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Students try many ways to solve this problem, and the series is simple enough that most groups can eventually “guess-and-check” to the answer. However, instructor guidance makes the path more efficient, and helps elicit reasons for the success or failure of different strategies. One effective way to guide students is to ask them what they see as the dominant component in the oscillatory nature of the function.

This worksheet is a good example of one that is very short and very effective. We have used much longer worksheets with more content, but typically with less success than this simple example.