CS 4349.003.19F — Writing Policies and Advice for Homework and Exams


This page contains general policies and advice regarding writing of homework and exam solutions.

Form: How to Write

The most important thing to keep in mind is to be nice to the grader, whether it is Kyle or the TA. If your solutions are difficult to read, we will be far less lenient with mistakes. If they are impossible to read, you will receive no credit.

Content: What to Write

The most important thing here is to answer the right question. No matter how good your solution is, it is useless if you answer a question we didn't ask. If the question is unclear, ask for clarification! This is especially important on exams.

Often homework and exam problems will ask you to describe an algorithm. You need to do several things to get full credit: We may sometimes deviate from these default requirements. For example, if we ask you to use a specific technique, then you must use that technique to get credit. Answer the right question!

Bad Habits

Finally, here are some bad writing and thinking habits that come up often in algorithms and other discrete math courses. Doing one of the things in this list is often a huge red flag that either you aren't explaining things correctly (so we can't grade what you know) or worse, that you aren't thinking of things correctly. We reserve the right to severely dock your score if you break any of the following rules.