Dear Students: Please notice!! This is a syllabus from the fall semester 1999. Although this is not the most recent syllabus used in this class, it is a good approximation of what is expected of you in the first semester of college physics.

College Physics - PHYL 111

Fall 1999

Instructor: Nancy Woods

Office: Room 224

Phone: Boone Campus (515)433-5061

e-mail: nawoods@dmacc.cc.ia.us

Toll free: 800-362-2127 BN campus ext. 5061

Text: Contemporary College Physics (Jones)

Class Meetings: Lecture M, W, F 10:10 – 11:05 a.m.

Laboratory on Tuesdays: 1:25 - 3:25 p.m.

Alternative Lab Time (if instructor is notified): Tuesdays 9:05 - 11:05 a.m.

Your grade in this class will contain these components:

Exams 50% of overall grade

Homework/Quizzes 25% of overall grade

Laboratory 15% of overall grade

Final Exam 10% of overall grade

EXAMS:

You will not need to memorize formulas for the exams. A formula sheet will be provided for you on each exam. The formula sheet provided will contain any/all formulas and constants needed to solve the problems on the exams. Exams must be taken on the scheduled exam days. Exams will be scheduled on Tuesdays (or maybe even Thursdays) so that you will have plenty of time to work on, and to complete, the exam. There will be NO retaking of exams. If you miss an exam for ANY reason, 20% will be deducted off of the top of your score. If you miss an exam there is only a two school day time period in which you can come in and make it up.

Each exam will include a short laboratory component. You may be asked any relevant information off of the labs completed during that exam unit. The points from these laboratory exams will be included in your final laboratory grade at the end of the semester.

EXAM NUMBER

MATERIAL COVERED

1

Chapters 1, 3.1-3.2, 2

2

Chapters 3.3 – 5

3

Chapters 6 – 7

4

Chapters 8 – 10

5

Chapters 11, 14-15

EXAM CHEATING POLICY

Cheating will not be tolerated. If you are SUSPECTED of cheating on an exam you will be given a zero for that exam, and NO retake allowed. From that point on, you will not be given any partial credit on any exam problem. Cheaters will also be turned over for full college reprimand (i.e., a permanent mark on your transcripts...thrown out of DMACC...etc.)

 

HOMEWORK POLICY:

Homework problems will be assigned out of the text. These problems will be due on the exam days. This means that you will be turning in multiple chapters of homework at a time. This also implies that you will not have the opportunity to have any homework corrected BEFORE you take an exam. You should have all questions and homework problems answered before you take any exam.

Homework must be stapled. Homework papers must be clearly labeled with problem number and chapter stated. Homework must always have your name on the top right corner. Homework should be labeled PHYL 111 under your name on the top right corner of the first page.

LATE HOMEWORK: Ten percent (10%) per day late will be deducted. This implies that there is a limited amount of time that you can turn in homework and still receive credit.

Homework may also come in the form of extra, outside problems assigned during class time. There may be computer assignments. These problems/assignments will be due either that day or according to a specified day. Problems that are assigned and due on the same day are not problems that can be made up.

CHEATING ON HOMEWORK: This will not be tolerated. Points will be deducted, and zeros given should this be a problem. Turning in someone else’s homework does not benefit you in any way.

 

QUIZZES

Quizzes are not scheduled. Quizzes may come in many forms: individual, oral, group, or take-home. Quizzes cannot be made up. As a rule, on the days when attendance is poor I will give some sort of short quiz. As usual, cheating will not be tolerated.

 

FINAL EXAM:

There will be a "fun" final exam! More information about this exam will come around mid-term. Nonparticipation in the final exam will result in a final grade no higher than a C. The schedule for the final exam will be announced around midterm. The final exams cannot be retaken. Cheating on the final exam will result in an "F" for the entire semester.

 

University & College Physics

LABORATORY GUIDELINES

1. ATTENDANCE: Attendance in lab is essential. Attendance will be taken first thing each lab. If you are late and I have already taken attendance do not attend. If you miss a lab you will be given the chance to make it up. If you fail to make-up one missed lab, your final grade will be lowered one grade level. If you fail to make-up two missed labs, you will be given an F for the entire semester. You can make up at most two labs in one semester.

2. You MUST have each participating lab member(s) sign his or her name on the data sheet.

3. Lab starts at 1:25 p.m. If you are more than 10 minutes late (i.e., 1:35 p.m.) please do not attend. The door may be locked. You will not be let in! You must be present to contribute to your lab group.

4. LAB QUIZ: At the beginning of each lab you will have a short 5-point quiz. These quizzes may be used as a method for taking attendance. If you come into the classroom after the quiz has begun I will not go back and repeat any questions.

5. LAB GRADING POLICY: The advance study assignments will be graded out of 5 possible points. The laboratory write-up will be graded out of 15 possible points. In past semesters, students have attended lab but not completed the work on their lab reports. Incomplete write-ups may be returned to you ungraded. Ungraded write-ups will be treated as missed labs. You will have a 5-point "lab readiness" quiz at the beginning of each lab. Laboratory exam points will be included with each unit exam.

6. LAB DUE DATES: The advance study assignments are due at the start of class on day of that lab. The lab write-ups are due the next scheduled lab day. For every school day your papers are late, 10% will be deducted. This implies that if you turn in an advance study assignment more than 5 school days after it is due you have no hope of receiving any points. Likewise, there is a finite amount of time to turn in a lab write-up. This strict policy will help both student and instructor to stay caught up during the semester.

7. CHEATING POLICY: NO two advance study assignments or laboratory write-ups can be identical. If I find two write-ups to be "photocopies" of each other, both papers will be destroyed - given a zero - and not allowed a chance for make-up.

8. ALL GRAPHS MUST BE MADE USING EXCEL (or a similar spreadsheet package). Graphs that are hand-drawn are not acceptable. The academic achievement center will gladly help you learn how to use EXCEL. You may NOT make one graph that is copied for each member or the lab group. Each person creates his or her own graphs.

9. MAKE-UP LABS: There will be 2 make-up labs offered this semester. The first make-up lab will be for those who missed one of the first 5 labs. The second make-up lab is scheduled for those who missed one of the last 5 labs. Make-up labs will not be intended as extra credit. You will have to sign up for make-up labs. The make-up labs will most likely not be the labs that you originally missed.

10. You are expected to leave the lab cleaner than you found it. Remember the old saying, "Although I am a Mother, I am not YOUR Mother!" Please pick up all string, papers, etc. Return masses and hangers to their drawers.

LABORATORY STRUCTURE:

1. Before the day of the laboratory the student will complete the "Study Assignment".

2. At the start of each laboratory you may be tested for laboratory preparedness.

3. The student will perform the lab and collect all of the data needed for processing on Tuesdays from 1:25 – 3:25 p.m.

4. The student will, in the comfort of his or her own environment, complete the laboratory. This includes answering all of the questions, plotting graphs if necessary, doing calculations, and typing three separate things (1) a purpose statement, (2) an error analysis, and (3) a conclusion. Please do not include the error analysis and the conclusion in one big section...separate them. These sections each need to be at least one solid paragraph. You must type the purpose statement, error analysis and conclusion.

5. The completed laboratory is due in the next lab. Please note...this is NOT necessarily the next Tuesday. On exam days, laboratories are never due.

6. HINT: STAY CAUGHT UP!! Do not get behind in your lab write-ups.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. The last day to drop any DMACC course is November 8, 1999. I will not sign late drop slips. If you are unsatisfied with your progress in this course by that date: drop the course!!

2. You must own a scientific calculator. I highly recommend that you purchase a graphing calculator of some type. I personally prefer the CASIO and Texas Instruments graphing calculators. It is my policy to NOT allow TI-92 calculators. I think it is imperative that you learn the process of solving problems. I do not loan calculators out during an exam. You may not borrow a friend’s calculator during an exam. Always carry your calculator with you.

3. Each semester the DMACC foundation, from the Harold Cunningham Scholarship Foundation, awards a scholarship for the Boone DMACC campus to outstanding physics students. These awards are made toward the end of the semester to help defray costs for the next semester. Applications will be made available soon.

4. Thanksgiving break is November 25-26. We DO have class the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving break.

5. The last day to turn in ANY papers/laboratories/homework/etc. is Friday December 3, 1999. NO papers will be accepted beyond this date.