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PHY1033C Discovering Physics - fall 2011
Section 3776

Prerequisites: Simple algebra and graphing skills.

Description: A description of the fundamental concepts of physics which shape a scientist's view of the laws of Nature by tracing the history of our understanding of light. A laboratory experience is included (working in small groups), which emphasizes the importance of measurement for the testing of scientific hypotheses.

Time: Tuesday and Thursday Period 8 (3:00 pm) and Tuesday Period 9 (4:05).

Place: 1002 New Physics Building (NPB). 

Instructor:
Gary Ihas
Office: 2352 NPB
Phone: 352 392 9244
email: ihas@phys.ufl.edu subject: 1033
Office hours: Tuesday period 10. All other times you should make an appointment through email. You can also walk into the office if the instructor is available.
Textbook: "Newton to Einstein -- the trail of light" by Ralph Baierlein, available new and used in hard bound and paper. Only one edition has been produced. As little as $15 plus shipping or buy locally.

Lectures and Labs:

The two 8th period sessions will be interactive lectures, using HiTT remotes and demonstrations. The 9th period session is a laboratory, with a different experiment done and written up each week in class. You will need to bring your lab notebook with quadrille (little squares about 1/4" in size) type pages for recording and graphing results to the first class. It is important that this book is bound to keep all of your notes together and that it has little squares on each page to aid in graph making. There are 10 laboratories, each worth 3 points. Each write-up will be 2 or 3 pages so the notebook should have at least 30 pages (using only one side per page). The lowest lab score will be dropped, and the highest score doubled, giving a possible 30 points for the practical component of the course. Please see "Lab Introduction" under the "Ancillary" sidebar.

Homework:

Homework will be assigned and collected. Homework will not be graded, but questions in quizzes, class questions and tests might be based on it. By doing it, you will be helping yourself learn the class material and hence do better on the exams.

"Clicker" Quizzes:

Short questions will be posed in class and answers recorded via the student remote response transmitters (HiTT), or in traditional paper form. Quiz points earned will be divided by total points possible multiplied by 10/9, effectively making 90% performance = a perfect score (100%). This "10% forgiveness" will mean missed quizzes will not be made up.

Exams:

Four required in-class tests will be given (1 hour 40 minutes maximum time). Each will have 20 multiple choice questions worth 1 point each, to give a maximum total of 20 points per test. The lowest of the 4 tests will be dropped. For this reason, there will be no makeup tests offered.

You must bring writing instruments and a student registration card with a photo for all tests and the final. You may use a calculator and bring handwritten formula sheet (standart 8.5"x11" page two side). The exams will cover material from the lectures (including demonstrations) in a manner similar to the homework problems.

You are responsible for all material covered in the textbook, labs, homework and in lectures. If you must be absent during a given lab or lecture, check with a friend to make sure you know what was covered.

Grading policy:

The grade for this class will be calculated as follows:

Labs
30%
3 exams 20% each
60%
Clicker quizzes, (We will use H-ITT clickers/remotes to gather student response to in-class quizzes. For details and clicker registration, click here.)
10%

The letter grade scale is:

A
85% and above
A-
83% to 84.99%
B+
80% to 82.99%
B
70% to 79.99%
B-
68% to 69.99%
C+
65% to 67.99%
C
60% to 64.99%
C-
58% to 59.99%
D+
55% to 57.99%
D
52% to 54.99%
D-
50% to 51.99%
E
Below 50%
 

Sample grade calculation:

Exam 1 = 14/20

Exam 2 = 18/20

Exam 3 missed

Exam 4 = 15/20

Lab = 2+2+1+3+2+2+2+2+1+4 = 24 (low score dropped and replaced with duplicate of high score)

Clicker quizzes : If total 60 questions are asked, student answers 30 correctly (2 points each), 20 incorrectly (1 point each), and 10 no response (0 points) then total score is 80 out of a possible 120. Clicker quiz credit = (80/120)*10*10/9 = 7.4 (The factor 10/9 normalizes your score so that a 90% is increased to 100% and then converts it to a number between 0 and 10. Maximum possible is 10 even if you get a number greater than 10 after normalization)

The total score is = 14 + 18 + 15 +24 + 7.4 = 78.4 = B grade

Send email only from your gatorlink accounts to ihas@phys.ufl.edu. Use subject line "1033". We cannot respond to other email addresses because we cannot be sure about the identity of the sender.

Make-up policy

In general, make-ups will not be allowed, subject to all University regulations currently in force. If you feel there is a legitimate reason for varying this policy, you should bring it, and any supporting documentation, to our attention well prior to the missed event. There is enough forgiveness in the grading policies that make-ups should not be necessary.

Students with disabilities

Students who require accommodation for disabilities must first contact the Dean of Students Office. That office will provide documentation, which the student must bring to his/her instructors during the first week of the semester.

Academic honesty:

Each student is expected to hold himself/herself to a high standard of academic honesty. Under the UF academic honesty policy, unauthorized assistance or the use of unauthorized resources is strictly forbidden on work-for-credit. You are to work alone on all graded assignments. This includes exams and in-class quizzes. Fabrication or falsification of excuses or related documentation is also a violation of the UF academic honesty policy. See http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/students.html.

Violations of this policy will be dealt with severely. There will be no warnings or exceptions.

www.phys.ufl.edu/~ihas

Last modified: 11/29/2011 by Ihas


2352 New Physics Building
Gainesville, FL 32611-8440
Ph: (Office) (352) 392 9244