PHYS 101 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
James Scholar Credit
Page Contents
James Scholar Project Eligibility
Project Description - Track 1 - Track 2
Eligibility
In order to obtain James Scholars credit in Physics 101, you must:
- Be admitted to the James Scholar program in your college.
- Complete an Honors Credit Learning Agreement and submit it to your college by your college's deadline.
- Submit a project proposal and get it approved by Prof. Gammie.
- Submit a project paper and revise it based on feedback from Prof. Gammie until all criteria are satisfied.
Please note that the grades on these assignments DO NOT affect your overall PHYS 101 grade IN ANY WAY.
Timeline and Deadlines
|
Deadline |
Where to turn in | Project component |
|---|---|---|
| College dependent | Your College | Honors Credit Learning Agreement |
| 5:00pm on Oct. 17 | via email to Prof. Gammie | Proposal (web form) |
| Oct. 18-25 | via email to Prof. Gammie | Proposal feedback and resubmission |
| 5:00pm on November 21 | via email to Prof. Gammie | Paper First Draft due(document upload) |
| Nov. 25 - Dec. 12 | via email to Prof. Gammie | Paper feedback and resubmission |
| 5:00pm on December 12 | via email to Prof. Gammie | Final deadline for papers |
James Scholar Project Description
This semester the James Scholar Assignment involves writing a paper on a physics topic of current interest that is related to Physics 101 and giving a presentation to your fellow James Scholars about your topic.
To receive honors credit you must:
- Choose a recent journal article that is relevant to Physics 101 material.
- Write a brief proposal summarizing the article and explaining how it is relevant to Physics 101.
- Submit the proposal through email for approval.
- If necessary, revise the proposal
- Write a >1000 word paper summarizing the article at a level a high school student can understand, explaining the ideas involved and identifying how the work in the article connects to Physics 101.
- Submit a first draft of the paper on email.
- If necessary, revise the paper based on feedback.
- Submit the final version of the paper on email.
- Meet with Prof. Gammie and the other James Scholars to give a brief talk and answer questions about your topic
The article must:
- come from a science-focused source such as Scientific American, the American Journal of Physics, European Journal of Physics, Science Magazine, Nature, or other peer-reviewed journals.
- be more than 500 words long
- be less than 5 years old
- be approved by Prof. Gammie.
The proposal must include a link to or pdf copy of the article and at least one paragraph explaining how it is relevant to Physics 101.
The talk must summarize your paper in a 5-10 minute presentation to your fellow James Scholars. You should be prepared to answer questions about your topic.
If you are already a James Scholar, you should complete an Honors Credit Learning Agreement form, get it signed, and submit it to your college office.
- College of LAS: https://my.atlas.illinois.edu/james-scholar/
- College of AHS: http://ahs.illinois.edu/james-scholar
- College of ACES: https://academics.aces.illinois.edu/honors/james-scholars/guide
- College of Engineering: https://my.engr.illinois.edu/james-scholar/
- Division of General Studies: https://dgs.illinois.edu/james-scholar-honors
How do I get the form signed?
- College of LAS: Your instructor will be notified through the portfolio tool.
- College of AHS: http://ahs.illinois.edu/james-scholar
- College of ACES: https://academics.aces.illinois.edu/honors/james-scholars/guide
- College of Engineering: Your instructor will be notified through the portfolio tool.
Proposal Evaluation
Your James Scholar Project proposal will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- A clear title is provided
- A summary of the topic is provided and is consistent with the resources provided
- You have identified how the topic is related to Physics 101
- The topic is related to Physics 101, the article is less than five years old, and it comes from a peer-reviewed journal
- You have disclosed any use of AI tools in your work.
Proposals that satisfy all these criteria will be approved to move forward with a James Scholar project. If your proposal does not satisfy these criteria you will have an opportunity to respond to feedback and resubmit your proposal in Gradescope for approval.
Paper Evaluation
Your paper will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Fulfilling the length requirements (>1000 words)
- Clear and grammatically appropriate writing
- Clear and engaging presentation
- Completeness and correctness of content
- Appropriate level of explanation of content
- Appropriate citation of sources used, including any AI tools. (you may choose the citation standard - e.g., APA, MLA - you prefer)
- Ability to answer questions about your topic during the in-person meeting
You are required to satisfy all paper and talk criteria in order to earn honors credit for Physics 101. We are using a revise and resubmit approach to the paper: We will provide feedback on each draft you submit and you will be able to make revisions and resubmit until either (1) all criteria are satisfied or (2) the final deadline passes. If your first draft satisfies all the paper criteria you will not need to resubmit. Papers submitted after the first draft deadline will have reduced opportunities to receive feedback. Please work with Prof. Gammie if you run into any difficulties.
The paper and talk must:
- contain at least one quantitative estimate based on the article, i.e. they should contain an equation relevant to the article into which you substitute numerical values.
- have correct spelling and grammar
Clarity of exposition will play a role in the evaluation of your paper and your talk.
You should e-mail Prof. Gammie a proposal for the article you will read for your project. If possible, provide a photocopy of the article or a link to it if it is available online. Prof. Gammie will get back to you (via e-mail) to tell you if your proposal is acceptable, or how to improve it.
You should submit your final written report to Prof. Gammie via e-mail. Don't forget to put your name, netid, and the assignment name in the header and on your pages.