Homework
- Homework is a very important part of this course
and will be assigned weekly.
- Homework sets will be assigned on Thursday of each week. They will be due
on the Friday of
the following week.
- Homework sets should be placed in the 487 homework
box (located on the north side of Loomis Lab, between
rooms 267 and 271 LLP) by
4:00pm on the day of
the due date.
- Unless a valid, verifyable excuse is given, homework sets which are
submitted late will receive a 50% penalty. Homework sets
which are turned in after
11:00am on the Tuesday following the Friday
deadline (12 days after the set is first posted) will
receive no credit.
- Homework is required, and if you miss a
significant fraction of the assigned HW sets I will lower
your final letter grade.
Quizzes and Discussion sessions
- The
discussion session problems are designed to complement and
help with the Homework.
- Discussion
sessions are held on Wednesday
afternoons and evenings, 4:30-5:50pm in 322 Loomis,
and 6:00-7:20pm, 7:30-8:50pm in
234 Loomis. Attendance is part of your grade.
- Starting
with the 3rd week, there will be a Quiz at the beginning of each
discussion session on the previous week's
homework set.
Checkpoints
- The purpose of the
checkpoints is to help engage you with the
lecture material before the first lecture.
- Checkpoints are due each
week on Monday evenings at 8:00pm.
- Checkpoint
answers must be submitted via the SmartPhysics
web page for P487.
Lecture attendance
- Lecture attendance is
required, and I will be taking lecture attendance during
every lecture. Note that if you miss a significant
fraction of lectures I will lower your letter grade.
- The use of laptops,
tablets, smartphones, or any other electronic
devices is not permitted during lecture
unless you have prior permission from me.
Excused absences (EX)
- If you miss a P487
assignment or required activity (HW, quizzes, discussion,
lectures, checkpoints), you may be eligible to receive an EX
score on the particular assignment instead of a zero. For
that you must provide appropriate documentation. Depending
on the nature of your absence, appropriate documentation
would be a copy of a McKinley slip (illness), a letter from
the emergency dean (family or other emergencies), an email
or note from your research advisor (for research related
absences), or other note explaining your absence.
- For exam conflicts, it is
sufficient for you to tell me which class you are taking.
- For planned absences
(conferences, exam conflicts, ...) please inform me (and the
TA, if the absence is for a quiz or discussion) by email at
least a week prior to your event.
- For other inadvertent
absences that don't qualify for an EX score, I highly
recommend that you discuss them with me, so
that I am aware of the reasons why you might have missed a
HW assignment or a lecture attendance.
Grading
Your grade
will be based on your performance on the quizzes (35%), the
midterm exam (20%), the final exam (30%), the checkpoints
(10%), and discussion attendance (5%). Homework will count for
extra credit. Up to 15% can be added to your score for
homework.
You can
access your grades on the Gradebook
using your University NETID and the password you use
to register at UofI Direct.
Exams
Format:
in class with open notes and open textbook.
Midterm
exam: 07 Mar
2013, 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Final Exam:
07 May
2013, 7:00-10:00 PM
Academic Integrity
You
may discuss the homework problems with your classmates,
but each student is required to provide his/her own
solutions. Remember, the best way to learn and prepare for
the quizzes and exams is to work through problems by
yourself. No discussion or
collaboration of any kind is allowed on the quizzes or
on the exams.
With
your signature on the lecture attendance form you attest
that you have filled it out yourself. Filling out or submitting a
lecture attendance form on behalf
of another student, or asking
another student to fill out or submit a lecture
attendance form on your behalf will be considered a violation of academic integrity,
and will result in consequences for all parties involved.
Unless prior permission has been given by me, this applies
regardless of whether or not the students involved
attended the lecture.