the solution method itself and the numerical computation. The ability to double check one s own work is at least as important as the ability to do the problem. After all in real-hfe engineering problems, there won t be answers at the end of a book and you are the only one who can ascertain the correctness of your results. 

Time spent on doing homework is time well spent in the learning process and should be budgeted generously in the time-management section later in the chapter. 

This brings up the obvious question what is the best strategy for problem solving In the context of solving homework problems and taking tests, we suggest the following steps  

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