Some of the assignments have
very precise instructions for you to follow or they have very specific
questions for you to answer.
Read the
instructions carefully before you start the assignment.
If you turn in an assignment
which does not follow the procedure I outlined, expect to have points
deducted. If I ask you to analyze and explain the data you have
gathered, it is OK to be brief. However, YES, NO, WHAT I EXPECTED,
DATA VARIES LITTLE are unacceptable inputs from graduate students.
The
purpose of many of these assignments is to make you "think".
If you don't put any effort into the assignment, expect to lose points
for failing to make a legitimate effort. I don't always expect your
answers to be technically correct. But if you can explain to me why
and how you came to the conclusion you did, I will not deduct points
unless I feel that you have not taken the assignment seriously.
Keep in mind that not everyone
has the computer background that you do. Some people have much more
experience than you do while others will have hardly any knowledge of
computers at all. These assignments are designed to expose all
students to a series of topics that are normally not encountered by
the everyday PC user.
If you have prior experience with one or more of
these assignments, then you should be able to complete them quickly
without any major effort on your part. Consider yourself lucky. While
an assignment may seem trivial to you, there are many other students
who will struggle with the same assignment.
