Introduction to WeBWorK
Math 81, Spring 2006

The WeBWorK login page is located at http://webwork.csufresno.edu/webwork2/.

• What is WeBWorK. WeBWorK is a web-based homework system that gives instant feedback as to whether or not your answer is correct. If the answer is wrong, you can (and should) redo the problem, and resubmit your answer. You can access each set as many times as you like (until the due date), and the number of attempts for each problem is usually unlimited. (If the instructor ever chooses to give a multiple choice question, he or she may limit the number of attempts, but multiple choice questions are rare in WeBWorK.)
• How to access the system. You'll be given the URL for the login page (you can use the link above to access CSUF courses). Your login name is your email username (e.g. if your email is abc@csufresno.edu, then your WeBWorK login name is abc), and your initial password is your Fresno State student ID number. Please note that your login name comes from the email address that is given on the roster. So if you have many different email accounts, you need to use the username that is given on the roster.
• More about the system.
  • You should log in as soon as possible (just to check that your login name and password work). You can (and for security purposes probably should) change your password and update your email after you log in the first time.
  • Homework Set 0 is an introduction to WeBWorK. It does not count toward your grade for the course, but you are strongly recommended to "play" with it in order to see how the system works.
  • It is very strongly recommended that you start working on your assignments early (definitely not the last night: so that if you need help with the material, you will have enough time to get some; also, the system gets slow if too many people are accessing the same course at the same time which often happens on the last night before the set is due). You can print out open sets (go to "homework sets"; choose a set, and click on "download hardcopy"), work on them wherever you like, and then log back in and submit your answers.
  • As with any computer or calculator, you have to be careful with parentheses. E.g. if you want to enter , then you have to type (sin (2x) + 5)/(cos x - 3).
    sin 2x + 5/cos x - 3 will be interpreted as .
    This can be annoying at first, but it teaches you to use parentheses correctly, which is an important skill in our age of computers.
  • You can view your scores by clicking on "grades".
  • Almost every page in WeBWorK has an "email instructor" button. You can use this feature to send an email to your instructor; e.g., you can explain how you did the problem, and ask your instructor what you did wrong.