Time: MF 1:50-2:45 & TR 2:20-3:40
Location: TCCW 251
This is an algebra-based physics course required for a variety of different majors. The focus of the course is Forces and Motion, and it covers a number of related topics such as energy, momentum, torques, materials and waves. It satisfies the general education requirement for Science (D-I), "An understanding of the scientific method and a knowledge of natural science and its relevance in our lives." As of Spring 2005, the laboratory portion of the course (formally Physics 207) has been formally integrated into the course. This course represents 3 credit corse for lecture and 1 credit hour for (2 hour) laboratory.
This course will be taught in a highly interactive, technology rich environment. The curriculum draws from 20 years of research on what makes effective physics classes at many different universities. In this course we will use interactive instruction, digital data acquisition, educational software, computer applications important for science and engineering students, and cooperative learning. Class sections will require students to be responsive, to think, and to perform hands-on tasks. Key concepts of new material will be discussed in short lectures.Physics is not an easy subject for many people. This structure of this course is based on research on how people learn physics so that you don't need to be a science whiz to do well, just to make enough effort. The old college rule of thumb is that you should spend 2-3 hours outside of class for every hour in class, so the average student needs to plan 10 to 15 hours a week studying for this class to do well. Some of you may find you need less time, some of you may find you need more time.
Collaborative Work
In most areas of work, you will work in groups as well as alone. Social interactions are critical to their success. Most good ideas grow out of discussions with colleagues. This course encourages collaborative teamwork, a skill that is valued by most employers. As you study together, help your partners to get over confusions, ask each other questions, and critique your homework. Teach each other! You can learn a great deal by teaching.While collaboration is the rule in technical work, evaluations of individuals also play an important role. Exams are to be done without help from others, unless instructed otherwise.
Dr. Scott Bonham
Office: TCCW 217
Phone: 745-6196
Email: Scott.Bonham@wku.edu
Office hours: You are welcome to come ask me questions anytime my office door is open. Official office hours are 11-12 am Tuesdays and 10:30-11:30 Fridays. You are also welcome to make an appointment with me.
The text book for this class is Physics by Douglas Giancoli. Readings from the book will be assigned and most homework problems will be from this text. Reading assignments are to be completed before coming to class; I do not expect you to fully understand the assigned reading, but I do expect you to be have seen the terminology and definitions.
The laboratory activity guides will be distributed electronically on the course website and will be collected electronically as well.
Reading Assignments
Class time will be mainly used for dealing with difficult concepts and areas which need extra practice. As in all courses, reading the relevant material before coming to class will help you get the most out of your class experience. Reading assignments will help you focus on doing that, and as a bonus you will create your own test review material. Every time we start a new chapter you will be assigned to create a brief chapter outline of the whole chapter.Pre-class and reflection assignments
Most class days there will be a pre-class assignment due several hours before class on WebAssign. The purpose of these assignments is to get you to start thinking about the topic of the day and identify areas of confusion and difficulty. They will usually be free-response (short essay) questions or graphical responses, and will be graded on your making a thoughtful effort, NOT whether the answer is right or wrong. I will review class responses before class, and come prepared to review the questions and address areas of difficulty.
About once a week a reflection assignment will also be available. The purpose of these assignments is to help you think about the important ideas we work on in the class. They will consist of one or more longer open-ended questions where you will be asked to summarize ideas in your own words and think about applications. These will be graded on completeness, correctness and thoughtfulness.
Laboratories
Laboratories will be done during regular class time at appropriate times in the curriculum. Most labs will utilize electronic data collection with the computers in the classroom. A significant focus of the labs is the development of scientific models from experimental data. The labs will be in the form of electronic worksheets that you will download from the website, fill out as you work through them in your group, and submit electronically as a group. The labs will be graded partially on thoughtful effort and partially on correctness, with a particular focus on the Summary Questions at the end of each lab. You will be able to access your submitted labs from the course web site.Homework
The majority of the homework assignments in the course will be submitted via the WebAssign system. Assignments will usually be due Tuesday and Thursday mornings, though there will be exceptions. Assignments will be due several hours before class. Assignments will include exercises related to the laboratories, reading, problem solving and other in-class activities. Some of the exercises will be from the textbook. Many weeks you will also be required to turn in written solutions of selected exercises on WebAssign, which will primarily be graded on completeness in following the process of good problem solving. Do not wait until the last moment to work the problems. You are allowed an adequate number of submissions. You should discipline yourself to keep a notebook with solutions to numerical problems worked out in a systematic manner. WebAssign will tell you if your numerical answers are correct, and solutions to many of the problems will be available on WebAssign after the last due date. The burden is on you to make sure you find out how to solve the problems by getting help before they are due or asking about them in class. If for some reason you can not complete the homework by the due date, you will be able to ask for automatic extensions. Each will give you up to three hours to work on it, but there will be a point penalty for extensions, so do not do this on a regular basis.
To log into WebAssign, your user name has been set to be the same as the username in your WKU email (the part before the "@" sign) with the exception that any dashes ("-") have been converted to periods ("."). Your password has been initially set to your WKU student ID (no dashes). I strongly recommend that you change that once you log in.
In-class activities and group assignments
We will often have in-class group activities in addition to laboratories to practice skills and to apply ideas learned to real-life situations. These may include (but not limited to) worksheets and simulations, solving challenging physics problems as a group, and using your physics knowledge to analyze real-life situations. Some will be participation activities where you receive full credit for effort; others will be graded on quality of the final product as well. Most activities will be done in class; a few will probably require your group to finish up outside of class. If you miss a class without a valid excuse, it will be at the instructor's discretion if you can make the activity up.
There will be three exams throughout the semester and a final. Exams will include a mixture of different question types and material, such as definitions, conceptual questions, simple exercises, and real-world problems (or portions thereof).
Test When Emphasis (this is a tentative list). Exam 1 Friday, September 26 (during class) Chapters 1-3
Exam 2 Friday, October 24 (during class) Chapter 4
Exam 3 Friday, November 21 (during class) Chapters 5-7
Final Exam Thursday, December 11, 1:00 pm
Entire course, extra emphasis on portions of Chapters 8 & 9
Physics is a subject that builds on itself; even though an exam may emphasize material later in the course, problems can and will incorporate earlier material.
The grades in the course will be calculated based on the following weighting.Breakpoints for the class are:
Reading Assignments 2% Pre-class assignments 2% Class activities and group assignments 20% Homework (computer and written) 20% Mid-term exams (each) 12% Final Exam 20%
If everyone in the class does well, grades are not curved downward. Everyone can get an A.
90% - 100% A 80% - 89% B 70% - 79% C 60% - 69% D 59% and below F
There usually is a "gray area" between two letter grades in the final distribution. Two people getting the same weighted average grade could get different letter grades, a C+ and B-, for example. The higher grade depends on your interactions in class and whether your test and homework performance shows improvement.Keep a copy of all returned materials in case there is any need to check your records against mine.
Free tutoring is available in the Help Center in room 236. The schedule of when it will be open will be posted about the second week of the semester.Last modified: August 24, 2008“Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, DUC A201. The OFSDS telephone number is (270) 745-5004. TTY is (270)745-3030.”
“Per university policy, please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.”