Course Mechanics
This is a lecture-based course; the primary method of instruction is lecture in person. Information is conveyed through the spoken word with supplemental information written on the whiteboard. These media are chosen to let the lecture environment emulate that which a student will encounter when solving problems in homework and on assessments.
The instructor intends to facilitate an open-minded discussion-based learning environment. Students should not feel fearful or intimidated to speak up in class or to visit the instructor during office hours. Students are encouraged to contribute to the lecture by asking questions, making comments, and discussing. Students are encouraged to raise their hand for the instructor to call on them, or to wait for a natural pause in the lecture to politely interrupt. Students may also discuss amongst their selves during class; this is highly encouraged as long as the discussion is topical.
This course is an exercise in independent learning. Lecture is intended to introduce concepts and techniques and to use them to solve some problems together. The mental and physical muscle memory required to perform well on exams is built by the student by working on homework and studying outside of class. This often involves digging into topics with more depth than the time allotted to lecture affords us. In order to get the most out of lecture, students are encouraged to read the textbooks and begin working on homework problems ahead of when the topic is covered in lecture.
It is common for students to be challenged and often frustrated by Physics. Students are encouraged not to be disheartened by struggles or failures, but to persist through difficulties. These challenges only deepen the satisfaction that comes along with the experience of a “Eureka!” moment at the end of a difficult battle. The course assessment policies are designed to account and allow for some level of failure while rewarding consistent effort and persistence. See the How to Succeed in University Physics document for suggestions from past students who have found success.
Course Assessment
The course grade is determined using this weighting:
| Category | Percentage
| Homework | 40%
| Midterm Exams | 40%
| Final Exam | 20%
Homework
Homework is administered approximately once per week through Canvas where it is posted under ‘Assignments.’ Homework is usually assigned on Sunday and due the following Sunday at 11:59 PM. There may be some exceptions to the normal homework cadence for atypical weeks. Students may complete the homework using any handwritten medium of their choosing (pen and paper, tablet, etc.). Work should be done in a separate document from the problems themselves. Each homework must be submitted to the Canvas assignment as a single .pdf document. Homework may only be submitted once; there are no resubmissions.
Late homework is not accepted under any circumstances. There is no grace period for the submission of late work for any reason. It is better for the grade to submit incomplete work on time than to attempt to submit complete work after the deadline. It is best for students’ understanding of the material to complete the homework regardless of when it is submitted. The due date and time of Sunday at 11:59 PM is a strict cutoff. Submissions made at 12:00 AM or later are not accepted. It is advised to submit homework ahead of the deadline to allow time to resolve any technical issues that could delay submission.
If it is favorable to the student, the lowest homework score will not count toward the final grade. The option to drop one homework assignment is intended to account for the unpredictable realities of life that may make it difficult or impossible for a student to complete and/or submit an assignment on time. Because of the dropped homework policy, there is no tolerance for any late submission for any reason.
Students are encouraged to use all resources available to them while completing the homework and studying. Students are encouraged to work together on homework as partners and/or in groups. Students are encouraged to use the textbooks, the internet, and library resources. Students are encouraged to use additional resources including but not limited to solution manuals, artificial intelligence, and coursework from prior semesters. Regardless of the resource(s) used, students are responsible for using the resource(s) properly. Resources are best used as guides or nudges in the right direction when a student is stuck. Using resources properly entails working through the material in detail with the goal of understanding as many steps as possible such that the student may demonstrate their understanding on the exams. It is possible to copy directly from a resource(s) and earn credit for an assignment(s), but this will likely make it difficult for the student to perform on assessments.
Homework is evaluated based on completeness, not correctness. For a response to be considered complete, the student must make a genuine attempt to show their work to solve the problem. Single-value responses that do not show work are incomplete and do not receive credit. It is the student’s responsibility to verify their understanding of the homework by checking their work against the solutions posted to Canvas. It is advised to form a habit of working through homework problems formally and showing all steps, as formal responses are required on exams. The expectations for homework responses (and the evaluation criteria for responses to exam problems) are described in detail in the Standards for Work in Physics Guide.
Homework is an exercise in independent learning. The vast majority of the learning in this course takes place outside of the classroom. The instructor can introduce concepts in lecture and solve example problems, but the meat of a student’s understanding of the material is built by the student outside of lecture. The goal of the lecture is to expose the student to all material necessary to complete each homework assignment before the assignment is due. It is impossible to cover every topic in full detail in lecture, so students will explore some topics in greater depth in homework.
Exams
There are four midterm exams and one final exam. Midterm exams are held in person in the normal classroom at the normal meeting time. Exams are not held in the Testing Center. The final exam is cumulative and is administered in the usual classroom on Wednesday, April 22 at 7:00 - 8:50 AM, as indicated on the University final exam schedule. Attendance during the scheduled exam time is mandatory; the only way to receive credit on an exam is to take the exam in person at the scheduled time. The window to begin taking an exam closes once any student has submitted their exam, so it is advised to avoid arriving late to exams. In order to receive a grade for the course, the final exam must be submitted. All exams are closed-book, closed-notes, and closed everything; all external resources are prohibited except for a calculator. Accommodations may be made for test-taking through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) prior to the exam. Accommodations cannot be made after an exam has begun.
Exams may consist of true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and/or open response questions. Exam solutions are evaluated based on correctness and the extent to which the Standards for Work in Physics Guide is followed. Physics exams are cumulative in nature. Each midterm exam focuses primarily on the section of material covered most recently. Topics in Physics usually stand on a foundation of prior material, so maintaining an understanding of prior material is necessary.
If it is favorable to the student, the lowest midterm exam score will not count toward the final grade. The option to drop one midterm exam score is intended to account for the unpredictable realities of life that may cause a student to perform poorly or make it difficult or impossible for a student to submit an exam. Because of the dropped exam policy, there is no tolerance for missing an exam. Missing an exam due to unavoidable unexpected events of any nature will result in that exam being dropped from the final grade. There are no makeup exams. The instructor posts solutions to Canvas shortly after exams are held in order to maximize the time that students have to review and learn from the material. Once an exam has been administered, it will not be administered again. Student athletes who have conflicts with exams must take an alternative exam before the scheduled exam date. It is the student's responsibility to arrange an alternative exam at least three weeks before the scheduled exam date.
Final Grades
The grading scale is:
| Letter Grade | Score Range (%) | Description
| A | 93 – 100 | Excellent
| A- | 90 – 92.99 | Excellent
| B+ | 87 – 89.99 | Above Average
| B | 83 – 86.99 | Above Average
| B- | 80 – 82.99 | Above Average
| C+ | 77 – 79.99 | Average
| C | 73 – 76.99 | Average
| C- | 70 – 72.99 | Average
| D+ | 67 – 69.99 | Below Average
| D | 63 – 66.99 | Below Average
| D- | 60 – 62.99 | Below Average
| F | <60 | Failure
The final grade is based only on homework and exam scores as described in this section. The final grade is not based on any other factors, including but not limited to: effort expended on homework/studying, time spent on homework/studying, time spent in the Tutoring Center, attendance to lecture, student performance in other courses, the opinion of anyone external to this course, or the consequences of not meeting a desired standard (loss of scholarship, impact to GPA, impact to financial aid, impact to research funding, etc.).
The instructor may apply a scale to all final grades at the close of the semester by favorably adjusting the score ranges that correspond to each letter grade. Individual items are not scaled. The scale will depend on the overall performance of the class, and each student’s final grade will depend on their performance relative to the rest of the class. The instructor will announce grade distributions for all individual assessments and overall grades at the midpoint of the semester to keep students informed of their standing in the course.