HOW TO USE OWL
To use the OWL system, you will need to get access to a computer with an internet connection. If you do not have your own computer, there are several places on campus that you can use. If you need help finding and using a machine, please see the OIT Help Desk on the first floor of LGRC (lowrise, not tower).
Start Your Web Browser
Use Netscape version 4 or higher or Internet Explorer 4.
Go to
http://owl.oit.umass.edu/departments/Mathematics
[Or, go to http:\owl.oit.umass.edu and click on Mathematics]
Logging On
Enter your Login. (Your student ID without hyphens.)
- Enter your Password. (Your last name.)
- Click on the LOG IN TO OWL button. (You may have to scroll down the page.)
- If you see the Who Are You page, read the possible causes of login problems and then TRY AGAIN.
- If you continue to have problems, click on REPORT IT.
First Time Information
Carefully read the Welcome page, then click CONTINUE.
Enter your email address and phone number (if you have them) so that you can be contacted about your message submissions.
Click CONTINUE.
Working on Your Assignments
On the Course Menu page check that you are rostered in the correct OWL course.
If it is incorrect, click Add/Switch Class to the left and follow the directions.
Click on the underlined name (i.e. link) for your course.
- After reading the Course Notes page, press the View Assignments button.
- Click on the link of the name of the assignment on which you want to work.
- Do the tutorial first to learn to use the system! (This counts toward your grade.)
- Click on the link for the unit on which you want to work.
- Read the question, type in your answer(s), and then click CHECK ANSWER.
- Your score, the correct answer(s), and feedback will be shown. (You may have to scroll down the page.)
- When you are ready to move on to another question, either:
- choose a question number link from the green bar at the top of the page,
- click Prev or Next to the left,
- or click Unit Menu to the left to return to the complete unit list.
- Each unit has a mastery value. You must get this number of problems correct in one attempt at the unit to master it. If you have not mastered a unit, you may select it again to receive a new set of problems. You must master all the units to master the assignment.
- When you are done working, return to the Unit Menu and then click Assignments. Make sure that your score for the assignment is what you think it is. Work done after the due date will not improve your score.
- Click the Logout button on the left side of the page to exit the OWL system.
Miscellaneous
Click Course Notes to see any instructor announcements.
Click Contact Info to change your email and phone information.
Click Help for the User's Manual including the online tutorial, Browsing for Beginners.
Click Send Message to report a problem or ask a question.
If You Are Using a Macintosh Computer
If you are working on a Macintosh computer, some of the mathematical symbols will not display correctly at first. You need to make one change in your browser.
You'll need to change the character set encoding in your browser. Depending on whether you are using Netscape or Internet Explorer and which version, the place to make this change is different. Look under either the View or Options menu for the item Character Set, Encoding, or Document Encoding. The current value for this will probably be Western(Latin1) or Western(ISO-8859-1). Change this to Western(Mac) or Western(MacRoman). When you've made the change, your page will reload and the appropriate math symbols should appear.
Note: For other web sites you may need to change the character set encoding back to what it was for their pages to display properly.
Unfortunately, there are some Macs where this still doesn't fix the problem. In that case you may need to try another browser or a higher version of the browser that you are using.
If You Are Using Netscape on a Unix Machine
You may have the same mathematical symbol display problem if you are on a Unix machine. Symbol fonts may need to be enabled for Netscape running under X. Go to http://www.tex2html.com/unix/ for more instructions.