Welcome to the Better File Cabinet
Comments
Introduction
The Better File Cabinet holds hundreds and soon thousands of problems used in intensive workshops around the country. They have been indexed by topic, problem features, functions appearing, and technical and conceptual difficulty.
The Search Page
A database of problems is not much use without some kind of search engine. We have provided a search page which allows you to look at problems of particular topics, function types, student activities, problem features and difficulties, conceptual and technical. To reach the BFC Search Page, use the link at the bottom of this page.
The Shopping Cart
Problems found in a search will appear with a checkbox in front. You can check a problem to put it in your shopping cart, and you can look in your cart any time while searching. Your shopping cart will also be retained between logins. In the near future, you'll be able to download the items in your cart as a whole LaTeX file or a PS, DVI or (possibly) a PDF file, with some customizable formatting as a worksheet.
Comments
Registered users have the ability to add their own comments on specific problems and more general topics. In fact, you are highly encouraged to add comments to specific problems. As examples of what you might like to write about: - what happened when you used the problem
- student reactions to the problem
- good hints you gave the students
- suggestions for improvements to the site
In addition, you may want to make more general comments about topics, mathematical (eg. the Intermediate Value Theorem) and pedagogical (e.g. the art of making effective quizzes). Your comments will be hyperlinked on the spot to other relevant commentary on the site, and you'll be given proper credit. If you want to make changes to your biography, leave the changes as a comment on your author link.
Navigation
Generally speaking, every page has a pop-up menu of possible destinations at the bottom. You should select your destination and then click GO. It's better if you don't use the BACK button, but it won't crash anything (though you might undo changes to your shopping cart). On the results page, you can click on a problem to see comments on it. Ones which have comments by other users are specially marked. You can also click on any hyperlinks in the text without losing your shopping cart.
One special feature on this site worth looking at is the hypertext version of the PDP TA Reference Handbook. A good portion of the material in the handbook has been put online and hyperlinked where appropriate to problems and topics.