Physics
212 Course
Description
Introduction
Welcome to
Physics 212, Introduction to Electricity and Magnetism! In this course we will
discuss the basic laws describing electric and magnetic fields and how they
interact with matter. These topics are important, not only because they are
extremely interesting in their own right (their discovery was probably the most
important one in the 19th century), but also because they underlie almost all
of modern technology, from computers to telecommunications, all of chemistry,
and all of biology as well. Obviously completely understanding all that is beyond
the scope of this one semester course! We will therefore focus on the basic
principles, and their connection to applications from areas diverse as astronomy,
engineering, medicine, and zoology. It is our goal that at the end of this course
you will understand the main concepts of electricity and magnetism, be able
to apply them quantitatively for solving relevant problems, and appreciate qualitatively
how they play a role in nearly every aspect of our lives. The road to understanding
is not a particularly easy one, but the journey is well worth the effort. In
order to help you, we have devised a multifaceted approach intended to maximize
your conceptual understanding and ability to solve practical problems.
Overview
The basic
teaching philosophy of Physics 212 can be summarized as follows:
1. Introduction and first chance to think about it (prelectures and preflights)
2. Untangle it (lectures)
3. Challenge yourself (homework)
4. Play with it (labs)
5. Close the loop (discussion)
The order
of the above items is critical.
The first exposure you will have to the material will be in the prelecture (1). These are new research-based multimedia presentations designed to introduce the key ideas/concepts of the lecture. Do this on your own prior to lecture (the assigned
prelecture is listed for each lecture on the course planner).
This first step should be taken very seriously, as all of the following items
depend on this pre-exposure.
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 "preflight" on the Web. Each preflight 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. There are no "bad" preflight
answers. You will receive full credit if you give it your best shot and answer
all the questions.
The lecture
(2) will take the concepts you have read about and expand/explain them, usually
with the aid of demonstrations. The lectures themselves will be interactive,
and your participation is strongly recommended. Student questions and comments
in class are encouraged, especially related to concepts and problems you found
difficult in the preflights. 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 you answer correct.
The Web-based homework (3) covering each week's 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 to guide you in finishing
each weekly homework assignment. Homework problems are designed to test your
understanding of the concepts as well as developing problem-solving skills.
The weekly
lab cycle (4) is designed to give you the opportunity to explore the concepts
you have encountered in lecture.
To cap things off, a 2-hour weekly Discussion section (5) will go over the
concepts you have learned about in the previous week's lectures,
lab and homework. Also there will be open office hours every week to give
you one-on-one assistance if you need more help; do not be bashful about taking
advantage of these!
In order to succeed in Physics 212, you must not fall behind! This course
covers a large amount of new material. The understanding of new topics frequently
requires mastery of previous material. Unlike classical mechanics, you probably
have much less "intuition" about electricity and magnetism.
To help you keep track of "what is due when" we have put together a handy
Web based daily planner, available on the course
webpage.
Course
Component Details
You are required to complete a web-based prelecture and preflight prior to each lecture. The prelectures are web-based multimedia learning activities that include embedded questions. You may attempt each question several times, however you must get the questions correct to complete the activity. You will receive 2 points for each prelecture you complete. Once you have completed the prelecture, the preflight will be available. While we don't expect you to get correct answers to all of the preflight questions, they will be checked for a good faith effort. Each completed preflight is worth 1 point. There is no late credit for prelectures or preflights.
Lectures:
Since you will already have been exposed to the basic concepts through the prelecture, the lectures will spend relatively little time in the traditional lecture format. The primary focus of the lecture will be on expanding your understanding of the material based on your preflight responses. This will take the form of interACTive learning segments (ACTs). During
these segments students will work in groups on a specific assigned problem and
can discuss the results with other students and with the lecturer. This will
allow the instructor to pinpoint problems in understanding and deal with them
before moving on. The purpose is to help you understand, and your participation
is critical.
Each week
you are responsible for completing a computer-based homework assignment. These
assigments are graded and are an important part of the course. The only
way to really understand these topics is to work lots of problems.
To start
work on a homework assignment, click once on "Homework Assignments" on the Physics
212 homepage. Then click on the assignment you wish to do. The current assignment
can also be reached from the "Planner" page of the Physics 212 homepage.
The homework
assignments consist of two required parts: Four Homework A problems (including
two "interactive examples") and a Homework B problem. There are also a number
of optional exercises available, designed as "warm-up" exercises for the homework
problems.
The full-credit
deadline is 8:00 am on Tuesday following the week in which the material is covered
in lecture) for each homework set. There is no late credit for Homework B. For
the Homework A problems, work done after -- but within one week of -- the deadline
for a set receives a 10% penalty. Note that this is a relatively small penalty
and that it is well worth doing the homework even if the full-credit deadline
has passed. There is no late credit for any of Homework B.
You may
work a problem or part of a problem as many times as you like.
Each week
you will attend a two-hour discussion section conducted by a TA. These sections
will be active learning sessions in which you will work in small groups solving
problems provided to you by your TA. Discussion sessions are designed to aid
you in the understanding of the course material. You will find them beneficial
in preparation for the hour exams.
During each
discussion session, your TA will administer a short quiz (usually about 15-20
minutes in length) based on the material covered in the previous week's lectures
and homeworks. This quiz will be graded and recorded in the gradebook.
Each of
the nine two-hour laboratories will involve a series of activities, including
(i) setting up simple experiments to study topics studied in class, (ii) making
predictions about the outcome of your experiments, (iii) performing measurements
of different phenomena you have studied, (iv) analyzing your results, and (v)
answering questions concerning your results and predictions. In addition, at
the beginning of each lab, you are expected to turn in a "prelab",
a short set of questions designed to address the main topics of the lab. Prelab
scores are counted as part of the total lab score.
The Lab
sections start the second week of the course, and the first prelabs are due
at beginning of these sections.
The first
three multiple-choice exams will be given at 7:00 pm on Wednesday evenings; the dates are listed in the course
syllabus. 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 pencils to all exams. In addition, you must bring your official university
identification card to show upon request.
Conflict
exams will be scheduled for those with a legitimate schedule conflict. These
exams will be given at 5:15 pm on the same evening as the regular exam.
Exam scores
will be posted in the web gradebook within 24 hours of the exam.
For those
of you intending to use Physics 212 to satisfy your James Scholar requirement
for an "honors" course, there are three things you must do:
1a. If
you are in Engineering, you must see Cindy Hubert in 231/233 Loomis, to fill
out an Honor's Learning Agreement, which your lecturer will then have to sign.
1b. If you are in LAS, you must go to 270 Lincoln Hall to fill out the Honor's
Learning Agreement, which your lecturer will then have to sign.
1c. If you are in some other College, please see Cindy Hubert in 231 Loomis,
and we'll figure out what the sign-up procedure is.
2. Complete the on-line registration
.
3. Turn in the 5 James Scholar assignments, which will be posted on-line.
The assignments will involve simple web-research, reading of articles, writing
descriptions, and simple calculations. We hope you will find them thought-provoking,
and that they give you a better apprecation for the wider application of
electro-magnetism to some of the latest cutting edge research and
technology.
Grading
Your final grade for Physics 212 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:
|
Prelectures+Preflights+Lectures
|
100
|
|
Homework+Discussion
|
250
|
|
Labs
|
150
|
|
Hour exams (100 each)
|
300
|
|
Final Exam
|
200
|
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 Pre-Flight assignments. You should also be able to do very well on Labs and Quizzes.
Prelectures+Preflights+Lectures:
There will be 28 lectures (1 pt) , each with a corresponding prelecture (2 pts) and preflight (1pt). So if you completed all of these activities, they would add to a total of 112 points (12 points more than the maximum allowed). This is so that if you are sick, have a conflict, or just forget, you can miss a few of these activities without any penalty in your grade. We do not give EX's for these course components. In addition to the 4 points/lecture listed, you may also earn up to 1 "bonus" point per lecture based on the fraction of the ACTs that you answer correctly during that lecture. These bonus points will be added to your Homework/Discussion score.
Homework+Discussion:
There will be 14 homework sets and 10 quizzes, for a total
of 24 equally-weighted scores. Your lowest score from this group of 24
will be dropped to determine your combined "homework/quiz" grade. Once
this score is computed, your bonus points from lecture will be added, up
to a maximum score of 250 points. So if you had an average
homework/quiz score of 90%, and 15 bonus points from lecture, your
Homework/Discussion score would be (.9 x 250) + 15 = 240.
Labs:
All 9 lab
scores will be used in calculating your total lab points at the end of the semester.
(No lab scores will be dropped.) Scores used in this calculation will be adjusted
to compensate for grading differences among lab section instructors.
You will
be able to view your grades on all components of the course using the course
gradebook, which is accessable from the homepage. During the semester, you
should check that your lab and quiz grades are correctly entered in the gradebook;
any problems here should be brought to the attention of your section instructor
immediately.
The final
exam will be three hours in length and will cover material from the whole semester.
Two final exams will be given. Please select the one you prefer before the deadline listed in the gradebook on the web.
All questions
about your course letter grade should be directed to the main lecturer.
Unexcused Absences, Excused Absences, and Course Credit:
There will
be no make-ups for missed exams, quizzes or laboratory work in Physics 212.
Unexcused absences from hour exams or quizzes will receive a score of AB, 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 AB, 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.
Typically,
EX scores for exams, quizzes, prelabs and lab reports 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); or (c) required
attendance at an official UIUC 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 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 P212 instructors.
In case
(c) inform your lecturer in advance that you will be missing an hour
exam and request an I 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 for recording and distribution
to all of your instructors. Alternatively, request that the note be sent directly
to the course secretary in 231/233 Loomis.
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 I 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 I score is justified.
If you fail
to take a regular or conflict final exam in Physics 212, 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
I letter grade can only be granted by an authorized member of the Dean's Office
of your college. If an I grade is granted, you must take a replacement final
exam before the deadline specified in UIUC Code of Policies and Regulations
Applying to All Students.
Course credit will
only be given if the student completes enough of the course components to
satisfy the course director that he/she has learned the material.
Specifically, if a student has EX grades for more than five quizzes or four
labs, he/she must make up the deficiency before we will award a satisfactory
grade.
If a student does not complete enough graded
course components to earn course credit, we will assign a grade of F. 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.
