Each student must register for one of the four head-banging sessions, which are held every week Tuesday 5:00-5:50, Tuesday 6:00-6:50, Wednesday 4:00-4:50, and Wednesday 5:00-5:50, all in 1111 Siebel Center. Attendance is strongly encouraged, but not mandatory.Head-banging sessions are opportunities for you to develop your problem-solving and presentation skills. After an initial presentation by the TA, you will work in small groups (no more than 5-6 students each) to solve problems we suggest, with feedback and suggestions from the TA. If necessary, the TA may also review material from the lectures. However, no new material will be presented.
We encourage you to present your own solutions to your section. Presenting your solutions will help you master the course material (so you'll do better on later homeworks and exams) and develop your presentation skills (for later oral homeworks). Students will receive a modicum of extra credit for presenting a solution in section, even if the presented solution is incomplete or incorrect.
We are happy to provide feedback on your attempted solutions—that's precisely what the head-banging sessions are for. We also strongly encourage you to ask questions about head-banging problems in office hours and on the course newsgroup, and to continue working on them on your own and with your study partners. However, we do not plan to provide solutions to the head-banging problems, either during the sessions themselves, on the course web site, or during office hours. The purpose of the head-banging sessions is to help you learn how to solve problems yourself; providing solutions would work against that purpose.
Also, head-banging questions may appear on later homeworks and exams. (If we do recycle a head-banging question, we will provide solutions after the homework/exam is submitted.)
In the interest of fairness, to both the TAs and the other students, please attend only the head-banging session that you are registered for. (If you are unable to register because the class is full, you may attend either the Tuesday 6:00 session or the Wednesday 5:00 session, but not both.) Unfortunately, because of this semester's heavy enrollment, the only way to change sections is by swapping with another student. Pairs (or larger groups) of students who want to swap sections should send email to one of the TAs with both your names and NetIDs.
When you are solving a problem, don't worry.
Now, after you have solved the problem, then that's the time to worry.— Richard Feynman
(reportedly written on his blackboard at the time of his death in 1988)
Student: Whenever there is any question, one's mind is confused. What is the matter?
Master: Kill, kill!— Ts‘ao-shan Pen-Chi (Sozan Honjaku)
one of the co-founders of Soto Zen (c. 900)