PHYS 102 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Syllabus
Syllabus Outline
- Course Overview
- Course Materials
- Instructor Information
- Course Description
- Course Calendar
- Course Grading
- Learning Philosophy and Advice for Success
- Attendance Policy
- Office Hours and Additional Support
- Academic Integrity and AI use
- Mental Health
- Students with Disabilities
- Community of Care
- Religious Observances
Course Overview
Course Number: Physics 102
Course title: College Physics: Electricity and Magnetism
Number of credits: 5
Semester: Spring 2026
Lecture meeting time: MW 1pm (Section A1) and 2pm (Section A2) in 151 Loomis Laboratory of Physics
The course also contains weekly 2-hour discussion sections and 3-hour laboratory sections. See your course schedule for specific time and room details.
Prerequisite: Trigonometry
Credit is not given for both PHYS 102 and PHYS 212 or PHYS 214.
James Scholar credit is offered for Physics 102. See the James Scholar Credit page for project details and timeline.
Course Materials
This section provides a summary of the required course materials. Specific details about signing up and/or purchasing required materials are available at the Required Materials page.
Required Materials
- smartPhysics access (Free 14 day demo, after which you must purchase a license from the bookstore)
- iClicker remote or app subscription (purchase or borrow)
- Internet-enabled laptop or tablet (own or borrow from U of I)
- IOLab data acquisition device (purchase, rent, or borrow)
- Calculator with trigonometric functions (i.e., cosine, sine, and tangent)
Instructor Information
Physics 102 is taught by a course team that includes specific roles with specific responsibilities:
- The Instructor of Record, a faculty member who is the head of the course, gives lectures, and handles general course administration. The Instructor of Record works closely with the Discussion and Lab Coordinators to make sure the course is functioning smoothly.
- The Discussion Coordinator, typically a faculty member, who prepares content for the Discussion component of the course, manages Discussion-related administration, and supervises the Discussion Teaching Assistants. The Discussion Coordinator typically teaches one section of Discussion.
- The Lab Coordinator, typically a faculty member, who prepares content for the Lab component of the course, manages Lab-related administration including PreLabs, and supervises the Lab Teaching Assistants. The Lab Coordinator typically teaches one section of Lab.
- Teaching Assistants (TAs), who are Physics graduate students (or sometimes upper-level Physics majors) with responsibilities to facilitate learning in Discussion or Lab sections. Each TA teaches either Discussion or Lab; no TAs teach both Discussion and Lab in the same semester. TAs manage grading for students in their own sections.
- Learning Assistants (LAs), who are undergraduate students who assist in the Laboratory sections of the course. LAs are undergraduates who have previously taken Physics 101 or Physics 211 and are familiar with the content, the lab structure, and the IOLab. They circulate through Lab sections with the TA of the section to assist groups with any questions or challenges they may encounter.
All course staff (except LAs) staff a weekly Office Hour in 271 Loomis. Refer to the Office Hour Schedule page for specific details.
Contact information for the Instructor of Record and the Discussion and Lab Coordinators can be found on the Contact Information page and will also be shared during Lecture 1. Contact information for your Discussion and Lab TAs can be found in the my.physics gradebook and should also be shared with you during the first Discussion and Lab meetings, respectively.
Course Description
Content
Physics 102 is a non-calculus-based approach to electricity and magnetism, and modern physics. Topics covered include:
- electric forces and fields
- electric potential
- electric circuits
- magnetic forces and fields
- geometrical optics
- interference and diffraction
- quantum mechanics
Course Goals
By the end of this course the student will be able to:
- describe the physics concepts in problems involving
- electricity and magnetism
- optics
- modern physics.
- execute basic problem-solving strategy for problems in
- electricity and magnetism
- optics
- modern physics.
Course Format
Physics 102 has several components that work together to support your learning and mastery of the course material. To succeed in the course, it is important that you attend and participate in all the different components.
To incentivize your participation in these course components, credit for in-class assignments requires attendance in the respective class meeting.
"Participation" components of the course support your growth over time.:
All course components are subject to the Academic Integrity Policy.
Course Components Summary
Prelectures and Checkpoints
New information in Physics 102 is first introduced using video Prelecture assignments and follow-up conceptual questions in Checkpoint assignments. These assignments are due at 8am on the day of their respective lecture and are graded based on completion. Correct Checkpoint answers will be shown after the deadline. There are a total of 26 Prelecture assignments and 28 Checkpoint assignments. All Prelectures and Checkpoints can be accessed in the smartPhysics system.
Lecture
In lecture, we will revisit the material from the Prelectures and Checkpoints, focusing on organizing your conceptual understanding of the material and laying the foundation for problem-solving in later components of the course. A pdf version of the slides will be posted at least 24h before the respective lecture to support your note-taking. Annotated versions of the lecture slides will be posted after the lecture is complete. All posted lecture materials can be accessed on the course Schedule page.
You can expect to answer 3-5 Physics-related poll questions during each lecture, during which time you will be encouraged to talk with your neighbor(s) about your thinking. Students must participate in at least 50% of polls during class using the iclicker system to earn credit for attending lecture.
Homework
Homework has two purposes: (1) to build competency through straightforward applications of new material and (2) to give students a semi-supported opportunity to stretch their thinking to new contexts or types of questions. Physics 102 uses online homework with a mix of multiple-choice and numerical free-response questions. Most questions you encounter will give you immediate right-wrong feedback. If you answer a question incorrectly you may use as many attempts as you need to get it correct. Homework can be accessed in the smartPhysics system. There are a total of 14 homework assignments in the semester.
Discussion
Discussion is designed to be a space where students can work on Physics problems together with support from a Teaching Assistant. Each discussion will begin with a practice quiz, which will give you right-wrong feedback and will be scored based only on participation. After the practice quiz, you and your group will work on pre-selected questions. Your group will turn in one collaborative assignment on GradeScope at the end of each Discussion session. You can only earn credit for the work on the collaborative assignment if you are present in class that day. Discussion meets every week during the semester except for the last, partial week in May, for a total of 14 sessions.
Laboratory
Laboratory is designed for you and your group to work together to try Physics ideas in the real world, and to work through the challenges of collecting data and dealing with the messiness of real experiments. You will do a hands-on Pre-Lab activity in smartPhysics using your IOLab device before every lab. In your weekly lab section you will work in groups to design and understand experiments and experimental data, also using your IOLab device. Your group will collaborate to write and turn in a single lab report during class. Lab will begin in Week 3 and meet most weeks of the semester. See the course schedule for details.
Exams
Physics 102 will have a total of seven exams: Six 50-minute tests throughout the semester and a cumulative final exam at the end of the semester. All exams will be proctored by the Computer Based Testing Facility (CBTF).
- See course schedule.
- Review the exam information page for details
Course Grading
Your grade in the class consists of the following components:
| Component | Number of Assignments | Percent of Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Prelectures | 26 | 2.5% |
| Checkpoints | 28 | 2.5% |
| Lecture | 29 | 2.4% |
| Homework | 14 | 7.5% |
| Discussion - Skill Checks | 13 | 6.5% |
| Discussion - Participation | 14 | 9.1% |
| Prelab and Lab | 11+8 | 19.5% |
| Lab Practical | 1 | 1.5% |
| Tests | 6 | 36% (6% each) |
| Final Exam | 1 | 14% |
See the Course Grading page for additional details, including specific point breakdowns for the class, explanation of bonus points and EX grades, and the point totals used to assign final grades in the course.
Learning Philosophy and Advice for Success in Physics 102
The Physics community values analogical thinking, working on ideas with others, and the expression of physical situations through mathematical expressions and related representations. Our instruction is built around these values.
Students in Physics 102 can expect our values to be enacted in the following ways:
Analogical thinking:
In Physics, we define models that explain phenomena at their most general level, then we apply these models to understand and make predictions about many different situations. This course will explain those models and show how they are applied to several example situations. You will be asked in discussion, lab, homework, and on tests to apply these same models to similar
As you build your skills in analogical thinking, you should:
- Know the models or "rules" at their general level, including how to interpret equations on the formula sheet. You will need to memorize some of the definitions and relationships in these models.
- Understand what needs to be done to adapt the rules to various specific situations
- At a conceptual level, so that you understand what is going on in the situation in the language of the ideas we're using before you write any equations
- At a mathematical level, to understand why you need to write down an equation in a specific way for that situation
- Expect to practice many variations. Practice is a key component to building this kind of flexible thinking in Physics.
For more tips about developing your analogical thinking skills in Physics 102, this page on how to study physics may be helpful.
Working out ideas together:
There are many benefits to working out your physics ideas with others. Learners often benefit from explaining their thinking to another person, and can benefit from hearing a different (but still correct) approach to a new or old idea. Working together as a group allows members to pool their strengths and resources, so that every can contribute in their own way and fill in the "gaps" that an individual might have on their own. It can also be a nice way to feel like you are not alone when you get stuck: It often turns out that others have similar questions.
We support working out Physics ideas with others as follows:
- Requiring students to work in teams in discussion and labs.
- We recognize that students will split the problem sets up in Discussion in different ways; however we recommend a model where students talk out their ideas together. This will give all group members access to learn about all the variations presented, rather than only learning about one situation.
- Lab activities will require your group to form a consensus on what you plan to do, whether your data look reasonable, and what you will conclude. Your lab group will also need to coordinate different types of activities like circuit building, data collection, and writing. It is helpful for group members to share information with each other throughout these steps.
- Helping students with their homework and other Physics questions during office hours. Office hours offer a space for you to talk with an experienced person about your thinking and to get guidance. Students also find it helpful to talk to their peers during office hours.
- Encouraging studying with a group. You are not expected to do your homework alone, and may find it beneficial to do homework or study with a group of your peers.
- Encouraging (thoughtful) access to other resources, knowing that getting the answer is not the same as understanding.
- You are welcome to talk out your ideas with a friend or roommate who is good at Physics. However, if this friend just writes down a formula for you that you do not understand, this will not develop your understanding of the material. You are encouraged to ask questions and make sure that any time you receive assistance you understand what steps or decision were needed to write that equation down in that way.
- You are welcome to utilize Generative AI as a (limited) tutor, keeping in mind that (1) the answers it provides may not be correct and (2) much like asking a "good at Physics" friend, you should think carefully about
why a certain idea can be applied, how you know it is being applied correctly, or any other decisions or translations that needed to be made to "spit out" the answer given by the AI tool.
Mathematical Representations
In Physics, every mathematical expression represents a physical situation. The process of "writing down the right equation" is similar to writing a sentence. To do this, you will need to understand what certain variables in the formulas we provide represent. We provide "base versions" of formulas on the Physics 102 formula sheet. You do not need to memorize these formulas, but you will need to learn what their variables refer to and how to connect those variables to actual situations. Unfortunately, if you prefer a "numbers in, numbers out" approach, you will often find that just plugging in numbers without doing the translation properly will not solve the problem for you.
Attendance Policy
Attendance in all components of the class is required and is essential to your success in this course. Points associated with Lecture, Discussion, and Lab may only be earned by attending the course component in-person and participating in the classroom activities. Students who arrive late (more than 15 minutes) to Discussion or Lab will be considered absent for that class session. Students who are absent from a class session will receive an ABS (0) in the gradebook for that session. We do not offer opportunities to make-up missed work due to absence.
We understand that circumstances may occasionally occur where you may need to miss a class. We offer three ways to manage absences in Physics 102:
- This course offers Excused absences for Discussion, Lab, and Exams for specific reasons including illness and emergency that will prevent you from attending class. After submitting a request in our web form and having your excused absence approved, you will not be responsible for completing any make-up work from the missed session(s). View the Attendance Policy page for more details about excused absences, including circumstances that are appropriate for approval, time limits for submission, and limits for total excused absences in a semester. Note that we do not offer Excused Absences for lecture.
- Most course components are set up so that some lowest score(s), which may include ABS grades, will be dropped from the calculation of your final grade. Details of the number of dropped scores can be reviewed on the Course Grading page.
- This course offers two opportunities per week to earn bonus points, up to a total of 30 points per semester. These points will be applied to make up any points missed in components of the class other than exams.
Exam Attendance
It is important to us that students have an opportunity to show us what they know during exams. We are able to offer some flexibility in the case of student scheduling mistakes, but cannot extend the exam period far beyond what is already scheduled.
Students who accidentally miss their exam reservation should talk to a proctor at one of the CBTF labs to get their missed reservation deleted. Once the reservation is deleted a new reservation can be made using PrairieTest.
Students who are ill or experiencing a situation that qualifies for an Excused Absence should plan to miss the exam and submit appropriate documentation to excuse the missed exam. Students cannot get an exam score excused if they attend and take the exam.
Office Hours and Additional Support
There will be open office hours every week to give students one-on-one assistance if they need more help. Offfice hours are a great place to get assistance:
- working through difficult topics
- figuring out homework questions
- meeting fellow students and helping each other
- addressing other concerns about the class.
Everyone is always welcome to attend.
| If you are struggling or fall behind, please utilize available resources to help. For assistance with Physics concepts we recommend Office Hours and Jeffries Center tutoring. If you are encountering other difficulties and need assistance to get back on track or get connected with campus resources, please contact the CARE Center. |
|---|
Academic Integrity
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Student Code should also be considered as a part of this syllabus. Students should pay particular attention to Article 1, Part 4: Academic Integrity. Read the Code at the following URL: http://studentcode.illinois.edu/.
Academic dishonesty may result in a failing grade. Every student is expected to review and abide by the Academic Integrity Policy: http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1_part4_1-401.html. Ignorance is not an excuse for any academic dishonesty. It is your responsibility to read this policy to avoid any misunderstanding. Do not hesitate to ask the instructor(s) if you are ever in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, cheating, or any other breach of academic integrity.
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
- facilitating infractions of academic integrity.
Violations of any of these rules will be sanctioned and reported to the student's home college.
All aspects of the course are covered by these rules, including:
- homework
- written assignments
- discussion
- iClickers
- exams
- labs
- documentation submitted for petition for an excused absence
- James Scholar Projects
Academic integrity violations will be submitted through the FAIR portal at my.engr.illinois.edu. Use of this portal ensures that all processes are followed in accordance with the Student Code. Please respond within the portal - once we have all the information we will issue a finding of fact.
Use of AI Tools
This course permits you to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as chatbots, text generators, paraphrasers, summarizers, or solvers, to get guidance on assignments except for exams, as long as you do so in an ethical and responsible manner. Essentially, you can think of these tools as ways to help you learn but not to entirely create work for assignments like discussion problems, prelabs and labs, and James Scholar Projects. AI is more like your tutor or TA, not a replacement for your independent thinking. It can help you when you get stuck, but if you let it "do the thinking" for you, you will find that you do not understand the synthesis skills we use in class and assess on tests.
This means that you must:
- Not use AI tools to replace your own thinking or analysis or to avoid engaging with the course content.
- Cite or explain any AI tools you use in written materials you or your group turn in. Provide the name of the AI tool, the date of access, the URL of the interface, and the specific prompt or query you used to generate the output.
- Be transparent and honest about how you used the AI tool and how it contributed to your assignment. Explain what you learned from the AI tool, how you verified its accuracy and reliability, how you integrated its output with your own work, and how you acknowledged its limitations and biases.
You are accountable for any mistakes or errors made by the AI tool. Do not rely on the AI tool to produce flawless or correct results. Always check and edit the output before submitting your work. If you discover any inaccuracies or inconsistencies in the output after submission, notify the instructor immediately and correct them as soon as possible.
Using AI tools in an unethical or irresponsible manner, such as copying or paraphrasing the output without citation or transparency, using the output as your own work without verification or integration, or using the output to misrepresent your knowledge or skills, is considered a violation of Academic Integrity in Physics 102. If you have any questions about what constitutes ethical and responsible use of AI tools, please consult with the instructor before submitting your work.
Mental Health
Significant stress, mood changes, excessive worry, substance/alcohol misuse or interferences in eating or sleep can have an impact on academic performance, social development, and emotional wellbeing. The University of Illinois offers a variety of confidential services including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and specialized screenings which are covered through the Student Health Fee. If you or someone you know experiences any of the above mental health concerns, it is strongly encouraged to contact or visit any of the University’s resources provided below. Getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do for yourself and for those who care about you.
- Counseling Center (217) 333-3704
- McKinley Health Center (217) 333-2700
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-8255
- Rosecrance Crisis Line (217) 359-4141 (available 24/7, 365 days a year)
If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Students with Disabilities
To obtain disability-related academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the course instructor as soon as possible and provide the instructor with a Letter of Academic Accommodations from Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). To ensure that disability-related concerns are properly addressed from the beginning, students with disabilities who require assistance to participate in this class should apply for services with DRES and see the instructor as soon as possible. If you need accommodations for any sort of disability, please speak to me after class, or make an appointment to see me or see me during my office hours. DRES provides students with academic accommodations, access, and support services. To contact DRES, you may visit 1207 S. Oak St., Champaign, call 217-333-1970, e-mail disability@illinois.edu or visit the DRES website at http://www.disability.illinois.edu/. Here is the direct link to apply for services at DRES, https://www.disability.illinois.edu/applying-services.
Community of Care
As members of the Illinois community, we each have a responsibility to express care and concern for one another. If you come across a classmate whose behavior concerns you, whether in regards to their well-being or yours, we encourage you to refer this behavior to the CARE Center (217-333-0050 or http://odos.illinois.edu/community-of-care/referral/). Based on your report, the staff in the Student Assistance Center reaches out to students to make sure they have the support they need to be healthy and safe.
Further, as a Community of Care, we want to support you in your overall wellness. We know that students sometimes face challenges that can impact academic performance (examples include mental health concerns, food insecurity, homelessness, personal emergencies). Should you find that you are managing such a challenge and that it is interfering with your coursework, you are encouraged to contact the Student Assistance Center (SAC) in the Office of the Dean of Students for support and referrals to campus and/or community resources.
Religious Observances
Illinois law requires the University to reasonably accommodate its students' religious beliefs, observances, and practices in regard to admissions, class attendance, and the scheduling of examinations and work requirements. Students should complete the Request for Accommodation for Religious Observances form should any instructors require an absence letter in order to manage the absence. In order to best facilitate planning and communication between students and faculty, students should make requests for absence letters as early as possible in the semester in which the request applies.