PHYS 100 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Course Description
Introduction
This course is designed for students who plan to take Physics 211 but who lack the necessary physics and math preparation. The main focus of the course is to teach the problem solving skills and physical reasoning that are at the core of the Physics 211-214 curriculum. We have found that even after one semester of calculus and one year of high school physics many students do not know how to turn word problems into mathematical expressions, solve the math, and understand the physical significance of the result. The large range of student preparation means that Physics 211 cannot address the needs of many students. It is too easy for some and too difficult for others. We want the latter group to take Physics 100 in order to increase their chances of success.
The basic philosophy of Physics 100 can be summarized as follows:
- Introduction and first chance to think about it (prelectures and checkpoints)
- Untangle it (lectures)
- Challenge yourself (homework)
- Close the loop (discussion)
- Test your understanding (online and in-class quizzes)
The order of the above items is very important.
The first exposure you will have to the material will be in the prelecture. These are new web-based presentations designed to introduce the key ideas/concepts of the lecture. Do this on your own prior to lecture (https://byteshelf.physics.illinois.edu). This first step should be taken very seriously, as all of the following items depend on this initial exposure to the material.
To get the most out of lecture your participation is required both prior to and during each lecture! Before every lecture you will be required to work through a brief checkpoint on the web. Each checkpoint will probe your understanding of the prelecture material and must be completed by 8am on Friday to receive credit. There are no "bad" checkpoint answers. You will receive full credit if you give it your best shot and answer all the questions. We use your responses to the checkpoint questions (including explanations) to create the lecture.
The lecture will be a highly interactive experience in which you will work with the concepts presented in the prelecture. In particular, we will focus on the conceptual difficulties we observe in your checkpoint responses and we will work through some quantitative problems. You will participate using the i>clicker and will get full credit if you give your best shot. You can also earn "extra-credit" for the questions in lecture that you answer correctly.
The web-based homework covering each weeks material is due at 8am on Tuesday. Homework problems are designed to test your understanding of the concepts as well as basic problem-solving skills.
To cap things off, a weekly discussion section will go over the concepts you have learned about in the prelectures, lectures, and homework. These sections use a collaborative group learning format. You will work together with 2 or 3 other students on qualitative and quantitative problems that are designed to solidify your understanding of the week's material. Your TA will facilitate this learning by regularly visiting each table to help you construct your understanding.
Finally, to test your understanding of the material, we ask you to take a quiz each week. These quizzes are given online and are due at 8pm on Thursday. You may feel free to discuss the quiz with other students if you wish. You may submit answers to the quiz at any time; we will grade only your last answers.
There will be one midterm exam and the final in this course will be given during finals week.
Course Credit
All students are initially registered for TWO CREDIT HOURS. Students who score sufficiently high on the midterm exam will be given the option to reduce the course credit to ONE CREDIT HOUR. Those students who take this option will receive a letter grade for ONE CREDIT HOUR and are not required to participate in the remainder of the course.
Grading
The web-based gradebook will show, for all aspects of the class, exactly how you are progressing. At the end of the course, all components will be put together to obtain the final grade. During the term, you should regularly check that the homework and discussion grades are correctly entered in the gradebook. It is your responsibility to bring any problems with your assigned grades to the attention of your section instructor immediately.
Two credit hour option
Your final grade for Physics 100 will be based upon your total score on all the components of the course. The total possible score is 1000 points.
| Course Component | Points |
|---|---|
| Prelectures | 40 |
| CheckPoints + Lectures | 110 |
| Web-based Homework | 150 |
| Discussion Section Participation | 200 |
| Online Quizzes | 150 |
| Midterm Exam | 150 |
| Final Exam | 200 |
Prelectures: Full credit (5 points) is given for completing each prelecture. NO excused grades are accepted.
Checkpoints: Full credit (5 points) is given for completing each checkpoint, up to a maximum of 11 of the 12 checkpoints (55 points maximum). NO excused grades are accepted.
Lectures: Full credit (5 points) is given for answering 75% of the in-class clicker questions, up to a maximum of 11 of the 14 lectures (55 points maximum). NO excused grades are accepted. In addition, "bonus points" are give for answering in-class clicker questions correctly. These "bonus points" are added to your total quiz score, with the caveat that the total quiz score cannot exceed 150 points.
Homework: Each of the 9 homework sets will be given equal weight and summed to give the total homework score, with a maximum of 150 points. NO excused grades are accepted.
Discussion Section Participation: Full credit for a discussion section is 20 points. The total discussion section participation grade is the sum of the highest 10 of the 13 discussion section grades. NO excused grades are accepted.
Online Quizzes: Each of the 13 online quizzes will be given equal weight and summed to give the total quiz score, with a maximum of 150 points. NO excused grades are accepted. However, bonus points from the lecture are added to this total quiz score with the caveat that the total quiz score cannot exceed 150 points.
One credit hour option
Your final grade for Physics 100 will be based upon your total score on all the components of the course. The total possible score is 650 points.
| Course Component | Points |
|---|---|
| Prelectures | 35 |
| CheckPoints + Lectures | 50 |
| Web-based Homework | 130 |
| Discussion Section Participation | 100 |
| Online Quizzes | 130 |
| Midterm Exam | 205 |
Prelectures: Full credit (5 points) is given for completing each prelecture. NO excused grades are accepted.
Checkpoints: Full credit (5 points) is given for completing each checkpoint, up to a maximum of 5 of the 7 checkpoints (25 points maximum). NO excused grades are accepted.
Lectures: Full credit (5 points) is given for answering 75% of the in-class clicker questions, up to a maximum of 5 of the 8 lectures (25 points maximum). NO excused grades are accepted. In addition, "bonus points" are give for answering in-class clicker questions correctly. These "bonus points" are added to your total quiz score, with the caveat that the total quiz score cannot exceed 130 points.
Homework: Each of the 8 homework sets will be given equal weight and summed to give the total homework score, with a maximum of 130 points. NO excused grades are accepted.
Discussion Section Participation: Full credit for a discussion section is 20 points. The total discussion section participation grade is the sum of the highest 5 of the 8 discussion section grades. NO excused grades are accepted.
Online Quizzes: Each of the 8 online quizzes will be given equal weight and summed to give the total quiz score, with a maximum of 130 points. NO excused grades are accepted. However, bonus points from the lecture are added to this total quiz score with the caveat that the total quiz score cannot exceed 130 points.
Academic Integrity
All activities in this course are subject to the Academic Integrity rules as described in Article 1, Part 4. Of the Student Code. Infractions include, but are not limited to: cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, academic interference, computer-related infractions, unauthorized use of university resources, sale of class materials or notes, and facilitating infractions of academic integrity. Violations of any of these rules will be prosecuted and reported to the home college of the student. All aspects of the course are covered by these rules, including quizzes, homework, iclickers, exams and labs.
Physics Educational Research Group
This semester we have implemented new homework. This homework uses question sets in a mastery setting, along with narrated animated solution videos. The Physics Education Research Group is investigating how students perform on this homework. This research will not involve any extra work by students outside what is required for the class. No individual grades will be analyzed, and any published data will only be published in aggregate (e.g. average scores on a particular question). No identifiable information will be published.
If you have questions about this research feel free to contact Professor Timothy Stelzer at tstelzer@illinois.edu and graduate student Noah Schroeder at schroe16@illinois.edu, or the University of Illinois Institutional Review Board at217-333-2670 or via email at irb@illinois.edu.