Perhaps combining some point-plotting with Maple spreadsheets would be a good idea as a way to get the plot range. I added such a problem as Problem 4 on Lab 7. I still need to go back through and add the point plotting with Maple Spreadsheets, except that Maple Spreadsheets are balky to work with, so I am concerned that this will cause more porblems than it is worth. In Spring 99 I commented that I need to go back through and edit some of the exercises on differential equations to remove references to ideas which are no longer covered in the new differential equations text. I did this, and simplified, and improved some of these questions.
Students seem to have fewer questions, and an easier time with the new imporved questions.
This Fall 99, I substituted the new Problem 3 on Lab 5 for the monkey-saddle problem. This worked much better. Another good 3d plotting problem would be helpful. In SPring 99, I commented that the amount of grading to be done is large and burdensome. During Fall 99, this did not seem to be so bad, probably because I only had 6 students int he class.