Precision Software Applications Silver Collection 1

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 1 / Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume One (PSM) (1993).iso / children / math101b.exe / MWMANUAL.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1992-05-31 | 106KB | 3,090 lines

************************* * TM * * MATH WORKOUT * ************************* Version 1.1 USER MANUAL ------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ------- 1. INTRODUCTION 1. About MATH WORKOUT 4. How To Use the Manual 4. Specifications 2. USER MENU 3. MAIN MENU 1. Practice 3. Mixed practice 4. Beat-the-Clock A mix of Beat-the-Clock 5. Graph of scores 7. Zoom in on Graph User change 8. Default Menu Supervisor Menu Quit 4. DEFAULT MENU 1. Accuracy BTC beep Clock Display 2. Exam Graph Praise 3. Review Size Time limit 4. View time Wait messages Main Menu 5. SUPERVISOR MENU 1. Alter user data Comprehensive history 2. Delete user Graphing ability History path 3. Quit beep Student ID Main Menu 6. DIFFICULTY LEVELS 1. Background 2. Outline 3. Addition 5. Subtraction 7. Addition with Decimals 8. Subtract with Decimals 9. Multiplication 12. Division 15. Percentages 16. Addition (on paper) Subtraction (on paper) 17. Multiplication (on paper) Division (on paper) 7. TECHNICAL 1. How Questions are Produced Data Storage Requirements 2. History.dbf 3. Files Created by MATH WORKOUT 8. TROUBLE 1. Technical Support Crashing 2. Monitor Problems Error Messages 9. PLANNED ENHANCEMENTS 10. BONUS PROGRAM (only available to registered users) 1. Consider Addition 2. Think Subtraction Large Number Review 3. Decimal Review 4. Add - Repetitive Subtract - Repetitive Change Defaults Quit Version 1.1 (c) Copyright 1991 DOBRIN COMPANY, P.O. Box 6464, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DISCLAIMER THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS". THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER DOBRIN COMPANY NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF DOBRIN COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL DOBRIN COMPANY'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York and shall inure to the benefit of DOBRIN COMPANY and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in New York County, New York. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. TRADEMARKS Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. BalerXE is a registered trademark of Baler Software Corporation. dBASE III Plus is a registered trademark of Ashton-Tate Company. Lotus and 1-2-3 are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. MicroSoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PC-DOS is a trademark of International Business Machines Corp. QEdit is a registered trademark of Applied Systems Technologies, Inc. Published by Dobrin Company, New York ------- FEATURES ------- SCOPE * Work through 180 levels of difficulty ranging from adding two digits to dividing 3-digit numbers. * Do all four basic operations plus decimals and percentages. * Face an infinite number of randomly generated problems. EFFICIENCY * Just answer the questions presented to you. No time-consuming distracting games. * Use a special feature that allows you to "just think" about addition and subtraction - without having to type answers (Bonus Program) * Use another feature to "just think" about place value. (Bonus Program) VARIETY * Exercise at your leisure or try to Beat-the-Clock. * View questions as long as you like, or for just two seconds. * Do a mix of difficulty levels in a single exercise. * Estimate if you choose to (errors of less than 10% can be considered acceptable). * Set any one of 17 user-definable defaults. * Display questions horizontally or vertically. * Choose the number of questions in each exercise. FEEDBACK * See a message of "praise" after each correct answer (or choose not to see it). * See the correct answer when you make a mistake. * Review mistakes during or after exercise (or choose not to review). * Track grade and speed for 200 exercises per level. * See a graph of your scores at each difficulty level. * Zoom in on an area of a "busy" graph. * See separate graphs for Practice and Beat-the-Clock. * Identify "exam scores" in a special history file. AND MORE * Enjoy colorful, simple screens. * Identify seven users per copy, and each will have their own score history, graphs, and password. * Import a special history file into your database software. It includes student ID Numbers, date, and more - as well as score history. * Set a session time limit of 1 to 59 minutes. ------- ABOUT THE AUTHOR ------- Paul Dobrin is an entrepreneur, software developer, systems analyst and technical writer. He has a wide variety of teaching experience; university teaching assistant and tutor in microeconomics, college instructor in business ethics, and corporate trainer in mainframe and PC computer systems. The author has a B.A. in Economics from the University at Buffalo, an MBA from Columbia University. ------- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ------- Thanks to Karen Dobrin for reminding me on a daily basis that otherwise intelligent people, even those with an MBA in finance, can have great difficulty doing math in their heads. Thanks to Steve Hudgik, whose fabulous book WRITING & MARKETING SHAREWARE was a great source of information and inspiration. It is one of the most thorough and useable books on any subject I have ever read. Thanks to the people at the PUBLIC (software) LIBRARY, for the wealth of sound advice on their PROGRAMMERS'S GUIDE disk, and for enabling purchasers of MATH WORKOUT to order through them with credit cards. Thanks to the people at BALER SOFTWARE CORPORATION for their outstanding technical support. Thanks to the people at LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION for their outstanding technical support (at all hours of the day and night). Thanks to Rick and Joel Fitch, John Frost, Ray and Clay Mullins, and John and Heather Wrage for their assistance in Beta Testing. Thanks to Professor Weissman for his criticism and advice. ------- ABOUT MATH WORKOUT ------- WHAT IT IS MATH WORKOUT is a mental-calculation practice tool. It provides 180 levels of difficulty so you can gradually work through the fundamental arithmetic operations. It randomly generates questions so that no two exercises will ever be the same. It supplies correct answers when you don't. It tracks your grades and speed and displays them graphically. And, it offers a variety of exercise modes to make practicing more interesting. Whether you're a math phobic, child, student, adult, business executive or mathlete, you'll get a lot out of MATH WORKOUT. You may not become a "human calculator", but, if you work at it, you will learn to calculate faster - probably faster than anyone you know. Although the primary purpose of MATH WORKOUT is to develop mental calculation skills, you don't have to do the problems in your head. You may prefer to use paper-and-pencil. WHAT MAKES MENTAL CALCULATION DIFFICULT ? It's not necessarily the size of the numbers, nor the complexity of the individual numbers. Rather, it depends on the number of steps needed to get an answer. I will first address the issues of size and complexity, and then go on to the issue of steps. To illustrate how size is not necessarily related to difficulty, take 5,000 and 9,000. To add them is no harder than adding 5 and 9. All you do is stick three zeros on the end of 14 to get 14,000. And even multiplying them is easy. You multiply 5 and 9 to get 45. Then, stick six zeros on the end to get 45,000,000. To illustrate how complexity is not necessarily related to difficulty, let's take 35,698 and .04982. To add them, you hardly have to think at all. You just put them together, side by side to get 35,698.04982 Now, I'll address the issue of steps. First, let me define what I mean by a "step". A step is a mathematical operation (or series of mathematical operations) you can do instantaneously. Some people can do more in an instant than others. For example, to multiply 4 times 13, everyone must: 1. multiply 4 times 10 to get 40 (could be considered two operations) 2. multiply 4 times 3 to get 12 3. add 40 and 12. (could be considered two operations) 1 - 1 Some people need to think through each of these operations. To them, each operation is a step. They need to do 3 steps to do the problem. For other people, the 3 operations are done so quickly that they appear instantaneous. They need only 1 step to do the problem. So, a step is whatever you can do instantaneously. Since one instant is no longer than another instant, it follows that no step is more difficult than another. Since every problem is solved by doing a series of steps, and since each step is equally difficult, the difficulty of the problem depends on how many steps there are, not on the steps themselves. The more steps there are, the more difficult it is to keep track of what you're doing, and the more difficult it is to hold onto the subtotals that you get along the way. WHAT CAN MAKE MENTAL CALCULATION EASIER ? I've just shown that difficulty is determined by the number of steps you have to do. That means that there are only two things you can do to make mental calculation easier: 1. Get better at doing a given number of steps. You have to get better at keeping track of what you're doing, and better at holding on to subtotals. To do that, you have to practice. 2. Find a way to reduce the number of steps. The ways to reduce the number of steps are: a. Do more with each step. That is, do more mathematical operations in a single step. To do that, practice. b. Do the problem in a way that requires less mathematical operations. To do that, learn simplifying techniques. So, to make mental calculation easier, you must practice and learn simplifying techniques. MATH WORKOUT provides an efficient, motivating way to practice. There are many books that explain simplifying techniques, including my book, HOW TO DO MATH IN YOUR HEAD, AND ESTIMATE WHEN YOU CAN'T (due to be published in the summer of 1992). Here are a few examples of such techniques. 1 - 2 You might think that 450 x 9 is tough, but not if you think of 9 as "10-1". That way, you simply multiply 450 by 10 to get a subtotal of 4,500 and then subtract 450 from 4,500 to get 4,050. You might think that 68,000 x 5 is tough, but not if you think of 5 as "1/2 of 10". That way, you multiply 68,000 by 1/2 to get a subtotal of 34,000 and then multiply by 10 to get 340,000. WHAT INSPIRED ME The inspiration for MATH WORKOUT came about as I was researching my book, HOW TO DO MATH IN YOUR HEAD AND ESTIMATE WHEN YOU CAN'T. One of the books I read on the subject of mental calculation, written in 1964 by a famous author, asserted that anyone reading the book would have the energy and the know- how to make up practice problems. I found this assertion absolutely ridiculous. It might have been appropriate in 1964, when the book was written, but not today in the age of computers. Coming up with appropriate questions is difficult enough. But, what about coming up with the correct answers? Calculate each answer on a calculator? And, what about grading yourself? By hand? And, what about seeing how your grades have progressed? Draw a graph? And, what about keeping track of how fast you do the problems? Use a stopwatch? In 1964 - maybe. In 1991 - No way! So, I realized that my book would be much more valuable if there was an efficient way of practicing what it preached. I put the book on the back burner, and set about developing MATH WORKOUT. MY INTENTION I want MATH WORKOUT to be the most efficient, flexible, challenging, and inspiring way of practicing mental calculation. It's the best I've seen, and I've looked pretty hard. But, it can and will be even better. Some of my enhancement ideas are listed in the PLANNED ENHANCEMENTS chapter. If you have ideas, let me know. Anything you don't like? Tell me. 1 - 3 ------- HOW TO USE THE MANUAL ------- You should read the INTRODUCTION to find out what MATH WORKOUT is all about. You should be able to get by quite well without having to read the rest of the manual. The length of this manual reflects my desire to be thorough - not how complex MATH WORKOUT is to use. It's intended to be used as a reference when you encounter something you don't understand. If you think it has any shortcomings, please let me know. The bulk of the manual describes the 39 menu items and the 180 difficulty levels. The best way to find the explanation of a menu item (or anything else, for that matter) is to look in the Table of Contents or the Index. But don't forget to take advantage of On-Line Help. ------- SPECIFICATIONS ------- Disk space: You must sufficient disk space for history files. The DATA STORAGE REQUIREMENTS section in the TECHNICAL chapter explains how much space history files will use. A hard drive is highly recommended. If you plan to run off a floppy drive, it must be either a 5.25" 1.2mg or 3.5" drive. Memory: Minimum of 512k Graphics: Not required. But, if you don't have graphics display, you will not be able to view graphs. Language: This program is written in Lotus 1-2-3 Version 2.2 and BalerXE Version 1.00J. HISTORY.DBF was created with Ashton Tate's dBASE III Plus. The .DOC files and .BAT files were produced with QEdit version 2.15 Operating MS-DOS (or PC-DOS) 2.1 or higher (3.1 on a System: network) 1 - 4 ------- USER MENU ------- Each time you start MATH WORKOUT you will be brought to this menu. Up to 7 users can be identified by the program. This is not just a personal touch. It allows each user to maintain their own Score History. (History and scores are covered in other sections.) TO IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A USER: Type the letter of any "Available" USER CODE. Then, answer the questions presented to you. You will be asked your FIRST NAME, LAST NAME, PASSWORD, and (optionally) your STUDENT ID. You will be asked to verify each entry, so if you make a mistake, don't worry. You'll have a chance to make changes. FIRST NAME: Enter a maximum of 13 characters. LAST NAME: Enter a maximum of 17 characters. PASSWORD: Enter a maximum of 8 characters. You may enter any combination of letters, numbers and symbols (except commas and double quotes). STUDENT ID: Enter a maximum of 11 characters. You may enter any combination of letters, numbers and symbols (except commas and double quotes). Is only asked for if you choose to maintain a student ID; a decision that is made via the SUPERVISOR MENU. TO SIGN ON (after you've been identified) Type your USER CODE. You'll then be asked to provide your password. USER CODE "S" The "S" user has special capabilities. It is designed to be used by a supervisor (teacher or parent). If you are the sole owner and user of MATH WORKOUT, you may want to choose the "S" code. The supervisor has access to the Supervisor Menu, and may sign on under any other user code without using that other user's password. This allows the supervisor to see the graphs of any user. WARNINGS: The supervisor should not do any exercises while signed on under another user's code because history is stored according to user code. Since "supervisory status" lasts until the program is exited, the supervisor should quit the program before allowing any other user to get on. 2 - 1 ------- MAIN MENU ------- Regarding the letter within the parenthesis in the screen title: The letter indicates the user code of the current user. Thus, (A) means that user "A" is the current user. PRACTICE You may practice on any level. You will be asked the following: 1. What LEVEL you want to do. 2. How many questions you want to do. NOTE: You will not be asked this if you have set the SIZE default. 3. Whether you want to review mistakes During the exercise, at the End, of Not. NOTE: You will not be asked this if you've set the REVIEW default. Next, you will be shown a summary of the options you just picked. If everything is ok, press "Y" and you'll start the exercise. If it's not, press "N" and you'll be brought back to the Main Menu. So that you can always see who you are, and where you are, the lower left corner of the screen will display the following information: 1. The level. 2. The user code. 3. The current question number. 4. The number of questions in the exercise. For example, 3A (4 of 25) indicates that you are on level 3, have user code "A", and are on the 4th question of an exercise that has a total of 25 questions. You can stop the exercise on any question by answering with the letter "S". 3 - 1 You will see "[file] IS BEING CREATED" messages such as "C:\MWV1\DATA\PA3.HIS is being created." whenever you finish doing an exercise at a new level. Just wait until the Results Screen appears. RESULTS When the exercise is over you will automatically see the results, including: 1. The LEVEL you did 2. Your NAME 3. Your GRADE (percent correct) 4. If Practice, your SPEED (correct answers per minute). If Beat-the-Clock, your time LIMIT (seconds) 5. The number of QUESTIONS 6. The number of CORRECT answers 7. The total elapsed TIME of the exercise ( this includes review time ) 8. The cumulative number (CUM) of questions you've done to date up to a maximum of 99,999 9. The first 10 incorrect answers (if you've chosen to review at the End) 10. The DATE and the TIME the exercise was completed. 11. The word "ESTIMATION" if that's what the accuracy default was when you did the exercise. 12. The EXAM NUMBER if the exercise was an exam. When you're finished reviewing, hit [Enter]. NOTE: The speed will not be completely accurate on 8-bit computers. These are PC and XT class computers. The reason is that there is a certain amount of processing time that is unavoidably added to the question response time, and this results in a lower speed. The faster the chip is, the more accurate the speed is. On 16-bit computers the speed is extremely accurate. 3 - 2 MIXED PRACTICE A mix is defined by a range of difficulty levels. Mixed exercises enable you to practice several difficulty levels at one time. You can choose as few as two levels, or as many as 180 levels (which would be a mix of all levels). You can choose all the applications within a topic area, such as addition, by choosing the appropriate range of levels. You cannot graph mixed exercises because the graph would be meaningless. Since each mix has a different degree of difficulty, the graph would be mixing apples and oranges. No history is kept for mixed exercises. You will be asked to choose the following: 1. The LOWEST difficulty level in the range. 2. The HIGHEST difficulty level in the range. 3. The number of questions. NOTE: You will not be asked this if you have set the SIZE default. 4. Whether you want to review mistakes During the exercise, at the End, or Not. NOTE: You will not be asked this if you've set the REVIEW default. Next, you will be shown a summary of your choices. If everything is ok, press "Y" and you'll start the exercise. If it's not, press "N" and you'll be brought back to the Main Menu. All mixed exercises are assigned level 0. You can stop the exercise on any question by answering with the letter "S". When the exercise is over, you will see the Results Screen, as described in the PRACTICE section. 3 - 3 BEAT-THE-CLOCK You may play Beat-the-Clock on any level. Also, you may choose all of the defaults except one. The option to limit the VIEW-TIME of the question to 2 seconds does not apply to Beat-the-Clock. You will define how much time you'll have to answer each question. You will (optionally) see a "clock" that indicates how much time you have left. If you run out of time, you will see a message telling you so, and you'll (optionally) hear a series of beeps. You must type your answer and hit [Enter] within the time limit to beat the clock. You will be asked to choose the following: 1. TIME LIMIT (between 3 and 9 seconds) 2. LEVEL. 3. Number of questions (if you haven't defaulted it) 4. Type of REVIEW (if you haven't defaulted it) Next, you will be shown a summary of the options you just picked. If everything is ok, press "Y" and you'll start the exercise. If it's not, press "N" and you'll be brought back to the Main Menu. You can stop the exercise on any question by answering with the letter "S". You will be shown the Results Screen as described in the PRACTICE section. You will see "[file] IS BEING CREATED" messages such as "C:\MWV1\DATA\PA3.HIS is being created." whenever you finish playing Beat-the-Clock at a new level. Just wait until the Results Screen appears. A MIX OF BEAT-THE-CLOCK This exercise is the same as Mixed Practice, except it has Beat-the-Clock features described previously. 3 - 4 GRAPH OF SCORES At any time, you may choose to see a graph of your scores [Grade and Speed or Time Limit] for any level of difficulty, for either Practice exercises or Beat-the-Clock. To see a sample graph of Practice, choose to graph level 181. To see a sample graph of Beat-the-Clock, choose to graph level 182. In a moment, you'll see how they are designed differently. You will be asked to verify the type of graph you want. If everything is ok, press "Y". If it's not, press "N" and you'll be brought back to the Main Menu. The graph will display until you hit [Enter]. The second title line on the graph displays the level you chose to graph, and the type of exercise (Practice or Beat-the-Clock). Both types of graphs display grades. Practice graphs also display speeds, while Beat-the-Clock graphs display time-limits. Each data point is indicated by a symbol. The symbol for speed or time-limit is, of course, not the same as the symbol for grade. On color monitors, the color varies as well. The graph legend will show you which is which. In Practice graphs, data is strictly in chronological order, from left to right. That is, in the order you did the exercises. In Beat-the-Clock graphs, data is graphed in descending time-limit order and chronological order within time-limit. If the data was not grouped by time-limit, you would be looking at a graph of "apples and oranges", since an exercise done with one time-limit is surely not the same as an exercise done at another time-limit. You will not see an exercise number on the X-axis for every exercise if the graph has more than 10 exercises. Some numbers will be skipped to avoid clutter. The last exercise number on the X-axis tells you (more or less) how many exercises at that level you have done. I say more or less, because the highest number you see is not necessarily the precise number of exercises you did. As already mentioned, some exercise numbers are skipped, and the number of the last exercise you did may well be one of those skipped. 3 - 5 The numbers also can help you see how many exercises it took to reach a certain grade or speed. The final purpose of these numbers is to identify what part of the graph you want to ZOOM in on. Zooming is discussed in the next section. A minimum of 2 exercises are graphed per level. You must do at least 2 exercises at a level (and answer at least one question correctly) in order to see a graph of your scores for that level. If you haven't done 2 exercises, you will see the following, message, "Insufficient History. You have only done one exercise at this level." A maximum of 200 exercises are graphed per level. If you exercise at a level more than 200 times, you will not be able to see a graph of your results at that level. And, you will see the following, message, "Sorry. You have TOO MUCH HISTORY for this level". The way to get around this maximum is to delete some of the Score History records. That is, delete some of the lines in the file named XY#.HIS, where: X = "P" for Practice "B" for Beat-the-Clock Y = User code # = Level To do this, use the DOS EDLIN text editor, or any other ASCII text editor. 3 - 6 ZOOM IN ON GRAPH Read the section on GRAPH OF SCORES before reading this section. This feature allows you to "zoom in" on a part of the last graph displayed. This is helpful when you've done a lot of exercises at a level and the graph is cluttered with data. ZOOM can give you a closeup of your most recent scores, your earliest scores, or any other group of scores. You may zoom several times in a row if you wish. You define what area of the graph to zoom in on. You will be asked to choose the following: 1. The LOWEST exercise number to begin with. The highest number you can enter is 195. 2. The HIGHEST exercise number to end with. You may choose a specific number, or choose to end with the LAST exercise by pressing "L". The highest number you can enter is 200. Then, you will be asked to verify your choices. If everything is ok, press "Y". If it's not, press "N" and you'll be brought back to the Main Menu. The second title line on the graph displays the level you chose to graph, and the type of exercise (Practice or Beat-the-Clock). The graph will display until you hit [Enter]. NOTE: If the last graph was displayed by another user, you will zoom in on that other user's graph. USER CHANGE If you want to use MATH WORKOUT, and the previous user has not quit, you must choose this menu item. If this is not done immediately, you will still be operating under the previous user's user code. When you choose this item, you will be brought to the USER MENU. 3 - 7 DEFAULT MENU If you highlight this item, you will see a list of the items on the Default Menu. When you choose this item, you will be brought to the Default Menu. See the DEFAULT MENU chapter. SUPERVISOR MENU This menu is only available to the "S" user code. If you highlight this item, you will see a list of the items on the Supervisor Menu. When you choose this item, you will be brought to the Supervisor Menu. See the SUPERVISOR MENU chapter. QUIT Choose this option to exit the program. You will be asked to verify that you want to quit. Quitting serves a very important function. When you quit, user identification data is saved. This includes new user data as well as modifications to user data. It includes name, password, and student id. Do not quit by turning the computer off, or rebooting it. See the QUIT BEEP section in the SUPERVISOR MENU chapter. 3 - 8 ------- DEFAULT MENU ------- The current defaults are listed in the right column of the menu. After you change a default, you will be brought back to the Default Menu. ACCURACY You may choose to have the program require PRECISE answers, or accept ESTIMATES. If you choose ESTIMATION, an answer within 10% of the precise answer will be considered correct. Score History files and graphs will not indicate which accuracy default you were working under but the Comprehensive History file will. If you do a difficulty level with varying accuracy defaults, the graph of that level will be meaningless. The program will not stop you from doing that, or warn you. Therefore: Do all exercises for a given difficulty level with the same accuracy default. If you've chosen to estimate, the Results Screen will show the word "ESTIMATION" in the lower right corner. OPTIONS: Estimation Precision BTC BEEP When you run out of time while playing Beat-the-Clock you have the option of hearing a series of beeps. OPTIONS: On Off CLOCK You have the option of seeing a "clock" when Beat-the-Clock problems display. The "clock" graphically displays how much time you have left, but stops as soon as you type a number. OPTIONS: On Off DISPLAY Problems may be displayed horizontally or vertically. Vertical is easier, so start with that. OPTIONS: (H)orizontal (V)ertical 4 - 1 EXAM This option identifies exercises as "exams", as apposed to "practice". You will choose an exam number which will appear in the lower right hand corner of the Results Screen. Exams have an EXAM INDICATOR of "E" in the Comprehensive History file, non-exams have "N". If you're a student, your teacher has a way of separating your exam scores from your practice scores. If you're not a student, you have a way of separating your "really serious" practice from your "casual" practice. Comprehensive History is more comprehensive than Score History, and is stored in its own separate file. Score History, which is used to produce graphs, includes exam scores, as well as non-exam scores, but does not distinguish the two. After every exam, the default automatically reverts to "Not Exam" because MATH WORKOUT assumes exams are a one-time occurrence. So, if you need to do more than one exam in a row, you will have to change the default each time. OPTIONS: Exam Not Exam See the COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY section within the SUPERVISOR MENU chapter, and the HISTORY.DBF section within the TECHNICAL chapter. GRAPH You may choose to see the graph of the current level automatically after each exercise, or only graph upon request. Even if you choose Automatically, you can still see any graph on request, at any time. OPTIONS: On (R)equest (A)utomatically PRAISE You may choose to see a message of praise after each correct response. If you choose not to see such a message, you will be shown the next problem immediately after answering correctly. There are 6 different messages of praise. OPTIONS: On Off 4 - 2 REVIEW You have four choices: A. review During the exercise, B. review at the End of the exercise (only the first ten errors are listed) C. Do Not review. D. Vary the type of review. Define which type of review you want each time you do an exercise. When you review "during" while playing Beat-the-Clock you will see a review when you don't answer in time - even if you answer correctly. Of course, you will also see a review when you answer incorrectly within the time limit. OPTIONS: (D)uring (E)nd (N)one (V)ary SIZE "Size" is the number of questions in an exercise. You may choose to set a default SIZE, or define the SIZE each time you do an exercise. OPTIONS: (V)ary (#), where "#" is between 1 and 999 TIME LIMIT You may set a session time limit of 1 to 59 minutes. You will be notified that your time is up on the first exercise question beyond the time limit. You'll hear a series of beeps and see a message. The message will tell you to hit any key to continue. When you do, the exercise will proceed as usual. The time that the message displays is not counted towards your speed. The time limit is "for your information". You may choose to work beyond it if you wish. There is only one time limit. It is not user-specific. The time limit is set as soon as you choose it on this menu. After the time limit is reached, and whenever you quit MATH WORKOUT, this item is reset to its default of "None". Remember, the time limit message only displays DURING AN EXERCISE. OPTIONS: (N)one (#) of minutes 4 - 3 VIEW-TIME You may choose to see each question for as long as it takes you to answer, or to see it only for 2 seconds (and then take as long as you need to answer). This option does not apply to Beat-the-Clock. The purpose of the "Two seconds" option is to force you to do the problem mentally. Moreover, it is much harder to do problems you can't see. So, when you think you have a difficulty level down pat, you will find this option a challenge. Even experts will find this a bit humbling. NOTE: History does not separate results on the basis of view-time. Therefore, you should not choose "Two Seconds" until you have mastered a level with "Unlimited" view-time. Make a note as to when you began to choose "Two Seconds" within a difficulty level so that you can correctly interpret the graph of that level. OPTIONS: (U)nlimited (T)wo Seconds WAIT MESSAGES You may choose not to see the "Please Wait" messages that appear when the computer is busy processing. If you have a fast computer, the processing time may be so short that the messages only display for a fraction of a second. You may find this annoying. If so, choose not to display wait messages. At times, messages are displayed for fixed amounts of time. These messages include a "please wait" message, but this default does not apply to them. OPTIONS: Display Don't Display MAIN MENU This item returns you to the Main Menu. 4 - 4 ------- SUPERVISOR MENU ------- This menu can only be accessed by the user with user code "S". ALTER USER DATA If the user you're about to alter has not done any exercises, then feel free to alter any data you wish, including the user's name. If the user has done exercises, you should not modify the STUDENT ID, but you may add it. There are two reasons I can think of to modify the PASSWORD; 1. to prevent that user from using the system, or 2. to assign that user a new password when the previous one is forgotten. When you choose to modify a user, that user's "identification data" is deleted. That is, the user's LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, PASSWORD, and STUDENT ID are deleted. History is not touched. After you alter a user's data, you must add the altered user back, just as you would add a new user. Admittedly, this process of Deletion and Adding-back is not ideal, and not obvious. Fortunately, you should rarely, if ever, have to perform this function. And, I plan to improve the process in an upgrade. You will be asked to verify your choice. You may alter any user's data, including the supervisor's. COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY The Comprehensive History file (HISTORY.his) contains details about each exercise. It is a "delimited" text file, which means that fields are separated by commas. You can import this file into database or spreadsheet software to create your own custom reports. For a detailed description of the Comprehensive History file, see the HISTORY.DBF section within the TECHNICAL section. You may choose to maintain Comprehensive History, or not. OPTIONS: Maintained Not Maintained 5 - 1 DELETE USER When you delete a user, that user's LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, PASSWORD, STUDENT ID, and Score History files are deleted. That user's Comprehensive History records are not deleted. You will be asked to verify your choice. This process will take more or less time depending on how many Score History files that user had, and how fast your drive is. On a hard drive, it should not take more than a few seconds. You may delete any user, including the supervisor. GRAPHING ABILITY You only need to choose this item if the graphing ability of your computer changes, or, if you answered incorrectly when the program asked whether your computer can display graphs. If you choose No, you will not be able to choose GRAPH OF SCORES or ZOOM IN ON GRAPH from the Main Menu. OPTIONS: (Y)es (N)o HISTORY PATH A path is a combination of a Drive and, optionally, one or more Subdirectories. If the drive is a floppy drive, you do not need to specify a subdirectory. If the drive is a hard drive, you definitely should. Unlike the Install procedure, this procedure will not create a History Path. You must create it first using the DOS "MD" command. You may choose to change the default history path to whatever path you want, but you must end the path with a backslash, i.e. "\". It is best to store history on your hard drive, if you have one. You should have more room there than on a floppy disk, and access is faster. On a floppy drive, it will take much more time to update history at the end of each exercise, create history files when you do the first exercise at each level, and read from history when you choose to see a graph. 5 - 2 If you change the History Path, you must take responsibility for moving all of the history files (all files with the extension "HIS"), as well as all files with the extension "CUM" to the new path. MATH WORKOUT will not do this for you. You can do it by using DOS or some other hard drive utility. You will be given an opportunity to verify your choice. After you verify your choice, you will be brought back to the Supervisor Menu. QUIT BEEP You may choose to hear a series of 5 beeps when you choose to quit. You probably will not want to hear them, unless you are a teacher and want to hear them under exam conditions. OPTIONS: On Off STUDENT ID You may choose to maintain a STUDENT ID number, or not. If you decide to maintain it, each new user will be asked to supply one. If you decide not to maintain it, new users will not be asked for it. If you intend to make use of Comprehensive History (now, or in the future), you should maintain a STUDENT ID. If you don't, the User Code will be the only way to identify a user in Comprehensive History. If you decide to maintain a STUDENT ID after users have been added without one, you must change this option to "Maintained", and then choose to ALTER USER DATA off the Supervisor Menu, and then add those users back with Student IDs. NOTE: When you don't maintain a Student ID, it will be assigned a value of "X" in the Comprehensive History file. OPTIONS: Maintained Not Maintained MAIN MENU This item returns you to the Main Menu. 5 - 3 ------- DIFFICULTY LEVELS ------- BACKGROUND Each level is explained in two ways: in Words, and in Symbols. Between the two, I hope you will understand what makes each level unique - but, to be honest, it's not that important that you do. Moreover, it is not always obvious why one level is more difficult than another. If you see a reason, fine. If you don't, just trust me. If you don't agree with how I've ordered the levels, then do it in an order that suits you. There are times when it is more confusing to explain a level in words than it is to use symbols. At other times, the opposite is true. You decide which is easiest for you to understand. And remember, it is not essential that you understand what makes a level unique. If it's not obvious, don't rack your brain trying to figure it out. That was my job. All questions at one level are not necessary harder than all questions at the previous level. Also, it seemed to make more sense to order division by the size of the denominator (2 through 9) even though the difficulty is not totally dependent on the denominator's size. So, don't hold me to minor discrepancies in the arrangement of difficulty levels. If you're not familiar with simplifying techniques, you will not see why all the exercises are ordered as they are. You will find some problems more difficult than they really are. Don't feel you have to work through the levels in exact numerical order. Rather, work through them according to how difficult they are to you. You should know: "X" stands for "a non-zero digit". e.g. X + XX means a 1-digit number plus a 2-digit number that consist of only non-zero digits. "...", the "and so on" symbol, means just that. e.g. X... + 10 means a number composed of some number of non-zero digits plus 10 "Syms" stands for "Symbols" 6 - 1 ------- DIFFICULTY LEVELS TABLE ------- ---- OUTLINE ---- LEVEL TOPIC ------ ------ 1- 26 Addition 27- 46 Subtraction 47- 57 Addition with decimals 58- 68 Subtraction with decimals 69-100 Multiplication 101-144 Division 145-158 Percentages "ON PAPER" or "ESTIMATION" (very difficult to do in your head) 159-163 Addition 164-168 Subtraction 169-174 Multiplication 175-180 Division There are several other levels used by the program. You choose levels 181 and 182 only for seeing sample graphs. You never choose or verify level 0, but you will see it on the Exercise Screen during mixed exercises. 0 Mixed exercises 181 Sample Practice graph 182 Sample Beat-the-Clock graph 6 - 2 ------- ADDITION ------- 1. Words: Sum of 10 and a 1-digit number. Syms: 10 + X 2. Words: Sum of two variable-digit numbers that have only one non-zero digit and do not have the same number of digits. Syms: X0...+ X0... (different number of digits) 3. Words: Sum of a variable-digit number and a variable-digit number that has only one non-zero number, where the latter has more digits than the former. Syms: X...+ X0.. (latter has more digits) 4. Words: Sum of a 2-digit multiple of 10 and a 1-digit number. Syms: X0 + X 5. Words: Sum of two 1-digit numbers that add up to LESS than 10. No carrying. Syms: X + X < 10 6. Words: Sum of two 1-digit numbers that add up to MORE than 10. Syms: X + X > 10 7. Words: Sum of any two 1-digit numbers. Syms: X + X 8. Words: Sum of two 2-digit multiples of 10. Syms: X0 + X0 9. Words: Sum of two 3-digit multiples of 100. Syms: X00 + X00 10. Words: Sum of two variable-digit numbers that have only one non-zero digit and have the same number of digits. Syms: X0...+ X0... (same number of digits) 11. Words: Sum of a 2-digit number and a 2- digit multiple of 10. Syms: XX + X0 12. Words: Sum of a 2-digit number and a 1-digit number. Syms: XX + X 13. Words: Sum of a 3-digit multiple of 10 and a 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: XX0 + X0 6 - 3 14. Words: Sum of two 2-digit numbers where both the sum of the one's and the sum of the ten's add to LESS than 10. No carrying. Syms: XX + XX (sum of digits < 10) 15. Words: Sum of two 2-digit numbers where both the sum of the one's and the sum of the ten's add to MORE than 10. With carrying. Syms: XX + XX (sum of digits > 10) 16. Words: Sum of two any 2-digit numbers. Syms: XX + XX 17. Words: Sum of two 3-digit multiples of 10. Syms: XX0 + XX0 18. Words: Sum of two 4-digit multiples of 100. Syms: X,X00 +X,X00 19. Words: Sum of a 3-digit multiple of 10 and a 2-digit number. Syms: XX0 + XX 20. Words: Sum of a 3-digit number and a 2-digit number. Syms: XXX + XX 21. Words: Sum of a 4-digit multiple of 10 and a 3-digit multiple of 10. Syms: X,XX0 + XX0 22. Words: Sum of two 3-digit numbers, where the sum of each place adds to LESS than 10. No carrying. Syms: XXX + XXX (sum of all digits < 10) 23. Words: Sum of two 3-digit numbers, where the sum of each place adds to MORE than 10. Syms: XXX + XXX (sum of all digits > 10) 24. Words: Sum of any two 3-digit numbers. Syms: XXX + XXX 25. Words: Sum of two 4-digit multiples of 10. Syms: X,XX0 + X,XX0 26. Words: Sum of two 5-digit multiples of 100. Syms: XX,X00 + XX,X00 6 - 4 ------- SUBTRACTION ------- 27. Words: Difference between 10 and a 1-digit number. Syms: 10 - X 28. Words: Difference between two 1-digit numbers. Syms: X - X 29. Words: Difference between two 2-digit multiples of 10. Syms: X0 - X0 30. Words: Difference between a 2-digit number and a smaller 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: XX - X0 31. Words: Difference between two 3-digit multiples of 100. Syms: X00 - X00 32. Words: Difference between a 2-digit multiple of 10, and a 1-digit number. Syms: X0 - X 33. Words: Difference between a 3-digit multiple of 100 and a 1-digit number. Syms: X00- X 34. Words: Difference between a 3-digit multiple of 100 and a 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: X00 - X0 35. Words: Difference between two variable- digit numbers that have only one non-zero digit, where one has less digits than the other. Syms: X0... - X0... (different number of digits) 36. Words: Difference between a 2-digit number and a 1-digit number. Syms: XX - X 37. Words: Difference between a 3-digit number and a 1-digit number. Syms: XXX - X 38. Words: Difference between a 3-digit number and a 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: XXX - X0 39. Words: 100 minus a 2-digit number. Syms: 100 - XX 40. Words: Difference between a 3-digit multiple of 100 and a 2-digit number. Syms: X00- XX 6 - 5 41. Words: Difference between a 3-digit multiple of 100 and a smaller 3-digit number. Syms: X00 - XXX where X00>XXX 42. Words: Difference between a 3-digit number and a smaller 3-digit multiple of 100. Syms: XXX - X00 where XXX>X00 43. Words: Difference between a 2-digit multiple of 10, and a smaller 2-digit number. Syms: X0 - XX where X0>XX 44. Words: Difference between two 2-digit numbers. Syms: XX - XX 45. Words: Difference between a 3-digit number and a 2-digit number. Syms: XXX - XX 46. Words: Difference between two 3-digit numbers. Syms: XXX - XXX 6 - 6 ------- ADDITION OF NUMBERS WITH DECIMALS ------- 47. Words: Sum of 10 and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: 10 + X.X 48. Words: Sum of two 1-digit,1-decimal numbers. Syms: .X + .X 49. Words: Sum of a 2-digit decimal greater than 1, and a 1-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: X.X + .X 50. Words: Sum of two 2-digit,1-decimal numbers, where the sum of the digits is LESS than 10. Syms: X.X + X.X (sum of digits < 10) 51. Words: Sum of two 2-digit,1-decimal numbers, where the sum of the digits is MORE than 10. Syms: X.X + X.X (sum of digits > 10) 52. Words: Sum of any two 2-digit,1-decimal numbers. Syms: X.X + X.X 53. Words: Sum of a 3-digit,1-decimal number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: XX.X + X.X 54. Words: Sum of two 3-digit,1-decimal numbers. Syms: XX.X + XX.X 55. Words: Sum of a 3-digit,2-decimal number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: X.XX + X.X 56. Words: Sum of a 4-digit,2-decimal number and a 1-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: XX.XX + .X 57. Words: Sum of a 4-digit,2-decimal number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: XX.XX + X.X 6 - 7 ------- SUBTRACTION OF NUMBERS WITH DECIMALS ------- 58. Words: Difference between two 1-digit,1-decimal numbers. Syms: .X - .X 59. Words: Difference between a 2-digit,1-decimal number and a 1-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: X.X - .X 60. Words: Difference between 10 and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: 10 - X.X 61. Words: Difference between two 2-digit,1-decimal numbers. No carrying. Syms: A.B - C.D where A>C and B>D 62. Words: Difference between two 2-digit,1-decimal numbers. With carrying. Syms: A.B - C.D where A<C and B<D 63. Words: Difference between any two 2-digit,1-decimal numbers. Syms: X.X - X.X 64. Words: Difference between a 3-digit,1-decimal number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: XX.X - X.X 65. Words: Difference between two 3-digit,1-decimal numbers. Syms: XX.X - XX.X 66. Words: Difference between a 3-digit,2-decimal number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: X.XX - X.X 67. Words: Difference between a 4-digit,2-decimal number and a 1-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: XX.XX - .X 68. Words: Difference between a 4-digit,2-decimal number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: XX.XX - X.X 6 - 8 ------- MULTIPLICATION ------- 69. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 10. Syms: X x 10 70. Words: Product of a 2-digit multiple of 10 and a variable-digit number that begins with 1 and has no other non-zero digits. Syms: X0 x 10... 71. Words: Product of a variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit and a variable-digit decimal whose only non-zero digit is 1, and which ends in 1. Syms: X0... x .0...1 72. Words: Product of a 2-digit multiple of 10 and 9. Syms: X0 x 9 73. Words: Product of a variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit and 9. Syms: X0... x 9 74. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 2. Syms: X x 2 75. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 3. Syms: X x 3 76. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 4. Syms: X x 4 77. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 5. Syms: X x 5 78. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 6. Syms: X x 6 79. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 7. Syms: X x 7 80. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 8. Syms: X x 8 81. Words: Product of two identical 1-digit numbers. Syms: A x A 82. Words: Product of any two 1-digit numbers. Syms: X x X 6 - 9 83. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: X x X0 84. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a variable-digit multiple of 10 to the power of -3 through +3. Syms: X x (X x 10 to the +/- 1-3) 85. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and 11. Syms: X x 11 86. Words: Product of a 2-digit number and 9. Syms: XX x 9 87. Words: Product of a 2-digit number and a variable-digit number whose only non-zero number is 9. Syms: XX x 90... 88. Words: Product of a 2-digit number and a variable-digit decimal whose only non-zero number is 9. Syms: XX x .0...9 89. Words: Product of a 2-digit number and 5. Syms: XX x 5 90. Words: Product of a 2-digit number and a variable-digit number whose only non-zero digit is 5. Syms: XX x 50... 91. Words: Product of a 2-digit number and a variable-digit decimal whose only non-zero digit is 5. Syms: XX x .0...5 92. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a 2-digit number that ends with 5. Syms: X x X5 93. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a 2-digit number. Syms: X x XX 94. Words: Product of a variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit and a variable-digit number that begins with two non-zero digits and has no other non-zero digits. Syms: X0... x XX0... 95. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a 2-digit,1-decimal number. Syms: X x X.X 6 - 10 96. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a 3-digit number. Syms: X x XXX 97. Words: Product of a variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit and a variable-digit number that begins with three consecutive non-zero digits. Syms: X0... x XXX0... 98. Words: Product of a 1-digit number and a 3-digit decimal number with 1 or 2 decimals. Syms: X x (XX.X or X.XX) 99. Words: Product of two 2-digit numbers. Syms: XX x XX 100. Words: Product of two variable-digit numbers that begin with two non-zero digits and have no other non-zero digits. Syms: XX0... x XX0... 6 - 11 ------- DIVISION ------- 101. Words: The square of a 1-digit number divided by that 1-digit number. Syms: (A x A) / A 102. Words: The product of two 1-digit numbers divided by one of those numbers. Syms: AB / B 103. Words: A 1-digit number divided by a variable-digit number that begins with 1 and has no other non-zero digits. Unlike other division, DON'T ROUND to 3 places. Syms: X / 10... 104. Words: A 1-digit number divided by a variable-digit decimal that ends with 1 and has no other non-zero digits. Syms: X / .0...1 105. Words: The product of a 2-digit multiple of 10 and a 1-digit number divided by that same 1-digit number. Syms: (X0 x B) / B 106. Words: The product of a 1-digit number and a number between 11 and 19 divided by that 1-digit number. Syms: [A x B] / A where 11 <= B <= 19 107. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 2. Syms: X / 2 108. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 3. Syms: X / 3 109. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 4. Syms: X / 4 110. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 5. Syms: X / 5 111. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 6. Syms: X / 6 112. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 7. Syms: X / 7 113. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 8. Syms: X / 8 114. Words: A 1-digit number divided by 9. Syms: X / 9 6 - 12 115. Words: A 1-digit number divided by a 1- digit number. Syms: X / X 116. Words: A 1-digit number divided by a 1 or 2-digit multiple of that number. Syms: A / (A x X) 117. Words: A 2-digit multiple of 10 or a 1-digit,1-decimal number divided by the same type of number. Syms: (X0 or .X) / (X0 or .X) 118. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 2. Syms: XX / 2 119. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 3. Syms: XX / 3 120. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 4. Syms: XX / 4 121. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 5. Syms: XX / 5 122. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 6. Syms: XX / 6 123. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 7. Syms: XX / 7 124. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 8. Syms: XX / 8 125. Words: A 2-digit number divided by 9. Syms: XX / 9 126. Words: A 2-digit number divided by a 1- digit number. Syms: XX / X 127. Words: A 3-digit multiple of 10 divided by a 1-digit number. Syms: XX0 / X 128. Words: A 4-digit multiple of 100 divided by a 1-digit number. Syms: X,X00 / X 129. Words: A 4-digit multiple of 100 divided by a 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: X,X00 / X0 130. Words: A 5-digit multiple of 1,000 divided by a 3-digit multiple of 100. Syms: XX,000 / X00 6 - 13 131. Words: The product of a 2-digit number and 10 to the -2 through +2, divided by the product of a 1-digit number and 10 to the -1 or -2. i.e. A variable-digit number between .11 and 9,900 divided by a 1-digit of 2-digit number between .01 and .9 -2to2 -1or-2 Syms: XX x 10 / X x 10 132. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 2. Syms: XXX / 2 133. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 3. Syms: XXX / 3 134. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 4. Syms: XXX / 4 135. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 5. Syms: XXX / 5 136. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 6. Syms: XXX / 6 137. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 7. Syms: XXX / 7 138. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 8. Syms: XXX / 8 139. Words: A 3-digit number divided by 9. Syms: XXX / 9 140. Words: A 3-digit number divided by a 1- digit number. Syms: XXX / X 141. Words: A 4-digit multiple of 10 divided by a 1-digit number. Syms: X,XX0 / X 142. Words: A 5-digit multiple of 100 divided by a 1-digit number. Syms: XX,X00 / X 143. Words: A 5-digit multiple of 100 divided by a 2-digit multiple of 10. Syms: XX,X00 / X0 144. Words: A 6-digit multiple of 1,000 divided by a 3-digit multiple of 100. Syms: XXX,000 / X00 6 - 14 ------- PERCENTAGES ------- 145. Words: A variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit, times 10 percent. Syms: X0... x 10% 146. Words: A variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit, times 1 percent. Syms: X0... x 1% 147. Words: A variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit, times 1/10th of 1 percent. Syms: X0... x .1% 148. Words: A 1-digit number times a 1 or 2-digit decimal multiple of 1 percent or 10 percent. Syms: X x (X% or X0%) 149. Words: A 2-digit number times a 1 or 2-digit decimal multiple of 1 percent or 10 percent. Syms: XX x (X% or X0%) 150. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with two consecutive non-zero digits and has no other non-zero digits, times a 1 or 2-digit decimal multiple of 1 percent or 10 percent. Syms: XX0... x (X% or X0%) 151. Words: A 1-digit number times a 2-digit percent. Syms: X x XX% 152. Words: A variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit times a 2-digit percent. Syms: X0... x XX% 153. Words: A variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit times a 2- digit 1 or 2-place decimal percentage. Syms: X0... x (X.X% or .XX%) 154. Words: A 3-digit number times a 1 or 2-digit decimal multiple of 1 percent or 10 percent. Syms: XXX x (X% or X0%) 155. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with three consecutive non-zero digits times a 1 or 2-digit decimal multiple of 1 percent or 10 percent. Syms: XXX... x (X% or X0%) 156. Words: A variable-digit number that has only one non-zero digit times a 3- digit, 1 or 2-place decimal percent. Syms: X0... x (XX.X% or X.XX%) 157. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with two consecutive non-zero digits and has no other non-zero digits times a 2-digit percent. Syms: XX0... x XX% 158. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with two consecutive non-zero digits and has no other non-zero digits times a 2-digit, 1 or 2-place decimal percent. Syms: XX0... x X.X% or .XX% 6 - 15 ------- "ON PAPER" or "ESTIMATION" ------- (very difficult to do in your head) ADDITION 159. Words: The sum of two 4-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: X,XXX + X,XXX 160. Words: The sum of a 5-digit number and a 4-digit number that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XX,XXX + X,XXX 161. Words: The sum of two 5-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XX,XXX + XX,XXX 162. Words: The sum of a 6-digit number and a 5-digit number that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XXX,XXX + XX,XXX 163. Words: The sum of two 6-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XXX,XXX + XXX,XXX SUBTRACTION 164. Words: The difference between two 4-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: X,XXX - X,XXX 165. Words: The difference between a 5-digit number and a 4-digit number that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XX,XXX - X,XXX 166. Words: The difference between two 5-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XX,XXX - XX,XXX 167. Words: The difference between a 6-digit number and a 5-digit number that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XXX,XXX - XX,XXX 168. Words: The difference between two 6-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: XXX,XXX - XXX,XXX 6 - 16 MULTIPLICATION 169. Words: The product of a 4-digit number that has mostly non-zero digits and a 1-digit number. Syms: X,XXX x X 170. Words: The product of a 3-digit number and a 2-digit number that have only non-zero digits. Syms: XXX x XX 171. Words: The product of a 4-digit number and a 2-digit number that have only non-zero digits. Syms: X,XXX x XX 172. Words: The product of two 3-digit numbers that have only non-zero digits. Syms: XXX x XXX 173. Words: The product of a 4-digit number that has mostly non-zero digits and a 3-digit number that has only non-zero digits. Syms: X,XXX x XXX 174. Words: The product of two 4-digit numbers that have mostly non-zero digits. Syms: X,XXX x X,XXX DIVISION 175. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with four consecutive (mostly) non-zero digits divided by a 1-digit number. Syms: XXXX0... / X 176. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with three consecutive non-zero digits divided by a 2-digit number that has only non-zero digits. Syms: XXX0... / XX 177. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with four consecutive (mostly ) non-zero digits divided by a 2-digit number that has only non-zero digits. Syms: XXXX0... / XX 178. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with three consecutive non-zero digits divided by a 3-digit number that has only non-zero digits. Syms: XXX0... / XXX 179. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with four consecutive (mostly) non-zero digits divided by a 3-digit number that has only non-zero digits. Syms: XXXX0... / XXX 180. Words: A variable-digit number that begins with four consecutive (mostly) non-zero digits divided by same. Syms: XXXX0... / XXXX0... 6 - 17 ------- HOW THE QUESTIONS ARE PRODUCED ------- The numbers in exercise questions are randomly generated. Every number in every difficulty level has a specific formula to produce it (there are 360 formulas). When MATH WORKOUT calculates the numbers for the next question, it checks to see if the numbers were the same as in the last question. If they are, the program recalculates until the new numbers are different. So, you'll never see the same problem twice in a row. You may see the same numbers in two consecutive questions in reverse order. In other words, you will never see "2 + 8" twice in a row, but you might see "8 + 2" after "2 + 8". ------- DATA STORAGE REQUIREMENTS ------- Each exercise uses up to 73 bytes. Specifically, each exercise uses up to 65 bytes in HISTORY.HIS. Up to 51 are used for data, 12 are used by commas to separate (deliminate) the data, and 2 are used by End-of-Line symbols. And, each exercise uses up to 8 bytes in Score History, depending upon what your scores are. However, each .HIS file will use a minimum of anywhere from 512 to 4096 bytes depending on the size of your hard drive (the bigger the hard drive is, the larger the minimum is). That's the smallest amount of disk space a file is allocated. Fortunately, that minimum file will hold between 64 and 512 exercise results - so most users won't need more than the minimum. If you eventually do all 180 difficulty levels, both in Practice mode and Beat-the-Clock, you'll need a minimum of between 184k and 1.47mg. My 65mg hard drive uses a minimum of 2,048 bytes per file so it would require 737k. And it would not need any more than that, since that 2,048 byte allocation will easily hold the maximum number of scores per level (200). You can reduce the requirements if you don't need the Comprehensive History file. You can choose not to have that file maintained by choosing the COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY item on the SUPERVISOR MENU. This way, you'll save up to 65 bytes per exercise. You can also reduce data storage requirements by deleting old score history files or moving them to floppy disks. Admittedly, data storage requirements can be significant if you use MATH WORKOUT a lot. The benefit of having separate files for each level is that graphing is extremely fast. Storing all score history in a single database would save disk space but graphing would be slower. I will try to offer a choice of methods in an upgrade, and let the user decide which is more important - speed or disk space. 7 - 1 ------- HISTORY.dbf ------- HISTORY.dbf is a dBASE III Plus file. You can use this file to append from the comprehensive-history file (HISTORY.his). You can then use dBASE III Plus to produce your own custom reports. Data in HISTORY.HIS is in the same order as the fields in HISTORY.DBF. A comma separates each data element. The structure of HISTORY.DBF is: FIELD NAME TYPE WIDTH DESCRIPTION ========== ==== ===== =============== USERCODE C 1 User Code STUDID C 11 Student ID EXAMIND C 1 Exam indicator (N or E) EXAMNUM N 3 Exam number (is 0 for non-exams) LEVEL N 3 Difficulty level TYPE C 1 (P)ractice or (B)eat-the-Clock ACCURACY C 1 (E)stimation or (P)recision GRADE N 3 Grade SPEED N 2 Speed (to the nearest integer) (is Time-Limit for Beat-the-Clock) SIZE N 3 Number of questions in exercise DATE D 8 Date of exercise "19YYMMDD" in the HISTORY.HIS file EXTIME N 6,2 Exercise minutes (to 2 decimals) ENDTIME C 8 End-Time of exercise HH:MM:SS -- 51 Where: C means "character" D means "date" DD is the day of the month HH is the hour in military time e.g. 23 is 11pm MM is the month mm is the minutes N means "numeric" SS is the seconds YY is the last two digits of the year 7 - 2 ------- FILES CREATED BY MATH WORKOUT ------- (listed in order of file extension) MWHISTP.ATH Contains the History Path you choose during installation. Will be updated when you change the History Path via the Supervisor Menu. X.cum Contains the cumulative number of questions answered for each user. X: is the user code (A through F and S) This file takes up less than 10 bytes. HISTORY.his Contains Comprehensive History. You may decide not to maintain this file. See the COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY section within the SUPERVISOR MENU chapter. XY#.his Score History. X: is "B" for Beat-the-Clock exercises is "P" for Practice exercises Y: is the user code (A through F and S) #: is the level of the exercise. The size of the .HIS files is explained in the DATA STORAGE REQUIREMENTS section within the TECHNICAL chapter. SLASHS.tmp This file is created when you install and whenever you delete a user. You may delete it if you wish. It will be recreated as necessary. 7 - 3 ------- TECHNICAL SUPPORT ------- Technical support is available by: 1. Calling (212) 472-1400 Monday to Thursday, between 7pm and 11pm EST Friday, 9am to Noon 2. Writing to: Dobrin Company PO Box 6464 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 3. Leaving a message on Compuserve at 70621,2660 ------- CRASHING ------- If you ever see something that resembles a spreadsheet, and it doesn't look like the rest of MATH WORKOUT then you've crashed. This could happen as a result of a program bug, power surge, etc. It is extremely unlikely that MATH WORKOUT will ever crash, but no program is absolutely perfect. WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: ------------------ Press Alt-Q (press and hold the [Alt] key and then press Q) You should then find yourself back at the DOS prompt. If for some reason this doesn't work, reboot your computer by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del, or turn it off. WHAT'S THE DAMAGE: ----------------- The only case where you would have to "recover" from a crash is when you've just changed user data (by adding a new user, deleting a user, or altering user data). When you restart, you will have to make those changes again. WHEN YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME ABOUT IT: ------------------------------------ Programs are rarely absolutely perfect, and neither are computers. So, don't contact me the first time you crash. But, if you crash more than once, I want to know about it. IF YOU'RE UNHAPPY, I'M UNHAPPY! For me to find what's wrong, you must tell me what the circumstances were. Where you were in the program. What you did. What happened. If it's something I can fix, I'll do so as soon as possible and send you a corrected program. 8 - 1 ------- MONITOR PROBLEMS ------- MATH WORKOUT is designed to automatically detect the video adapter you're using, but it is not foolproof. So, if you have a problem, you will have to "correct" it by issuing a SETDISP ProgramName command. You will have to add one of the following arguments to the SETDISP command. COMMAND ADAPTER ====== ======= /SNOW for CGA, requiring "snow-suppression" /NOSNOW for CGA, not requiring "snow-suppression" /EGA for EGA /HERC for Hercules /MDA for MDA /VGA for VGA For example: SETDISP MWINSTAL /EGA SETDISP MWV1 /EGA SETDISP MWBONUS1 /EGA You must be in the program subdirectory when you issue the SETDISP command. If you use a command that is not appropriate, MATH WORKOUT may appear to "hang" when you attempt to run it. In that case, try another command. If you change adapters, you may reissue the SETDISP command. The SETDISP command permanently changes MATH WORKOUT until you issue another SETDISP command to override a previous command. ----- SNOW WHEN USING A COLOR GRAPHICS ADAPTER (CGA) ----- To solve the problem permanently, issue the SETDISP command with the /N argument. You must be in the program subdirectory when you issue the SETDISP command. ----- ERROR MESSAGES ----- If you see the message "All EMS buffers are locked" do one of the following: 1. Remove all TSRs from memory. 2. Turn off the "EMS Net driver" if you are on a network. 8 - 2 ------- PLANNED ENHANCEMENTS ------- The following enhancements are planned for inclusion in upgrades or in separate products. I would appreciate any ideas or comments you may have to improve MATH WORKOUT. If you submit an original idea, and I use it, your contribution will be acknowledged in the user manual. ALTER USER DATA This process will be streamlined. APPLE VERSION A version for Apple computers will be developed, perhaps with voice prompts. ESTIMATION Will be expanded to include different degrees of error. EXAM CREATOR Will enable teachers to print exams. FORMULA MODIFIER Will enable users to modify the formulas which produce the questions, and create custom Levels of Difficulty. FRACTIONS Will include Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Simplification, Mixed Numbers. MIXED EXERCISES Users will be able to choose a complete mix of a difficulty topic without having to specify the level numbers, and be able to choose a mix of specific levels, rather than just a range of levels. RECENT SCORES AVERAGE Will show average of recent scores. The number of scores to be averaged will be definable. 9 - 1 REPORTER Will create a variety of reports on-line and in print using the data in the Comprehensive History file. SCORE HISTORY Users will have the option of storing score history in separate files (the current method) or in a single database. The former allows for faster graphing, the latter saves disk space. SERIES OF NUMBERS TO ADD Users will be able to add a definable number of numbers. THINK ADDITION / PONDER SUBTRACTION The solutions will only appear after the question number (which is one of the factors) is entered by the user. The exercise will be a way of practicing multiplication. Decimals will be allowed. TRICKS The steps used to solve problems using certain "tricks" will be shown upon request. These methods will be limited to those that are hard to forget. VIEW-TIME The user will be able to specify the length of the view-time, rather than being limited to "Unlimited" or "2 seconds". 9 - 2 --------------------------------------- | | | B O N U S P R O G R A M | | | --------------------------------------- TO RUN THE BONUS PROGRAM type MWBP and then hit [Enter] There is no installation procedure, unless you're running on a network or using a Hercules card. CONSIDER ADDITION This a "thought only" exercise since you don't have to type answers. That makes it extremely efficient. You are not timed or scored. Needless to say, there is no history or graph for this exercise. You will see 50 sequential additions of a number of your choosing (an integer between 1 and 1000) added to an initial starting number of your choosing (an integer between -1000 and 1000). You may choose to see each subsequent sum upon hitting [Enter], or at a set time interval (between .5 and 15 seconds) of your choosing. NOTE: The TIME INTERVAL will be more accurate the faster your computer is. On slower machines (PC and XT class), processing time adds to the time interval you specify. So, if you have a slow machine, think of the time interval as relative not actual time. The scope of this exercise is enormous because you can create such a large number of problems. In fact, you can produce 2,001,000 different problem sets. They can be as simple as starting at 0 and adding 1 (which is really only counting) or as hard as starting at a complex number like 769 and adding an equally complex number like 458. You will be asked to choose the following: 1. The number to add repetitively (an integer between 1 and 1000) 2. The starting number (you must enter an integer between -1,000 and +1,000) If you choose a starting number of zero "0", you will see an unhighlighted "question number" to the left of each highlighted sum. This is more than just the "question number". It is also the number of times you've added the number. Thus, the highlighted number is equal to the unhighlighted number times the number 10 - 1 your adding. In short, the screen is displaying multiplication problems, as well as repetitive addition. 3. Whether you want the numbers to appear automatically at a time interval (measured in seconds) of your choosing, or upon your hitting [Enter]. To choose automatic, enter any number between .5 and 15. Enter "E" if you want the numbers to appear upon your hitting [Enter]. You may stop the exercise at any time by pressing any key while in "automatic" mode, or by pressing "S" and then [Enter] while in "hit enter" mode. When all 50 numbers have been displayed, the program will wait for you to hit [Enter]. You will then be brought back to the Main Menu. THINK SUBTRACTION This exercise is the same as CONSIDER ADDITION, except its subtraction. LARGE NUMBER REVIEW This exercise is a review of place value for whole numbers. There is no history or graph for this exercise. You will be asked: 1. The number of questions (unless you've set the SIZE default). 2. To verify your choice. 3. If you want to see a Preview first. If you do, press "Y". You will then see 6 numbers and their english equivalents appear gradually on the screen. The numbers are 4 times 10 to the 1st power, through 4 times 10 to the 6th power. In other words, 4 in the tens column, through 4 in the millions column. When the Preview screen is full, you will be prompted to hit [Enter]. When you do, the exercise will begin. If you don't, press "N". You will begin the exercise immediately. 10 - 2 During the exercise, press [Enter] to continue, or "S" and then [Enter] to stop. When the exercise is over, you will be brought back to the Main Menu. The numbers presented include 1 through 9 times 10 to the power of 1 through 7. There are a total of 63 numbers presented, ranging from 10 through 90,000,000. DECIMAL REVIEW This exercise is a review of place value for decimals between zero and 1. There are no scores and no graph for this exercise. You will be asked: 1. the number of questions (if you have not set the SIZE default). 2. to verify your choice. 3. if you want to see a PREVIEW first. If you do, press "Y". You will then see 6 numbers and their english equivalents appear gradually on the screen. The numbers are 4 times 10 to the -1st power, through 4 times 10 to the -6th power. In other words, 4 in the tenths column, through 4 in the millionths column. When the Preview screen is full, you will be prompted to hit [Enter]. When you do, the exercise will begin. If you don't, press "N". You will begin the exercise immediately. During the exercise, press [Enter] to continue, or "S" and then [Enter] to stop. When the exercise is over, you will be brought back to the Main Menu. The numbers presented include 1 through 19 times 10 to the power of -2 through -5. There are a total of 73 numbers presented, ranging from .00001 through .19. 10 - 3 ADD - REPETITIVE This exercise is a great way to master addition. You are able to concentrate on adding one number at a time. You may add any number, including decimals, whose absolute value is less than 999,999 (between -999,999 and +999,999). When you finish the exercise, you will see the results screen but there is no history or graph. Since the difficulty of this exercise depends upon the number you choose to add, each point on a graph would represent a different degree of difficulty. In other words, it would not tell you much. You will be asked the following: 1. The number to add. 2. The number of questions (unless you've set the SIZE default). 3. Whether you want to review mistakes During the exercise, at the End, or Not (unless you've set the REVIEW default). You will then be asked to verify your choices. You may stop the exercise on any question by answering with the letter "S". SUBTRACT - REPETITIVE This exercise is the same as ADD-REPETITIVE except it's subtraction. CHANGE DEFAULTS See the Default Menu chapter. QUIT Choose this option to exit the program. You will be asked to verify that you want to quit. Default settings are saved when you quit. Do not quit by turning the computer off, or rebooting it. End of MWMANUAL.DOC 10 - 4