Physics 201Fall 2011: Syllabus

Stanley Micklavzina
Willamette 142/109
Office Hours: Monday 2:00 - 2:50 and Thursday 11:00 - 12:00 or by appointment
Phone: x6-4801, x6-4757
email: stanm@uoregon.edu

Head Teaching Assistant: Herbert Grotewohl
Office Phone: 346-4770
Office: Room 216 Willamette Hall
email: hgrotewo@uoregon.edu

All TA: Office Hours 25 hours of help available to you!!
The specific goals of this class are to:

  • To learn the basic laws of physics and mathematics relating to forces and motion.
  • To use the conceptual understanding, the basic laws and algebraic mathematics to solve problems.

Textbook:

  • "Physics, Custom Edition Douglas Giancoli (Prentice Hall, 2004) Edited by Richard Taylor and Stanley Micklavzina for The University of Oregon. In a collaboration with Prentice Hall, a reduced-cost customized version of this book that includes a Mastering Physics homework system access code is available at the Duckstore at a cost of $132.00. The Customized Edition versions of the book have identical content to a standard Giancoli 6th Edition, but the order and organization of the material is different, so it is highly suggested you purchase the customized textbook. We will be using Mastering Physics in all sections of PHYS 201. If you are sharing a book, or choose to use a book at the library, a separate Mastering Physics code will cost $50.00 and can be purchased online or at the information kiosk on the second floor of the Duckstore if you are unable to or strongly disagree with the purchase of materials online. .

Other Helpful Books:

  • Most any other basic physics text

Course Organization

  • The lectures for this course will follow normal physics standards - lectures given with demos and clicker involvement. THIS IS A LARGE LECTURE HALL. PLEASE MINIMIZE USE OF LAPTOP COMPUTERS. NO CELL PHONES OR TEXTING IN CLASS. I WILL DO ALL I CAN TO MAKE THE LECTURES AS EXCITING AND INTERACTIVE AS POSSIBLE. DISTRACTIONS ARE SO EASY ESPECIALLY IN THE BACK OF THE HALL. SIT AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN. I WISH TO DECREASE DISTRACTIONS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. YOU AND FELLOW STUDENTS HAVE PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR YOUR EDUCATION. PLEASE RESPECT THE ONES AROUND YOU. DO NOT DISTURB THE LECTURE BY LEAVING DURING THE LECTURE. IF YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO LEAVE BEFORE LECTURE ENDS, PLEASE SIT IN A LOCATION THAT WILL CAUSE MINIMAL DISTURBANCE. Announcements, assignments, exam results, HW solutions, Tutorial solutions will be posted in Blackboard. The syllabus and course schedule are updated regularly and accessible at the course website.

Office Hours:

  • Make use of office hours! Both mine and the Teaching Assistant. Also Drop-in Help Sessions are also available. Pick up a schedule in the Physics Office. Note, our each T.A. is available at 5 hours each week and I am available two hours a week and by appointment! Utilize the help!

Homework:

We will be using an Web Based Homework system called Mastering Physics. You will submit your homework answers via computer. This is to give quick feedback to homework questions. You will be allowed a stated number of attempts to submit a correct assignment. (Homework can be saved. This would not count as a submission.) THE DUE DATES ARE SET AND NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE GRADED. Note: the values for the problems in the web question will be different for each student. If you figure out how to solve the problem as a group, you will still have to calculate your values for your own answer. The WEB based homework frees up Teaching Assistant time for teaching you in office hours rather than grading. UTILIZE OFFICE HOURS FOR HELP IN THE COURSE AND HOMEWORK!

COPYING Homework Solutions is plagiarism. If you should happen upon Homework solutions to this book or course, I give you this warning. It has been proven that students who just use an obtained homework solution without attempting the problem learn very little and the grade suffers at exam time. I have had students in the past have an almost perfect homework score and very low grades on exams, and got a low grade in the course. Each time it has been because the student copied homework solutions and did not attempt to solve the homework problems

Campus Computing Lab Hours and Info is here if you need access to a computer on campus and don't own a laptop or have one with you.

The homework will help you keep pace with the course and the feedback will let you know how well you are doing.

The COURSE ID in Mastering Physics is: MPMICKLAVZINAF2011

The link that talks more about homework is here.

Tutorials:
Additional to your three lectures, you are required to attend the tutorial session each week. Tutorials begin on Friday Sept. 30. The tutorial sessions are held in Room 101 LLCS.. You must attend the tutorial session that you are registered in and Clickers are required for the Tutorial Session. If you do not yet own a clicker, you can purchase an iClicker at the Bookstore. (Clickers are used for other courses and you can get a 50% recovery selling them back to the Bookstore at a later date.)

Objectives: Tutorials give you the opportunity to discuss the physics you have experienced in lectures with your classmates, myself and the teaching assistants. With our support, you will also work collaborating with your classmates to solve a set of tutorial problems. Given out at the beginning of each tutorial, these problems are designed to help you with your homework by developing and practicing your problem solving skills. The solution to the tutorial problems will be available after the tutorial on Blackboard. The tutorial problems are not marked but attendance will be taken at each tutorial (see Grading Section ).

Further help: in addition to your tutorial session and your teaching assistant’s weekly office hours, you can also use the “drop in” help-center: located at Willamette Room 147. Schedules and the room will be available next week.

The homework and exam dates are posted. Homeworks are due by the posted time. The exams are cumulative, because the material is all related. However, each exam will cover the application of what was learned between exams. The exam questions will test your knowledge of the material AND your ability to communicate clearly. The final exam is a cumulative exam.

Grading:

Grading Method
Mastering Physics: 25%
Tutorials: 15%
Term Exams 30% (15% each)
Final Exam 30%


A few more notes, and some advice:

  • Best use of the text and lectures can be made by reading the chapter assignments before lectures
  • University courses, in general, require at least 2-3 hours/week of work outside the course for each hour spent in class.
  • This means you should devote AT LEAST 8 hours/week working outside class to do well in this course!
  • There is a laboratory course, PHYS 204, which accompanies this course. The requirement of taking this lab depends on your major
  • By devoting adequate time, managing your time effectively, and practicing good study/problem solving skills you will succeed in this course.

Successful Problem solving: Here's a few guidelines on solving problems:

  1. Draw a clear diagram(s) indicating the situation
  2. Think about the principles involved. Write them down!
  3. Write down the quantities that are known and the quantities you want to know
  4. State any appropriate equations
  5. Write down numbered steps indicating the logical progression of your reasoning
  6. Clearly mark your answer (underlined or in a box)
  7. Don't forget units! Check your significant figures.
  8. Check your answer to see if it is reasonable. eg perform an “orders of magnitude” estimate. Example, can a person run 25m/s?

Academic Honesty:

Every effort will be made in this class to deter dishonesty through classroom procedures. You are all welcome to work in groups on Homework assignments, but each person must submit their own assignment on-line. Additionally, exams must be based on individual work only (i.e. don't look at someone else's exam). It is degrading to impose draconian security measures to enforce honesty.. Uphold your personal standards of conduct. For those of you who have failed to develop your own ethics, the University has designed the Student Conduct Program. Suspected academic dishonesty will be reported and enforced. Copying homewrok solutions is plagerism!

Accommodations:

If you have a documented disability please refer to Disability Services if you anticipate needing accommodations in this course. . Please request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities send a letter verifying your disability.