Getting Started with WeBWorK

Heads up: if you’re looking for the “Welcome and Getting Started” post that was here before, it now appears farther down the page — just scroll down to see it.

WeBWorK is accessible from on and off campus (anywhere you have access to the internet).  Your first assignment will be due on Thursday, February 14th, and will cover the material from Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3.  Here’s what you have to do:

Assignment.  You must complete the following three steps.

Step 1.  Log in to WeBWorK here:  http://mathww.citytech.cuny.edu/webwork2/MAT1272-Reitz/.  I have created Usernames and Passwords for each student registered for my class.

Username.  Your username for WeBWorK consists of your first initial plus your last name, all lowercase (for example, John Smith would have username ‘jsmith’).

Password.  Your temporary password is the same as your username (if your username is ‘jsmith’, your password is currently ‘jsmith’).

Step 2.  Change your password and update your email address.  To do this, select “Password/Email” from the main menu on the left.  Use whatever email address you like (I suggest using one that you check often).

Step 3.  Complete the first assignment, titled Assignment1 – Sec 2.1-2.3, by clicking on it in the main screen.

If you have any trouble – either with logging in, or with completing the assignment, post a comment here or send me an email and I will get back to you.

WeBWorK Tips:

  1. Click on a problem to see the details (the list of problems appears in the menu on the left).  Enter an answer and hit “Submit Answers”.  Don’t worry, if you get it wrong you can try it again.
  2. If the answer is a number:  you can enter it either as a decimal, like 72.2566 (round your answer), or as an exact answer, like 23*pi.
  3. You can work on the problems in any order you wish.  You can do some problems now, and come back and do the rest another day (your work will be saved, as long as you submit your answers).
  4. If you want to print out a copy of the assignment, click on the assignment name in the main menu on the left, and then click the link in the main screen area that reads “Download a hardcopy of this homework set.”

17 thoughts on “Getting Started with WeBWorK

  1. Hi Laticia,

    You enter decimals in the usual way (nothing fancy). I would suggest including at least 4 digits after the decimal place, and be sure to ROUND you answer. For example, if your calculator gives you:

    3.7192685746848474659

    Then you could either enter the entire thing, or round off and enter the following:

    3.7193

    If this doesn’t help, write me back and let me know the particular problem you are having trouble with.

  2. Good Afternoon professor,

    i need help with question number 7, since i think the online checking system might have a bug issue…since i cannot determine why the stem and leaf problem says that i have at least 1 wrong answer…lolz

    the numbers are
    66 43 43 30 34 22 49 58 24
    26 34 34 36 49 63 63 53 22

    my answers are:
    stem leaf
    2 2462 the stem is given
    3 04446
    4 3399 the stem is given
    5 38 the leaf is given
    6 633

  3. Proff Reitz,

    Im having problem with Problem number 2. I think I’m doing everything correct but it tells me i got an incorrect number

    Here’s the question:
    -The histogram below gives the length of service of members of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at a particular university. The classes, in years of service, are 0-4.9, 5-9.9, etc., and the vertical axis represents the number of faculty.

    (a) What percent of the department faculty have less than 20 years of service?

    I added all the numbers below 20 on the histogram which were 5,10,15,20=got 50

    and I divided it by frequency number related to 20 which was 10

    10/50*100= i got 20%

    Can you please tell me if I’m doing it incorrect

    Thanks

  4. Proff Reitz,

    Im having problem with Problem number 2. I think I’m doing everything correct but it tells me i got an incorrect number

    Here’s the question:
    -The histogram below gives the length of service of members of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at a particular university. The classes, in years of service, are 0-4.9, 5-9.9, etc., and the vertical axis represents the number of faculty.

    (a) What percent of the department faculty have less than 20 years of service?

    I added all the numbers below 20 on the histogram which were 5,10,15,20=got 50

    and I divided it by frequency number related to 20 which was 10

    10/50*100= i got 20%

    Can you please tell me if I’m doing it incorrect

    Thanks

    • Hi Zinaida,
      The numbers you added (5, 10, 15, 20) represent “years of service” — what we want to know is the total *number of faculty* that have that many years of service. What part of the graph gives us the number of faculty? That’s the part we need to add up.

      Once you do this, you’ll need to divide by the total number of faculty altogether (in the entire graph). How can you find this?

      Give it another try, and write me back if you’re still having trouble.

      -Mr. Reitz

  5. For number 8, i tried the same method from number 7, though there were same stems and more blank spaces to fill in…and for some unused blank spaces i used “X”, but then it says “Variable ‘X’ is not defined in this context”

    Thus, it will not accept my answers to the stem and leaf problem:

    173 174 185 190 179 179 185 188 175 176 176
    185 195 193 194 198 193 174 188 193 171 173

    Stem Leaf
    17 13344566
    17 X
    X X
    18 55588
    19 033345
    X X

    • Hi Anil,
      You should always list the stem, even if there is no data in which that stem appears — so there should be two 17’s, two 18’s, and two 19’s, even if one of these stems is not used. The “X” should only go in the second column (the leaves).
      Hope this helps,
      Mr. Reitz

  6. Hello Professor,

    So far ive answered 1-7 with no troubles.. but question 8 has me confused with two sets of stems 18 18 19 19 20 20.. how do you go about distributing the leaves?

    Thank You,
    Dania Elder

    196 183 199 199 181 205 201 186 202 196 188
    188 196 181 202 202 183 203 186 180 209 185

  7. If a member of the department is chosen at random to serve on a university committee, what is the probability (in decimal form) that the chosen representitive will have between 10 and 20 years of service?

    • Hi Amit,
      Thanks for posting. This is actually a course from 2013, and is no longer active – but I encourage you to look around! If you are currently enrolled in MAT 1272 Statistics, does your class have an OpenLab site? If not, you could suggest this to your Professor – as you can see, it can be a very useful resource.
      Best regards,
      Prof. Reitz

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