Physics 104 Syllabus

Physics 104 Syllabus
Spring 2006

Details Grading Resources

In A Nutshell
(how to improve your grade in Physics 104)

Lecture Preflights on the web are due at 11 AM before each lecture. They are available 5 days prior, so if your computer acts up at 10 AM, you are out of luck.
Homework on the web is due at 5 PM Wednesday. It's available at the beginning of the course, so if your computer acts up at 2 PM Wednesday, you are out of luck. 80% credit still given up to 1 week past the due date. Read and heed the homework instructions page.
Labs are required. Except for emergencies, you must attend lab with the TA you registered for. Your TA is not allowed to cancel any classes, and you are responsible for attending, unless you hear from a higher source. 10% off your lab grade for each lab you miss. If you have more than 2 unexcused missed labs, you could get an F in Physics 104.
Go here for more info on excuses for missing quizzes, labs and exams.
There are 3 evening midterm exams and a final. If your schedule is not open at these times, do not register for the course.
The Planner page is a calendar that summarizes due dates. Everything listed above will cost you points if you don't do it before it's due, or as scheduled.
Grading details are discussed below. Read them carefully if you want to try to estimate your final course grade.
Check your scores regularly in the student gradebook on the web. They are what we base your course grade on.
Required course materials are listed here.
Go here for study tips.

Introduction

Physics 104 is about the physics of electricity, magnetism, light, optics, relativity, and basic quantum, atomic and nuclear physics.

You have no doubt found memorization to be a valuable tool in your academic career. In physics, it is not only almost worthless, but it will fool you into believing you understand concepts when really you have only memorized examples. If you don't understand the concepts, you will find out what a fickle friend memorization can be when you take an exam.

Understanding concepts comes through practice in using them. Practice means solving physics problems yourselves, either alone or in small groups. If you have watched someone solve a problem, even if it made sense to you while you were watching, it doesn't mean you understand the concepts. You really have to do it yourself. It's like swimming. You wouldn't jump into deep water after just watching someone swim. Don't go to a physics exam after just watching someone do problems.

Ask questions. Be curious. If you aren't, pretend that you are. It's the best way to learn physics.

Your participation is required both prior to and during each lecture! The lecture preflights tell us what you need to know and provide valuable practice with concept questions, widely considered to be the most difficult kind.

Required Background

The pre-requisites for this class are Physics 103, algebra and trigonometry. If you are not comfortable with these subjects, please review early. You will be totally lost without mastery of algebra and trigonometry. You will also need a working knowledge of the physics of macroscopic objects in motion, thermal effects and sound.

Course Component Details

(what is expected of you)

Details Grading Resources Top

Textbooks: Go here for details. The textbook publisher has also made available a very nice Web site containing additional questions, solutions, animations, etc.

Lectures:
Lectures are held in 2103 Chamberlin on Monday and Wednesday at 1:20 and 2:25 PM. Lecture notes from previous years, with answers to Pre-Flights and summaries of student responses, will become available at some time after each lecture.

During lecture you will participate in answering multiple choice questions. These questions are conceptual in nature, and you will have the opportunity to discuss your responses with your seatmates. These and other conceptual questions will be a big part of your exams.

Lab Sessions:
Labs are in 3320 and 3328 Chamberlin. See the Lab sections page or the Planner page for assignments. There are required pre-lab questions you must answer and bring to lab. See your lab manual for details. There may be lab quizzes, and your lab notebook will count for at least 25% of your lab grade. Ask your TA for details. Feedback is welcome. Please speak to your TA.

Your cumulative lab grade will be available on the web at each midterm. See Grading, below, for details.

Computer Homework:
Each week you will be responsible for completing computer-based homework assignments. These assignments are graded and are an integral part of the course. Be sure to carefully read the Homework Instructions page.

You may work a problem as many times as you like, and only the highest grade is recorded in the gradebook. You can never lower your score by reworking a problem.

Discussion Sessions:
The details of the content of discussion sections will be up to your TA. Feedback is welcome. Please speak to your TA.

Your cumulative discussion grade will be available on the web at each midterm. See Grading, below, for details.

Exams:
Two 75 minute multiple-choice midterm exams will be given. (The first midterm was canceled due to bad weather.) Go here for rules, locations and schedule. Bring a calculator and writing utensils to all exams. In addition, bring your official university identification card to show upon request. You may also bring one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper on which you may HANDWRITE anything you want, both sides.

The final exam will be two hours in length and will cover material equally from the whole semester. Go here for rules, locations and schedule. You may also bring two 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper on which you may HANDWRITE anything you want, both sides.

You may use the blank space on the front or back of the exams to do your calculations, but this work will not be examined, and there will be no partial credit. Your grade will be determined solely by the answer you put on the answer sheet, so be careful.

Details Grading Resources Top

Your final grade for Physics 104 will be based upon your total score on all the components of the course. The total possible score is 1000 points, broken down as follows:

Final Exam (2 hours)	250
2 Hour Exams (75 minutes each)	250
Labs	150
Discussion/Quizzes	150
Web-based Homework	150
Web-Based Pre-Flights	50

We will be using an 80/10 curve this semester instead of 70/15. The grade boundaries have also changed, so the new curve will not affect your course letter grade, except that it will tend to give homework and lecture preflight scores more weight in deciding borderline grades.

Exam grades, which will be posted in the Student Gradebook, will be curved to a mean of 80 and a sigma of 10. At each midterm, your TA will give you cumulative grades in discussion and lab, which will also be posted. Each cumulative grade is your discussion and lab total to date. Earlier discussion and lab grades have already been averaged in and have no meaning, except as historical information.

Discussion and lab grades will be curved among all of your TA's students (not just your section). The mean will be 80, but it will be adjusted at the end of the course to the mean of the exams of all your TA's students, which will be within a few points of 80, because exams are curved 80/10. The sigma for lab and discussion will also be 10.

To help you get an idea of how you are doing in lab and discussion, and on exams, the letter grade scale on the 80/10 curve is approximately as follows:

A	AB	B	BC	C	D	F
more than 89.5	84.5-89.5	80-84.5	75.5-80	66-75.5	60-66	less than 60

Because homework and preflight scores are usually quite high, they are added in to the final total uncurved. This raises some of the final letter grade boundaries above what would be expected from the table for the 80/10 curve. Last semester, the final course letter grade boundaries (readjusted for the 80/10 curve) were approximately as shown below:

A	AB	B	BC	C	D	F
more than 900	860-900	825-860	780-825	645-780	550-645	less than 550

In the past, the upper grade boundaries have varied by only a few points, while the C, D and F boundaries have varied by 25 or more points. There is no guarantee that any of the boundaries will be within these ranges this time. This table is presented only to illustrate the point that the 80/10 table is not a good guide for your final course grade.

Gradebook:
The web-based gradebook will show, for all aspects of the class, exactly how you are progressing. At the end of the course, discussion, lab, homework and preflight components will be put together to obtain the final grade. During the term, you should regularly check that the exam, homework, preflight, lab, and discussion grades are correctly entered in the gradebook. It is your responsibility to bring any problems with your assigned grades to the attention of your TA immediately.

Absences and Excused Grades:
There is no way to make up unexcused missed hour exams, quizzes, group problems or labs.

If you need to skip a quiz, lab, ... for a valid reason, (a) illness; (b) personal crisis (e.g. automobile accident, required court appearance, death of a close relative, weather conditions which make it impossible to get to the university); and (c) required attendance at an official UW activity (e.g. varsity athletics, band concert); email your excuse to your TA, BEFORE the scheduled event to set up an alternate date at the discretion of the TA. If you have a schedule conflict with an exam, present a written excuse to your TA during the first two weeks of class, AND speak to the current lecturer at least two lectures prior to the date of the exam.

Unexcused absences from any hour exam, lab or discussion (if graded) will be assigned a zero grade. For excused hour exams we will construct a grade based on your other exam scores and the relevant questions on the final exam. If you must miss a lab, the best alternative is to attend another of your own TA's labs the same week. Failing that, ask another TA to attend her/his lab the same week and let your TA know whose lab you will be attending. If all else fails, your TA will hold a makeup lab during the next makeup week listed on the calendar. This is the least desirable option, because you may have to take time out of studying for a midterm or the final. You may, at your TA's discretion, make other arrangements to make up missed labs or missed discussion grades.

Additional Topics

Details Grading Resources Top

Consultation Room:
Room 2238 Chamberlin is staffed by TA's from Physics 104 during much of the week; see the schedule card on the door and on the Web. You do not have to come during the hours that your TA is there -- you may ask questions of any of the TA's staffing the room.

Study Groups:
You are encouraged to form study groups in which you jointly work the homework and prepare for exams. If you don't know anyone in the class with whom you would like to study, you can leave your name and e-mail address at http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/phys104/studygrp.htm .

Complaints and Concerns:
If you have a non-subject-matter question or concern that cannot be resolved by your TA or professor, contact Mary Anne Clarke, Instructional Program Manager (2320C Chamberlin, 262-2629, maclarke@facstaff.wisc.edu ).

Alternate References:
To see the same topics explained differently, try the following on reserve in the Physics Library (4220 Chamberlin):

Blatt, Principles of Physics, 3rd edition
Cutnell and Johnson, Physics, 4th edition
Giancoli, Physics, 4th edition
Jones and Childers, Contemporary College Physics, 2nd edition

Streaming Video Physics

Study Tips:
Physics is not something you read and memorize, rather it is something you learn how to do. Try the following study procedure:

Read the chapter prior to lecture, so that you will know what it's about. Think about the preflights before you answer them.
Listen carefully to the lecture and take notes.
This is crucial: Do not go back and read and re-read the chapter until you "understand it." Rather, start working homework problems, going back through the chapter to clarify points as they come up.
Make a notebook in which you work all the homework problems correctly, written by you in a way that you understand, as you go through the course.
Download the practice exams and take them using only your sheet of notes in the allotted time. Then check the solutions to see where you need more study.
Study in groups. Discuss concepts and share problem-solving techniques with other students.

Additional Information:

Back to main Physics 104 page