Writing Homework :: Tips & Tricks
A class aims to teach students certain skills. Homework is a *presentation* about your understanding of those skills. I really want to emphasize the presentation part of that: homework is more than getting answers to some questions–it’s a way to demonstrate that you’ve internalized an understanding of how to answer questions. Like most presentations (and things you stick your name on, really), it’s worth putting effort not only into a homework’s content, but also… well, its presentation.
This post lists some tips & tricks for making your homework look great… and maybe help your grader out too. I wrote this guide assuming you’re writing by hand, but similar design principles apply to electronic writing too. I took mostly STEM classes, so my wording is biased towards homework from those sorts of classes.
The usual caveats apply: pick and choose what works for you, toss what doesn’t. Remix to your heart’s desire!
⦿ MATERIALS: Like an artist choosing their tools, the materials you work with will significantly impact your end product’s appearance. I recommend…
Primary Writing Tool: A mechanical pencil or a dark-inked pen (e.g., black or blue). If using a pen, I recommend also getting correction tape to make your life easier and keep your homework pretty.
Light-Colored Pen: A secondary writing utensil to emphasize important statements and results. These sorts of touch-ups make your work easier to read. I recommend using a cyan, magenta, light green, or orange pen. AVOID RED! Chances are your grader has called dibs on that.
Straightedge Tool: A six-inch ruler or other straightedge, which allows for crisp lines when boxing results or underlining statements.
Lined Notebook Paper: This might sound silly to list, but use of lined paper provides a natural organization for your homework, so leaning into it is a good idea. Unless you’re extremely comfortable with line-less paper, lined paper is the way to go.
⦿ STRATEGY: Perhaps the most useful suggestion I can provide you is the following:
ROUGH DRAFT YOUR SOLUTIONS FIRST: Solving a problem often involves a lot of guesswork and–consequently–a lot of wrong turns. You might set up machinery that you never use, or your notation might be more cluttered than it had to be, and so-on. By solving a problem before writing up the version you’ll turn in, you have an opportunity to clean up your argument and organize your thoughts. You also ensure…
It’s at least the second time you look at your solutions, so you can catch mistakes.
You learn the material. Looking at your work more than once helps reinforce what you’ve learned, so that you may more easily recall those skills at a later time.
Like I said: homework is a kind of presentation. Turning in your first draft is like giving a speech without first giving a practice talk. Of course, that being said, sometimes you might be low on time or energy, in which case turning in something is better than nothing. Do what you need to do, my friend. In any case, I hope my remaining advice is still useful to you.
I recommend keeping all of your homework-relevant work in one place, like a dedicated folder. By getting in the habit of bringing that folder to class, you lessen the chance of forgetting your homework at home.
⦿ ORGANIZATION: A lot of what makes a good-looking homework is intentional placement of information. If a grader can reliably find information, then they can accurately assess you on that information. Organization also helps if you want to later use your homework to study for an exam. Here’s suggestions on what info to include and where/how to include it:
Your Name - Top Right of Front Page: You need to write your name on the assignment to get credit.
Due Date - Top Right of Front Page: This is good for you in the present (to ensure you remember when the assignment is due) and the future (so you know for sure when in the semester you worked on it).
Title - Top Line of Each Page: e.g. “Class Title - Homework #N”, with maybe even a subtitle on the first page describing that homework’s theme. This let’s the grader know they’re grading the right assignment, and allows you to keep records more easily.
Page Number - Bottom Right Corner of Each Page: e.g. “1 of M” or “1/M”. This way you remember to staple pages in the right order AND don’t accidentally forget to include a page before turning it in.
Write on only One Side of Each Page: It’s easier to read a homework (and harder to miss part of a solution) if all your writing sticks to one side of the page.
Number Your Solutions: If you’re working on a problem set, then you should very clearly indicate which of your solutions correspond to which problems. In fact…
Give Each Solution its own Page(s): It’s a good rule of thumb (unless otherwise specified by your instructor or grader) to give each problem its own pages rather than writing each problem immediately after another. This makes it easier to find specific problems. Plus, if you discover a terrible error in what you thought was an okay solution, then you can start from scratch on that problem without jeopardizing parts of other problems.
Include Solutions in the Same Order the Problems are Assigned: So include the solution to problem #1 first, then the solution to problem #2, etc. This ensures you can be confident you’re not forgetting a solution when you turn in your work. For the grader, this means actually finding each problem they want to grade.
⦿ YOUR FINAL DRAFT: If you followed my earlier strategy, then you’ve already solved your homework problems, and you’re rewriting and reorganizing at this stage. Here’s some guiding principles about presenting your solutions.
Double-Check You Actually Answered the Problems: It’s easy to miss a small question in the problem statement, or go into auto-pilot and accidentally solve a different-but-related problem. Reread the problem statements and make sure you don’t lose points due to accidental omissions. Additionally, make certain you’re clear about what you’re answering: if a problem says “Explain why [such-and-such]”, then write your answer as “[Such-and-such] because…”
Show Your Work: Unless otherwise stated, a homework’s purpose is NOT to get an answer, but to establish that you personally have a means of obtaining the answer. So explain what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Show your steps. Lead the reader down the mental road you took in solving the problem.
Emphasize Final Results: This means boxing or underlining the end product of your solution, preferably in a light-colored pen that is easily distinguished from the rest of your writing. You worked for these results, so show them off. This also helps with making sure you didn’t forget to answer part of a problem.
That’s that! Thank you for taking time to read my tips & tricks on writing up homeworks. I hope they’re as useful to you in your academic life as they’ve been in mine.
Did I miss any tips & tricks that you absolutely swear by? Let me know on a reblog or send me an ask!
I’m wishing you the best, my friend!
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