Learning to communicate ideas clearly is
as important as having them in the first place. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT
YOU WRITE UP YOUR HOMEWORK. You need to have something that
somebody else can read!
We will have a homework reader assigned to the course. He will keep
records of who has turned in homework and will give as much feedback as
he can. He will not have time to write detailed comments -- but you
will get a general reaction.
The situation is not hopeless. The greatest resource a student has at a large university is "study
friends": people who agree to help each other learn a subject. You should write up homework and have a study friend
read it (and return the favor). If a friend has no idea what you are
talking about, it usually means that either you really don't know what
you are talking about, or you aren't writing your work clearly.
You need a "study friend" at about the same level as you -- not someone
who is always explaining things to you, or who you are tutoring.
You need someone who can be objective enough to tell you that your work
stinks when it does.
I am not sure if studying with someone with whom you have a romantic
relationship is good or bad. Studying with a girlfriend or boyfriend
might deepen your relationship -- and it might destroy it.
Sharing thoughts about Calculus could, in fact, be an experience of
intimacy that convinces a couple that they want to spend the rest of
their lives together!
The homework policy for this course has been developed to let us handle
homework this way. It is not treated as an exam -- but rather as
something you (and everyone else) need to do when learning.
The course
grading policy is not competitive, so there is no downside to helping
each other.
There is really no point in trying to pass off someone else's work as
your own. It is better to write up what you can do at the time
homework is due -- and ask questions about things that have not yet
jelled.
As some beer commercial once said (which?) " you only go through life
once, so you need to grab all the gusto you can". Please try to
see homework as part of the gusto you should be grabbing at the moment.