| Homepage | Syllabus | Agenda | Gradebook |
Instructor: Preetha Sarkar
Email: preetha2@illinois.edu
Office Hours: 279 Loomis, 1-2 pm on Wednesdays (starting Week 2: 4th September)
Class Time: 5-6:50 P.M. on Thursdays in 2025 Campus Instructional Facility (in-person unless noted otherwise)
Class Breakdown:
| Activity | Time Allotted |
|---|---|
| Questions | 10 mins |
| Lecture | 20 mins |
| Collaborative Problem Solving | 1 hr 20 mins |
Required Supplies: Calculator, paper & pencil (or digital equivalent)
Course Materials: All notes, practice assignments, and problem sets will be released under the Agenda tab before class. No paper copies will be distributed. If needed, students are responsible for printing out the material before class. Otherwise, a computer or smartphone can be used to access the desired material during class.
Homework Policy: There will be one problem set due at the beginning of class every Thursday. Assignments must be submitted on paper. No need to rewrite the questions, so long as it is clear which question you are answering!
Grading Scale:
| A+ | 97 | A | 94 | A- |
90 |
| B+ | 87 | B | 84 | B- |
80 |
| C+ | 77 | C | 74 | C- |
70 |
| D+ | 67 | D | 64 | D- |
60 |
Grading Rubric: Every part of a problem is worth 5 points in total (e.g., a three-part problem would be worth 15 points total) and each part will be scored as follows:
5: Perfect solution, devoid of conceptual or technical errors.
4: Solution is conceptually correct, but contains minor mathematical errors (signs, numerical factors, etc.)
3: Solution makes good progress towards the correct answer, but contains minor conceptual errors or larger mathematical errors.
2: Solution does not make meaningful progress towards the correct answer and contains major conceptual errors.
0: No attempt at solution.
Course Grades:
| Attendance | 10% |
| Participation | 20% |
| Classwork | 40% |
| Homework | 30% |
Attendance & Participation: Regular attendance is an important part of success in this class. Please come to class on time and stay engaged! Students who arrive on time will receive full attendance points. Students who are on task for the entirety of the class will receive full participation points.
Classwork (Practice Assignments): You will solve these worksheets with your classmates during the class and turn them in at the end of the class. These assignments are graded for completion. If you haven't completed all the problems by the end of the class, you can turn them in at the beginning of class the following week and receive full credit.
Homework (Problem Sets): You can work on these problem sets during class if you have completed the practice assignment. Homework will be due at the beginning of class the following week. These are graded for correctness. In case you want to re-do questions you lost points on, corrected homework can be turned in the week after they were due for full credit. There will be no homework on the week before and the week of Physics 212 exams.
At the end of the semester, each category will be weighted using the grade breakdown above, and the resulting percentage will determine your final grade in the course.