PHYS 102 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
James Scholar Credit
Page Contents
James Scholar Project Eligibility
Project Description - Track 1 - Track 2
Eligibility
To earn James Scholars credit in Physics 102, 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 the James Scholar grader.
- Submit a project paper and revise it based on grader feedback until all criteria are satisfied.
Please note that the grades on these assignments DO NOT affect your overall PHYS 102 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 Mar. 13 | Gradescope | Proposal (web form) |
| Mar. 9—20 | Gradescope | Proposal feedback and resubmission |
| 5:00pm on Apr. 17 | Gradescope | Paper First Draft due(document upload) |
| Apr. 20 - May 7 | Gradescope | Paper feedback and resubmission |
| 5:00pm on May 8 | Gradescope | Final deadline for papers |
Please join the Gradescope course for this semester using the code: KNNGDD
. Feel free to reach out to your instructor for technical or content-related guidance on your James Scholar Project.
This semester we are offering two tracks for the James Scholar Assignment: (1) Physics History and (2) Physics Across the Disciplines.
Your honors credit will be based on an assignment that involves:
- Choosing one of the two tracks and identifying your topic and/or article that is relevant to Physics 102 material.
- writing a <1000 word summary of the topic or article with your interpretation that is relevant to Physics 102 material.
Track 1: Physics History
In this first option, you will choose a concept related to Physics 102 and do some research related to the history of that concept. By the end of the semester, you will turn in a >1000 word paper summarizing the history of the concept at the level a high school student can understand, explaining the ideas involved, how they changed over time and why, and who was involved in these ideas. Wikipedia can be a great resource to get started with these topics, but your research should utilize other reputable and citable resources such as the Center for History of Physics, journals like History of Science, Science in Context, and Perspectives on Science.
Some options you may wish to investigate include:
- Development of ideas about electricity and electric charge over time from Ancient Greece and/or the Islamic Golden Age, through the 18th century, and to our current understanding.
- Development of physics concepts or physics-related inventions from non-Western cultures, including China and India, Africa, and Indigenous peoples in North and South America. This list provides some ideas of where to get started.
- Innovations or contributions to topic related to Physics 102 by a person or community who is typically excluded from the narrative of scientific `genius' and discovery. Some places to get started include:
- The works of Margaret Rossiter, the late science historian credited with spotlighting women in science whose contributions have been previously overlooked.
- Web Exhibits and Teaching Guides from the American Institute of Physics' historians.
- Contributions of inventors and scientists
- Contributions of inventors and scientists [Resource 1] [Resource 2] [Resource 3]
- The development of geometric optics over time, including Ibn Sina's work.
Please be thoughtful about any use of AI to determine ideas for this project. Most AI chatbots have been trained based on what they have scraped from the web, which primarily includes the same genius stories this project is trying to subvert. Related, it has been found that students writing papers end up reiterating the biases of the AI they use for assistance.
Additionally, your paper must NOT be focused on Coulomb, Faraday, Benjamin Franklin, Gauss, or other figures whose names are attached to equations we use in class. If they come up it's okay, but at least half of the focus should be on other people.
The proposal must identify the topic you wish to cover, summarize how it is of historical interest, and provide at least three resources you plan to use for that topic.
Track 2: Physics Across the Disciplines
In this second option, you will find a topic that connects content from Physics 102 with your area of study and write a paper that explains the connection beteen the two. You may use a recent journal article that contains material that is both related to Physics 102 and to your discipline, or you may focus on explaining a certain procedure or measurement method that is common in your field. By the end of the semester, you will turn in a >1000 word paper summarizing this topic at the level that a high school senior can understand, explaining both the physics ideas involved and the discipline-specific ideas so that your instructor, whose background is in physics, can understand the connection.
If you use an article, it 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 10 years old
- be approved by your instructor.
- be complex enough that you can write 1000 words on it.
- use at least one idea from Physics 102 in a central way.
- not be a procedure that you copy directly from a textbook, instruction manual, etc. (Although you may expand on such a procedure by adding detailed explanations)
- be approved by your instructor.
The proposal must include a link to or pdf copy of the article or a link or document describing the basics of the application you are focusing on and at least one paragraph explaining how it is relevant to Physics 102.
Paperwork
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:
- Clear indication of the track you are choosing
- 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 102
- The resources provided are appropriate for the proposal:
- For an interdisciplinary application: The topic is related to Physics 102, the article is less than ten years old, and it comes from a peer-reviewed journal; or the topic is relevant and sufficiently complex for the required length of the paper.
- For a history topic: At least three credible resources are provided that are on-topic and that show you have enough information to coherently begin explaining the historical development
Proposals that satisfy all these criteria will be approved to move forward with a James Scholar Paper. 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
- Formatting and clarity
- Completeness and correctness of content
- Appropriate level of explanation of content
We will require you to satisfy all paper criteria in order to earn honors credit for Physics 102. We are using a revise and resubmit approach to this project: We will provide feedback on each draft you submit and you will be able to make revisions and resubmit in Gradescope 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 the grader if you run into any difficulties.