CS2984: Introduction to Problem Solving
Homework Assignment 13

Due at 11:00pm on Thursday, November 15
50 Points

Revised: 11/13

See the General Guidelines for homework assignments.

This assignment may optionally be done with a partner. You are strongly advised to use a partner. If you do use a partner, then:

• The final submission should contain the name of both partners.
• Only one partner need actually make the submission to Web-CAT.
• Your submission should explain the contributions of each partner.

1. Problem Situation: Sara is a freshman away at college preparing for her first final exams. She is homesick, stressed out, and would like to go home for the weekend to visit her parents, but her car is not working.

   First attempt at Present State/Desired State Analysis:
   Present State: Sara's car is not working.
   Desired State: At home with her parents

   These states do not match and this mismatch confuses the problem. Which problem should she be attacking? The malfunctioning car? The visit?

   (a) Revise the problem statements for a Present State/Desired State analysis to make them match.

   (b) Based on your modified desired state definition from (a), create a Dunker Diagram with two trees, one whose root is labeled "Acheive Desired State" and one labeled "OK Not to Acheive Desired State", and fill out the trees with several alternative solutions for each.

2. You have decided you can spend up to $20,000 to buy a car. Prepare a K.T. Decision Analysis table to decide which car to buy. Use your local newspaper to collect information about the various models, pricing, and options and then decide on your musts (e.g., air bag) and your wants (e.g., fancy stereo). Explain (in a couple of sentences) how your decision would be affected if you could spend only $10,000. Explain (in a couple of sentences) how your decision would be affected if you could spend $30,000.