PHYS 213 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Description

Introduction

The goals of this course are to help you learn the basic ideas of thermodynamics and how they relate to modern applications. The approaches used to achieve these goals involve 1) lectures to interactively discuss and demonstrate the principles, 2) interaction with instructors in discussion sections to provide one-on-one help with concepts and problem solving, 3) laboratory experiments allowing you to actively explore these principles, and 4) computerized homework on the World Wide Web using the smartPhysics system.

The basic philosophy of Physics 213 can be summarized as follows:

  1. Introduction and first chance to think about it (textbook reading assignments and prelectures)
  2. Untangle it (lectures and AskTheProf Checkpoints)
  3. Challenge yourself (homework)
  4. Play with it (labs)
  5. Close the loop (discussion)

The order of the above items is very important.

Background required

Credit for Physics 211 and credit or concurrent registration in Math 242 are prerequisites for Physics 213. We expect you to have a good understanding of classical mechanics and to be able to differentiate and integrate simple functions. We also deal in this course with combinatorics and some ideas from statistics.

Course Components

Lectures: Three 50-minute lectures will be given each week, on Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday. In addition to the traditional presentation of lecture and demonstration material, each lecture will involve a few interactive learning sessions (we call them ACTs). During these sessions students will work in groups on a specific assigned question and will discuss the results with other students and with the instructors. This will allow the instructor to pinpoint problems in understanding and deal with them before moving on. The purpose is to help you understand; your participation is necessary for this to occur.

In order to provide an environment more conducive to participation and interaction, each student should have an "I-clicker" with which to answer various questions during lecture. Some minor credit (1 point) will be assigned for each lecture in which the i-clickers are used (but only one lecture per day per student). Each student is expected to use only his/her I-clicker.

Come to the lecture! We will go through examples and ACTs which are not available in the published lecture notes, and the lecture discussion will elaborate on the material published in the lecture notes, using a number of nice demonstrations.

We still want to retain the feature that you can ask questions or make comments on confusing issues from the previous lecture. This feature is now enabled via the CheckPoint AskTheProf assignment in smartPhysics. These assignments are made before each lecture, but there are no 'points' for submitting a question (it's for your own benefit!).

The Lecture notes will be available at TIS, Follett's and University Bookstores. Note that the lecture slides may be modified somewhat from the published notes due to the necessity for making corrections, correcting typographical errors, etc. The most updated version of the lectures (including answers to ACTs) will be available on the 213 syllabus after all lectures on a given day are given.

Do not let yourself get behind! This course covers a large amount of material. The understanding of new topics will frequently require knowledge of previous material.

Homework: Each week you are responsible for completing a computer-based homework assignment. These assignments are graded and are an important part of the course. The only way to really understand these topics is to work lots of problems. NOTE: Students are expected to solve the homework problems, not copy them from someone else, or some other resource. Much of the learning of any new topic comes from struggling to figure out problems.

To start work on a homework assignment, go to smartPhysics. To receive full credit, the homework must be completed by the date indicated on the assignments page (usually 8 am on the Tuesday, and on the Thursday of the week of the midterm (or if Monday was a holiday)--look at the Syllabus). Homework completed during the week immediately following the due date will be accepted but will earn only a maximum of 80% of the original grade. [This partial credit does not apply to the final homework set.] Homework submitted more than 7 days after the original due date (i.e., after 8AM on the next Tuesday) will not receive any credit. The Online Quiz problems are similar in format to Exam problems (e.g., multiple choice and you do not get multiple attempts to answer them); they are due the same time as the Homework problems, but MUST be turned in on time to receive any credit. The homework/online quiz problems will be made available at least one week before they are due.

Lab Session: Each of the four 2-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 your Prelab, a short set of questions designed to address the main topics of the lab. The Prelab will be graded and will count for 1/4 of your lab grade.

If you need to miss a lab experiment, consult your laboratory instructor as soon as possible. It may be possible to make up a laboratory experiment later in the week, if there is space and if the equipment has not yet been dismantled. Laboratory experiments are set up on Monday morning and are taken down after the last lab section on Friday evening. If a make-up laboratory is not possible, an EX grade will be assigned for excused absences. Missed and unexcused labs will be assigned a grade of zero. This penalty can have severe consequences.

Discussion Sessions: Each week (starting the first) 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 presented to you by your TA. Discussion problems are designed to aid and test you in the understanding of the course material; you should find them beneficial in preparation for the exams. The solutions to these problems will be posted online (see link off the course homepage) at the end of each week.

During each discussion session (except the first week), 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, including homework due at the beginning of the current week. The quiz will be graded and recorded in the gradebook. Full attendance is expected. It is course policy that late arrivals may not be permitted to take the quiz.

If you cannot attend your regular discussion section on a particular week due to an Excused conflict, contact your discussion TA at least a week before your conflict. It is sometimes possible to attend an alternate section on these occasions.

Exams: Exams are machine graded and consist of multiple-choice questions scored as follows:

On five-choice multiple choice questions there is a partial credit option. If you are unable to do the calculation which will result in the correct answer, you may elect to accept partial credit for successfully eliminating unphysical answers. If you mark two answers, one of which is the correct answer to the question, you will receive 3 points for the question. If you mark three answers, one of which is the correct answer to the question, you will receive 2 points for the question.

In order to reduce the incidence of inappropriate conduct during exams, we reserve the right to employ a variety of methods, including photographing the exam rooms, performing statistical analyses on exams, controlling the seating arrangements during the exams, etc. In fairness to the entire class, students found guilty of inappropriate conduct will incur consequences according to the infraction, including receiving a zero on the exam, an F in the course, etc.

The midterm is a 90-minute exam, given at 7 PM on the Monday after the fourth week of the course. See the syllabus for the exact date. You will be assigned a room for the exam based on your discussion section, and attendance will be taken by your discussion TA. Bring a calculator and pencils to the exams. In addition, bring your official university identification card to show upon request.

A conflict exam will be given at 5:15 PM on the same evening as the regular exam. We will announce procedures for signing up for the conflict exam.

A midterm exam review session will be held the day before the midterm. An email will be sent out with the time and place.

Grading

Your final grade for Physics 213 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
Prelectures 8
Lectures 15
Homework 116
Online Quizzes 29
Discussions 145
Labs 145
Midterm Exam 200
Final Exam 342

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).

There will be 6 Discussion quizzes; your quiz grade will be the sum of your 5 highest individual quiz scores, adjusted to compensate for grading differences among discussion section instructors.

All 4 lab scores will be used in calculating your lab total 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.

Since most students in this course work conscientiously, scores on smartPhysics homework assignments will be very high. For example, last semester most Physics 213 students had homework and lab scores greater than 90%. Consequently, high homework and lab grades will not compensate for low examination grades. On the other hand, you can seriously lower your grade if you have low homework and lab grades. The real payoff for struggling with and doing well on the homeworks and the labs is a better understanding of the physics and, consequently, higher examination scores.

To give you an indication of your standing during the semester, you will be given re-normalized (curved) scores for the midterm exam. Recently, Physics 213 students who received final grades of (A, B, C, D) had average exam scores of (91%, 82%, 70%, 61%).

Gradebook

You will be able to view your grades on all components of the course using the course gradebook. 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.

All questions about your course letter grade should be directed to the main lecturer.

Unexcused Absences, Excused Absences, and Course Credit

As discussed above, the course grade is determined by performance on several graded course components (lecture, homework, quiz, lab, midterm and final exams). Absence from a graded course component is defined to be the receipt of zero in the gradebook (due to non-attendance or non-participation, e.g., skipping a quiz).

Unexcused absences from any graded course component will be assigned an AB score (= 0), and the course grade will be computed using that score. An unexcused absence from the final exam will result in a course grade of AB, which will become an F without a Dean's intervention.

Excused absences from graded course components will receive an EX grade. Article 1, part 5 of the Student Code describes the University's policy on class attendance. There are two kinds of excuses:

If a student has an excused absence from a graded course component (except the final exam), his/her score for that grade component will be determined by the grades on the remainder of the labs or quizzes, or the final exam. An excused absence from the final exam can only be handled by a Dean, who can change an AB to an INC, to be made up at a later date.

Requests for excused absences will not be considered after Reading Day.

Missing Labs and Quizzes

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. Labs and quizzes are integral to the course. If a student has *unexcused* absences for more than two labs or more than two quizzes, the student will receive a grade of F for the course. 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. Make-up of unexcused absences is not permitted. If a student already has *excused* absences for two labs or two quizzes, any subsequent *excused* absence will still result in a grade of zero for the lab or quiz that week. The student can make up the work (i.e., receive a grade) by either: 1) Doing the discussion material and taking the quiz within one week of returning to class. This must be arranged with the course director. Unfortunately, we have no way to make up labs after the end of the week in which the lab is offered, or 2) Taking the lab or quiz in another semester when the course is offered. This will require a note from the undergraduate office.

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, I-clickers, exams and labs.