Physics 203: Summer 2010

Syllabus

Stanley Micklavzina
Willamette 142
Office Hours: 12:10 -1:10 M-F
Room 142 Willamette Hall
Phone: 541-346-4801, ...6-4757
email: stanm@uoregon.edu		 Drop in help every morning 8:50- 9:50 Room 112 Willamette Hall
Teaching Assistants:
Kathy Hadley: khadley@uoregon.edu
Office hours all in Room 112, Tues 1:00 - 2:00, W, Th 3:00 - 3:50
Elsa Johnson:
elsa@uoregon.edu
W, TH 2:00 - 3:00, Friday 1:30 - 2:30
The specific goals of this class are to:

  • To learn the basic laws of physics relating to electricity, magnetism and special relativity
  • To develop a conceptual understanding of these physics principles
  • To use the conceptual understanding, the basic laws and some simple mathematics to solve problems.

Textbook:

  • Giancoli, "Physics, 6th Edition" We will be using Mastering Physics in this course. If you have a used copy of the book, an access card without the book cost $45.00 and can be purchsed online.

Other Helpful Books:

  • Most any other basic physics text

Course Organization

  • The lectures for this course will follow normal physics standards - lectures given via demos, overheads, and the blackboard.. Announcements, assignments, exam results will be posted on Blackboard and the website.
  • We will be using an web based homework system call Mastering Physics.. You will submit most of your homework answsers via computer. This is to give quick feedback to homework questions. You will will be allowed 8 attempts to submit a correct assingment. (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!

    Campus Computing Lab Hours and Info is here if you do not have easy access to the computer network.

    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: PHYS203SU2010

Office Hours:

  • Make use of the morning drop-in help in Room 112 and office hours! Since this is a large lecture course and there is only limited for questions in class.

Grading:

Grading Method
Mastering Physics: 15% COURSE ID: PHYS203SU2010
Hand-In Problems 5%
Clickers 5%
Exam 1: 20%
Exam 2: 20%
Final Exam: 35%



The homework due dates are posted in Mastering Physics. Hand in problem due dates and exam dates are posted in the Schedule. Homeworks are due by the posted time. The exam questions will test your knowledge of the material AND your ability to communicate clearly. The Final Exam will be comprehensive with a focus on the last third of the course.

IMPORTANT:

This is a summer course. Two days of lectures is equivalent to over a week of a normal term. This means:

  • You should not miss any days of class. This course is extremely fast-paced, and missing one day will cause to to fall very far behind.
  • You should not miss any exams. The class is only 3 1/2 weeks long, and all the exam dates are already posted. There's no excuse for missing exams, and I will not give any make-up exams.

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 2-3 hours/week of work outside the course for each hour spent in class.
  • This means you should devote at least 24 - 36 hours/week working outside class to do well in this course!
  • There is a laboratory course, PHYS 206, which accompanies this course, and which will also help you considerably.
  • By devoting adequate time, managing your time effectively, and practicing good study/problem solving skills you should succeed in this course.

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 and must be based on individual work only (i.e. don't look at someone else's exam and taking homework solutions from a website is also Plagiarism and will be prosecuted as such.) For those of you who have failed to develop your own ethics, the University has designed the Student Conduct Program.

Accommodations:

If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please see me as soon as possible. And please request that the Counselor for Students with Disabilities (H. Gerdes, hgerdes@oregon) send a letter verifying your disability.