PHYS 102 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Course Description
Introduction
The goal of this course is to make you familiar, at the conceptual and basic problem-solving level, with the physics of mechanics, heat, and waves.
The basic philosophy of Physics 102 can be summarized as follows:
- Read about it (textbook & checkpoint)
- Untangle it (lectures)
- Challenge yourself (homework)
- Play with it (labs)
- Close the loop (discussion)
The order of the above items is very important.
The first exposure you will have to any material will be when you, on your own and prior to lecture, read about it in the text-book (1). This first step is one that all of the following items rest on, and should be taken very seriously.
The lecture (2) will not simply regurgitate what you have read, rather it will take the concepts you are having difficulty understanding and will expand/explain them, usually with the aid of demonstrations.
This is not a traditional approach. 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 reading material assigned for that lecture, and must be completed by 6am on the day of the lecture to receive credit. Your answers to these questions will be used by the lecturer in preparation of the material for that afternoons lecture. There are no "bad" checkpoint answers; as long as you give it your best shot, you will receive full credit simply for providing us with feedback!
The lectures themselves will be very interactive, and your participation is strongly recommended. Based on checkpoint responses, a selection of concepts will be explained and discussed. Student questions and comments in class are highly encouraged.
The web-based homework (3) covering each weeks material is due at 8am on the Tuesday of the following week. This means you will have the background of reading the text and the experience of two lectures and a hands-on lab to guide you in finishing each weekly homework assignment. Homework problems are designed to test your understanding of the concepts as well as simple problem-solving skills.
The weekly lab cycle (4) starts on Thursday, and is designed to give you the opportunity to explore the concepts you have read about in the textbook and discussed in lecture on Monday and Wednesday afternoon.
To cap things off, a 2-hour weekly Discussion section (5) will go over the concepts you have learned about in the previous weeks text reading, lectures, lab and homework.
To help you keep track of "what is due when" we have put together a handy web-based syllabus.
Required Background
The only official prerequisite for this class is PHYS 101. As in Physics 101 we will assume you are sufficiently adept at math to solve simple simultaneous equations and manipulate vectors.
Note for Pre-Med Students
For many of you Physics 101 and 102 will be an important part of your preparation for the MCAT exam. Rest assured that this has been one of the brightest beacons guiding the re-design of these classes.
Course Components
Textbook: The required text for this class is College Physics, Vol. 2, third edition, by Giambattista, Richardson, Richardson. Optional study guides and solution manuals for this text will be available at the book store, but are not required. The textbook publisher has also made available a very nice website (http://www.mhhe.com/grr/ containing additional questions, solutions, animations etc.
Lectures: Lectures are held on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, and you are strongly encouraged to attend and participate. Although you are officially scheduled to attend only one of these, you are welcome to go to either or both. You are required to complete a web-based checkpoint before 8am on the day of each lecture (you are encouraged to read the textbook and do the checkpoints the day before the lecture, not to leave them to the last moment). Lecture handouts may be downloaded from the web to help guide you in taking notes during each lecture.
Lab Session: Lab sessions are held in 258 Loomis. The laboratory portion of Physics 102 will consist of nine 3-hour laboratories, each involving a series of activities, including
(i) setting up simple experiments to investigate topics you've studied in class
(ii) making predictions about the outcome of your experiments
(iii) performing measurements of different phenomena you've studied in lecture
(iv) analyzing your experimental results
(v) answering questions concerning your results and predictions.
You will need to purchase the course lab manual from the bookstore and complete the prelab BEFORE coming to lab. You will not receive credit for your lab section if you are more than 10 minutes late.
Computer Homework: Each week you will be responsible for completing computer-based homework assignments. These assignments are graded and are an integral part of the course.
Each homework set must be completed by the time indicated. For each homework, there are two due dates to keep in mind. To receive full credit, the homework must be completed by the assigned due date. Homework completed after the assigned due date but prior to one week following the assigned due date can receive at most 90%. No credit is given for homework completed after the second due date.
You may work a problem as many times as you like and only the highest grade is recorded in the gradebook. You can never lower your score by reworking a problem.
Discussion Sessions: These discussion sessions will emphasize collaborative learning of topics which have already been covered in lecture and homework. Students will work in teams of four on advanced physics problems to help them master the concepts and problem solving techniques required for the exams. You will need to purchase the course "Problem Solver" before coming to discussion.
An in-class quiz will be handed out at the end of each discussion section (ask your discussion TA for details). You should work on the quizzes by yourself. The quizzes will be graded for credit.
You will not receive credit for your discussion section if you are more than 10 minutes late.
Exams: Three 90-minute multiple-choice "hour" exams will be given (See the syllabus for details). You will be assigned a room for each exam based on your discussion section, and attendance will be taken by your discussion TA. Bring a calculator and writing utensils to all exams. In addition, bring your official university identification card to show upon request.
The final exam will be three hours in length and will cover material from the whole semester. You will be told when and where to take your final exam as soon as that information becomes available to the Physics 102 staff.
Grading
Your final grade for Physics 102 will be based upon your total score on all the components of the course. The total possible score is 1000 points, broken down as follows:
| Course Component | Points |
|---|---|
| Lectures + Checkpoints | 50 |
| Web-based Homework | 150 |
| Discussion Quizzes | 100 |
| Labs | 150 |
| Hour Exams (100 each) | 300 |
| Final Exam | 250 |
The breakdown of total points versus course letter grade will be approximately:
A+(950), A(920), A-(900), B+(880), B(860), B-(835), C+(810), C(780), C-(750), D+(720), D(690), D-(610), and F(<610).
Note that we will NOT use the common 90/80/70/60 breakdown for letter grades; the cutoffs are generally higher. The reason for this is that for some parts of the course the average score is typically very high. For example, there is no reason you should not be able to score 100% on your web-based homework and checkpoint assignments. You should also be able to do very well on labs and quizzes.
This means that you cannot compensate for low examination grades by getting high homework/checkpoint/lab/quiz grades. On the other hand, you can seriously lower your grade by doing poorly on these. The real payoff for doing well on the homework, checkpoints, quizzes and labs is a better understanding of the physics and consequently higher examination scores.
Since the grade "cutoffs" are tentatively set at the beginning of the semester, you are not competing with your fellow students for a high position on a "final curve". It is in principle possible for everyone to get an "A" grade in this class.
Checkpoints & Lectures: There will be 28 lectures (1 pt), each with a corresponding checkpoint (1 pt). Only 25 checkpoints & lectures will be counted towards your grade, for a total of 50 pts.
Homework & Discussion: There will be 13 homework sets and 13 quizzes. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped when determining your final grade. No EX's are given for homework assignments. A MAXIMUM of THREE EX's are allowed for quizzes. The quiz grade for any missed quiz in excess of the three excused quizzes will be ZERO.
Labs: All 9 lab scores will be used in calculating your final grade. NO lab scores will be dropped. As with quizzes, a MAXIMUM of THREE EX's are allowed for labs. The lab grade for any missed lab in excess of the three excused labs will be ZERO.
Gradebook
The web-based gradebook will show, for all aspects of the class, exactly how you are progressing. At the end of the course, quiz, homework and lab components will be put together to obtain the final grade. During the term, you should regularly check that the exam, homework, lab, and quiz 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.
Unexcused Absences, Excused Absences, and Course Credit
There will be no make-ups for missed exams, quizzes or laboratory work in Physics 102. Unexcused absences from hour exams or quizzes will receive a score of ABS, which is numerically equivalent to zero. Similarly, prelabs or lab reports that are not turned in at the time they are due and in the lab section for which you are registered will be scored ABS, unless an excused absence is granted.
An excused absence from an hour exam will receive the score EX. At the end of the semester, hour-exam EX scores will be replaced by a weighted average of all of your non-EX scores on exams (hour exams and final exam). Similarly, an excused absence from a quiz will receive an EX and such scores will be replaced by the semester average of all non-EX quiz scores. EX scores for prelabs and lab reports will be treated in a similar manner. As previously noted, there is a limit of THREE EX quiz grades and THREE EX lab grades.
Typically, EX scores for exams, quizzes, prelabs and lab reports exams will be granted only in one of the following circumstances: (a) illness; (b) personal crisis (e.g., automobile accident, required court appearance, death of a close relative or friend, weather conditions preventing travel to campus); and (c) required attendance at an official U of I activity (e.g., varsity athletics, band concert).
In case (a), go to the McKinley Health Center. After you have been seen, you will receive a Visit Confirmation note that you should take to the course secretary in 231/233 Loomis. (Do not take it to an instructor.) She will make a a photocopy of the note for the course record book and will distribute copies to all of your instructors (lecturer, discussion TA, and lab TA). You may choose instead go to a private physician and obtain a written excuse. That excuse should contain your doctor's name and telephone number. Take the excuse note to the course secretary for recording, confirmation, and notification of your instructors.
In case (b) contact the Dean of Students' Office 217-333-0050. (At night this number is referred to as the Emergency Dean). The Dean's Office will subsequently send you a letter and a copy to the course secretary. She will place it in the course record book and send copies to all of your Physics 102 instructors.
In case (c) inform your lecturer in advance that you will be missing an hour exam and request an EX score. Similarly, inform your discussion TA if you will be missing a quiz or your lab TA if you will be missing a laboratory session. In addition, obtain a written note of confirmation from an official of the sponsoring office and take that note to the course secretary in 231/233 Loomis for recording and distribution to all of your instructors. (Alternatively, request that the note be sent directly to the course secretary.)
If you miss an hour exam for any reason, contact your lecturer and describe the circumstances. He or she will consider the merits of your case and determine whether an EX score is justified.
If you miss a quiz or fail to turn in a prelab or lab report for any reason, contact your TA for that activity and describe the circumstances. Your TA will typically consult with one or more members of the course faculty before deciding whether an EX score is justified .
If you fail to take a regular or conflict final exam in Physics 102, you will receive an ABS letter grade for the course, which will be interpreted as a failure (F) in your semester grade report. Permission to change an ABS letter grade to an EX letter grade can only be granted by an authorized member of the Dean's Office of your college. If an EX grade is granted, you must take a replacement final exam before the deadline specified in U of I Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students.
If you miss a considerable number of quizzes and labs in the course, you may choose to either receive a letter grade for the course by accepting the grades of zero in those assignments that are in excess of the three allowed EX grades for each component, or you may request an INC (incomplete) grade in the course from your Dean, in which case you will receive a letter grade in the course when those missed activities are made up in the following semester. Only the Dean of students can authorize an extension of time for course completion (i.e. change the F to an INC). See Article 3, part 1 of the Student Code.
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.