PHYS 486 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Announcements:

08/22/2023

See you Tuesday, Aug. 27 for the first class.
First Homework will be posted in week 2, and is due on Tue of week 3.
First Discussions and office hours are in week 2.

Homework and Discussions

The most important part to learn the materials and do well on the exams is practice. Practice means solving problems and being able to explain your work. You will solve practice problems in homework sets, and discuss them in the Discussion section.

Homework format:

Problem sets are posted by Wednesday.
Deadline for submitting solutions on Gradescope is the end of the following Tuesday (11:59:59pm).
No extensions. You can utilize your drops if you are too busy, or request an EX if you have a valid reason.
Working in groups is strongly encouraged, but you must submit your own work. Submitting copied work is plagiarism.
Homework grades and solutions are available one week after submission deadline.

Discussion format:

You will discuss the most recent homework with your peers.
Per problem, one person will present their solution and the rest of the group provides feedback and asks questions. The TAs moderate your discussions and answer questions.
You should be able to adequately explain correct homework solutions after the discussion.
In addition, there will be Discussion-only problem sets that you will solve in groups during the discussion. These will, in some weeks, include numerical and programming exercises.

Exams

Midterm 1: October 3 (in-class)
Midterm 2: November 11 (in-class)
Final: December 13, 1:30pm-4:30pm (details available by Oct. 11)

Allowed materials

For each exam, you are allowed to bring your own handwritten cheat-sheet. It may be at most 1 single-sided, page (letter size). You can also use a calculator.

Academic Integrity

All activities in this course are subject to the Academic Integrity rules as described in Article 1, Part 4, Academic Integrity, of the Student Code.

Anti-Racism and Inclusivity Statement

The Grainger College of Engineering is committed to the creation of an anti-racist, inclusive community that welcomes diversity along a number of dimensions, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity and national origins, gender and gender identity, sexuality, disability status, class, age, or religious beliefs. The College recognizes that we are learning together in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, that Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous voices and contributions have largely either been excluded from, or not recognized in, science and engineering, and that both overt racism and micro-aggressions threaten the well-being of our students and our university community.

The effectiveness of this course is dependent upon each of us to create a safe and encouraging learning environment that allows for the open exchange of ideas while also ensuring equitable opportunities and respect for all of us. Everyone is expected to help establish and maintain an environment where students, staff, and faculty can contribute without fear of personal ridicule, or intolerant or offensive language. If you witness or experience racism, discrimination, micro-aggressions, or other offensive behavior, you are encouraged to bring this to the attention of the course director if you feel comfortable. You can also report these behaviors to the Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART) (https://bart.illinois.edu/). Based on your report, BART members will follow up and reach out to students to make sure they have the support they need to be healthy and safe. If the reported behavior also violates university policy, staff in the Office for Student Conflict Resolution may respond as well and will take appropriate action.