Supervisions: Work to Do
Instructions
- If you'd like to re-arrange the time of your supervision (whether for one particular week or permanently) you must ask me one week in advance. For anyone who is wondering whether this applies to them, I explain at tedious length at the bottom of this page.
- For each supervision you need to do the work from the table below, and hand it in according to these instructions in advance of the supervision.
- There's advice on the advice page if you want it.
- Bring a copy of the question sheet with you to supervisions. If you're going to need paper, bring some. If you want to ask about something from the lecture notes, bring them.
- If anything is unclear, please e-mail me on mds510@gmail.com.
Work to Do: Lent Term 2019
I usually update this table on Wednesday mornings.
| Date of Supervision | Work for IA Nat. Sci. Maths | Work for IB Physics A | Work for IB Physics B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Course A) | (Course B) | |||
| 14th-19th January | No supervision this week. (But the holiday work is to be handed in.) | Holiday work (see below). | ||
| 21st-26th January | Holiday work (see below) which must have been handed in by noon on 17th January. | This supervision will mostly be for going over the rest of the holiday work and (in some cases) start-of-term tests. Don't hand in any work this week - I won't be collecting it - but you can bring with you answers to the first two questions from this term's examples sheet if you like. | ||
Holiday Work: Christmas 2018
- Whichever course you're doing, the first item of holiday work is to go over everything from the term and make sure that you understand it. Re-attempt questions that you couldn't do, or didn't have time for, during term. Most of you have college tests to revise for.
- I shall be asking a few students to change groups and/or times. If I don't e-mail you about this, assume that you're keeping the same group and time (and let me know as soon as possible if you will need to re-arrange).
- If you want to do more Tripos questions than I set, then do. The more practice you get, the better. I'll only mark the ones I've set (so don't hand any others in) but if you're stuck on or want to talk about any other questions then bring them along to a supervision, and if there's time we can talk about them.
- In each subject, there are several pieces of work to do. Each piece of work needs to be handed in as a separate bundle. If possible arrange the questions in each bundle in ascending numerical order. In any case fix each bundle together with its own staple, paper clip, treasury tag or similar, and write clearly at the top of the first sheet of each bundle your name, which piece of work it is, and "Work for Matthew Smith".
- If a particular piece of work is too large to be fixed together into a single bundle, then form it into two or more bundles instead, but make sure that you write your name and my name and which piece of work it is on each bundle, and also number the bundles.
- Details are below for IA (first-year) and IB (second-year) students.
Holiday work for IA
- I shall begin supervisions for IA subjects on Monday 21st January, but for all IA students the holiday work is due in by 12 noon on Thursday 17th January. I shall collect work at this time from Selwyn, Corpus, and Trinity Hall. I shall not mark work that doesn't meet the deadline. (You can hand it in days before the deadline, and it is best to do this if you think that there is any risk that you will forget on the day.)
- In the work below there are Tripos questions. They are difficult; they are supposed to be difficult. You will need to take longer (probably much longer) than you would have in an exam in order to produce the best answers that you can.
| Work for IA Nat. Sci. Maths | |
|---|---|
| (Course A) | (Course B) |
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|
Holiday work for IB
- I shall begin supervisions in IB Physics A and IB Physics B on Monday 14th January. Let me know if you won't be able to make your usual time that week. The work will be due in as for a usual week---note that the the handing-in times and places will be amended---I'll update them by 7th January.
- Tripos questions are difficult; they are supposed to be difficult. The best thing to do is first of all to try them under timed conditions---to practise dealing with the time pressure---but then to go back and produce the best answers that you can, taking as much time and reference material as you need. There's advice on the advice page if you want it.
| Work for IB Physics A | Work for IB Physics B |
|---|---|
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|
Work to Do: Michaelmas Term 2018
I usually update this table on Wednesday mornings.
| Date of Supervision | Work for IA Nat. Sci. Maths | Work for IB Physics A | Work for IB Physics B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Course A) | (Course B) | |||
| 8th-13th October | No work set. (But bring with you to the supervision the Maths Workbook from over the holidays if you have it.) | No supervision this week. | ||
| 15th-20th October | All questions from sections A and B on the question sheet, except that you may omit A1 and A3 if you like. | Questions A1, A3, A4, A5, A7, A8, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B10, B11, and B13. | Questions 1-6. | Questions 1-6. |
| 22nd-28th October | Sections C, D, and E. | C1(iv), {C3(ii) or X2}*, C4, C5(i, ii, iii), C7, C9, C10, C12, D1, D2, E2, E3, E4, F1(b, e, g, h). | Questions 7-13. | Questions 7-12. |
| 29th October - 3rd November | Questions 1-12 from section F. If you are already very good with complex numbers, omit question 1 completely, and only do parts (b), (d), (f), (h) and (j) from question 2. | {F3(c,d) or X3}*, F4(c), {F5(c) or X4(a,b)}, F6, F7(b,d,e,f,g,h,i,k), F8, F10, F11, F13(b), F14(e), F15(d), F17, F18(c,e), F19, G1, G3(b,e), G4, H1(e,f,h), {H2(a,c,e) or X7}, H3. | Questions 14-17 from experimental methods, then 1 and 2 from waves and oscillations. | Questions 13-18. |
| 5th-10th November | F13-15, all of section G, and H1-7, optionally omitting H1(b,d,f,h), H2(b,d,f,h), and H5(d). | H4, H5, I1, J1, K1, K2, L1, L2. Optionally add X7. | Questions 3-9 omitting 3(d). Do not omit any questions apart from 3(d). In particular, do not omit question 7 (which can be tackled with the computer package of your choice; it needn't be Matlab). | Questions 19-25. |
| 12th-17th November | H8 to H15. | M1, M2, M3, N1, N2, N4, O1, P1(d,g), P2(c,d,e), P3(b), P4. | Questions 10-15 and 16(a). Add 16(b) only if you want an extra challenge. Do attempt 15; if you really don't want to use a computer, it can be done purely with algebra. (But this may take longer!) | Questions 26-30 (or however many you get chance to do; I didn't update this table at the proper time). |
| 19th-24th November | H16, H17, all of section I, J1, J2. | P5(d,g), P6(all), P7, P9, P10, P12, P15, Q1, Q2, Q4, Q6, Q7. Optionally add X9. | Questions 17-22. Omit 19(b). | Questions 31-38 (plus any not done last week). |
| 26th November - 1st December | The rest of section J, and questions 1 and 2 from section K. | P14, Q8, Q9, {R1 or X12}*, R2, R3, R4, R5, R7, R8, R9. [If you do X12, don't try to find the standard deviation in (f).] | Questions 23-29. Omit 24(a) and 24(d), unless you are very keen to do them. | Questions 39-44. |
General notes
Where to find the questions
- The examples sheets, which contain the questions, are usually given out in lectures. If you don't have a copy, you can download one from the web. Resources for IA Nat. Sci. maths are on Moodle, and resources for Physics are on TiS.
- If there are more questions on the examples sheet than I set, then you are welcome to do the extra ones; I'm happy to mark them.
- For maths B supervisions, in some cases I've given a choice of questions in {curly braces}. The X questions are to be found on this extra question sheet. They are only there in case you are keen for a challenge: if not, stick to the choices from the lecturer's question sheet.
What I will mark
- I will only mark work from the course question sheets, attempts at questions from the extension sheet, and work set in the tables above. The work set will include some questions from past tripos papers over the holidays and shortly before the exams.
- I will not mark other past papers, attempts at old post-Christmas tests, or (in short) anything else. However, if you want to check your answers to specific past-paper questions, or talk about how to approach questions from anywhere else, then bring them along with you to a supervision, and if we have time we can go through them.
- If you want to check answers to past papers, then warn me (at least a couple of days in advance) by e-mail so that I can bring in my copy of the paper.
Re-arranging supervisions
I'm happy to re-arrange supervisions for almost any reason, providing that I have a week's notice. This means that you need to talk to me about it in the previous supervision (i.e. the supervision before the one that you want to rearrange), when all of the affected people are in the same place.
There's no need to read the rest of this section unless you are looking to re-arrange a supervision with less than a week's notice.
Sometimes students ask me to re-arrange their supervisions by e-mail, giving me less than a week's notice. The trouble with this is that it requires a number of e-mails to establish a possible alternative time that all three or four people affected can make, and for me to book a room. This series of e-mails usually takes a few days, by which point some possible rearranged times have already been and gone, and during which I have to allow not only for my regular timetable and the time of the rearranged supervision, but also for a number of hypothetical timetables based on rearrangements that might never happen. This is inconvenient, and if several students are asking for such rearrangements at once, can become impossible. And I don't think it fair to provide a flexibility to some students that I can't give to everyone. Furthermore, I consider that providing a reasonable amount of notice for rearranging supervisions is a basic level of professionalism with regard to their academic commitments that can reasonably be expected of students. Therefore I shall not re-arrange any supervision with less than a week's notice except for academic or health reasons.
- In particular, I will not rearrange supervisions with less than a week's notice if the reason is...
- rowing, even the "bumps". (If you're going to take part in a race whose exact time isn't set until shortly beforehand, then find out before the previous week's supervision all of the times that it could be. I can then try to find a time that doesn't clash with any of them.)
- any other sport.
- music, drama, or social events.
- routine family visits.
- a reason that you choose not to specify, even if you hint darkly at forces beyond your control.
- another supervisor wanting to teach you in what is usually my slot, unless someone can explain to me why their time is so very much more valuable than mine.
- an academic commitment that you have known about for long enough to give me a week's notice, but had forgotten about. (If you think that this is likely to be a problem, then e-mail me at least nine days before the supervision you want to rearrange, and I'll take on the responsibility of remembering to rearrange it at the proper time.)
- anything else not listed below.
- I may make re-arrangements at short notice if...
- you are ill, or need to attend a medical appointment. Let me know as soon as possible.
- your department requires you to do something at short notice as part of your course, or you need to attend a catch-up practical session because you have been ill. (This should happen very rarely, because normally you will have advance notice from the department.) I may want to check with the department. (It will be faster if you get them to e-mail me directly.)
- your Director of Studies wants you to do something at short notice. In this case I'd expect them to confirm by e-mailing me directly.
- you have an interview for a summer job or internship or similar which is arranged at short notice, with no alternative interview time, such that you will lose the post if you don't attend. Although I'm unconvinced that an organization that does this is going to be good to work for, I appreciate that you may be in something of a buyers' market, so I'll consider each case on its merits.
- there is a reason why a re-arrangement ought to be made on compassionate grounds, e.g. because you are visiting a relative who is taken ill, or helping a friend who is in serious trouble. In this case you need either to tell me exactly what the problem is, or (if it's something that you don't feel comfortable telling me about) tell your Tutor or Director of Studies, who can confirm to me that there is a good reason.