111 Policies
A. General
The course during this Semester commences on Wed., Jan. 18 and
concludes on Mon., May 1.
HOMEWORK AND READING SCHEDULE
LECTURE SCHEDULE
LECTURES are on MWF from 10:40-11:30 in PSF-101.
Students are responsible for any information imparted to the class
during lectures. Minimal preparation for lecture is to do the
REQUIRED READING for that day.
To more fully prepare for lecture, you should take an advance look
at the HOMEWORK problems which will be
assigned for that lecture. Students with still more time to prepare for
lecture may wish to download the OPTIONAL READING; these will
provide an alternative presentation of the topics in the required
reading and will sometimes provide an advance look at the lecture
for those topics. A small number of Multiple Choice questions will be
asked during each lecture. These may cover the required reading, or may
check your comprehension of some topic that I have just covered in lecture.
You are expected to record your response to these questions using
your PRS (Personal Response System) transmitter. You must register
your PRS transmitter in order for your responses to be graded (see the
guide to PRS).
YOU MUST USE ONLY THE TRANSMITTER THAT YOU REGISTER AND NO OTHER.
Use of another student's transmitter is a case of academic dishonesty,
just exactly like cheating on a test. Any and all students involved in
any such incidents will automatically receive an E for the course, and may
be referred to the Dean for further sanctions.
RECITATION
sections occur weekly as scheduled, beginning Fri.,
Jan. 20. The last recitation meeting will be on Mon., May 1.
The purpose of recitation is to give the student an
opportunity in a small class environment to learn essential concepts and
problem-solving strategies. Each recitation period (except the first
Fri. and Mon.) will open with a short quiz.
HELP-STUDY sessions are for the students' benefit, but participation
is optional. Beginning Mon., Jan. 23, the Help-Study Hall (PSH-352) will
be staffed by volunteer faculty and Teaching Assistants several hours each
day between 8:40 and 3:30. Teaching Assistants associated with this course,
and your instructor, will keep some of their office hours in the Help-Study
Hall.
An E-MAIL account is available for every student enrolled at ASU.
Instructions for obtaining an e-mail account can be obtained at the ASU
Computer Commons. Important class information will be disseminated
regularly through e-mail. The student will be responsible for receiving
it. Exam and term grades will be published by e-mail or web page as soon
as they are available. IF YOU CURRENTLY HAVE AN ASU E-MAIL ACCOUNT, THEN
YOU NEED DO NOTHING. If you DO NOT currently have an e-mail account at
ASU, or if you do not receive an e-mail from the instructor by Feb. 10,
then you should send the instructor a message at the address
gary.adams@asu.edu
The subject of the message should be "PHY 111
e-mail" and the body of the message should include your name and your
RECITATION SECTION by TIME and by LINE NUMBER. Your e-mail address will
be copied from your message and added to the class list.
B. PRS (Personal Response System)
You will use your PRS transmitter to answer Multiple Choice questions
during the lecture period. Your answers will be graded, and your
PRS grade will count 5% of your overall class grade. For the first
two weeks, PRS questions will be considered practice questions, as
you learn to use your PRS transmitters. Beginning Wed. Feb. 1, PRS
questions will be graded. You are always encouraged to discuss PRS
questions with your neighbors in lecture, but when answering, always
think for yourself. A correct answer will be counted as 3 points,
an incorrect answer will be counted as 2 points, and no answer will
be counted as zero points; so the penalty for an incorrect answer is
very small. There are expected to be about 75 PRS questions over
the course of the semester, so the maximum possible PRS score will
be about 225 points. The final PRS grade will be determined as a
percentage out of 200 points (or ~90% of all possible points
should the number of possible PRS points change.) Your maximum PRS
grade is 100%, i.e. more than 200 points will not be counted as extra
credit. Since only 90% of all possible PRS points are required for
a perfect PRS score, no opportunity is provided to make up missed
PRS questions. USING SOMEOME ELSE'S TRANSMITTER, OR ALLOWING SOMEONE
TO USE YOUR TRANSMITTER, WILL RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC FAILING GRADE FOR
THE COURSE.
C. Homework
A list of assigned HOMEWORK problems is provided on the course
web site. There will be one assignment for each lecture.
All Homework assignments are to be completed and turned in
using WebAssign. (EXCEPTION: There may be four or five problems during
the semester which have to be written up and handed in at recitation.)
A guide to using WebAssign can be found on the course web site.
Due dates are available under My Assignments at your WebAssign
web site. In general, assignments are due six days after the lecture with
which they are connected, but the official due dates are always the ones
found at your WebAssign site (you have about eight days to do each of the
first two assignments -- this allows you to become accustomed to using
WebAssign). Assignments submitted after the due date
has passed will receive no credit.
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO THE TEXTBOOK PROBLEMS ON PAPER BEFORE ATTEMPTING THE
ONLINE VERSIONS, as the actual numerical values in the online versions
will be randomized, and so will always be different from the numerical
values in the textbook problems. While doing the textbook problems on
paper, STUDY GROUPS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. For most people, talking
about physics is an essential part of understanding physics and
developing an accurate and useful physical intuition. However, you
should always work alone when submitting your HW online. Remember,
HW problems are practice for the tests; you are only hurting yourself
by collaborating during the online submission process.
A total of approximately 1750 homework points will be possible. The final
homework grade will be determined as a percentage out of 1500 points
(or ~85% of all possible points should the number of total HW points
change.) Your maximum homework grade is 100%, i.e. more than 1500 points
will not be counted as extra credit.
600 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR
A PASSING GRADE IN THE COURSE.
D. Quizzes
Quizzes will be given during the first 10-15 minutes of each recitation
beginning Fri. 1/27. This results in 13 quizzes for each recitation
section. The highest 10 quiz scores will be counted. Quizzes will be
similar to simpler problems, and will be on material already covered in
the lectures and/or homework assignments. Fri. quizzes will most likely
come from material covered during the previous Mon. or Wed., and
Mon. quizzes will most likely come from material covered during the
previous Wed. or Fri.
E. Examinations
The five tests will cover material indicated in the schedule by lecture
numbers. Each test will consist of 2-3 problems and 10-11 multiple choice
or short answer questions. The problems may be similar to homework, but
they may also represent applications of principles in entirely different
circumstances. The multiple choice questions may cover conceptual
questions as well as simpler problems. The final examination will
consist of 40 multiple choice questions. The final will be comprehensive.
For the test dates, see the
lecture schedule. This instructor's tests
from a previous semester, with solutions, will be available at the Noble
Library Copy Center beginning Wed., Feb. 1.
Examinations are governed by the following policies:
THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP TESTS FOR ANY REASON. The lowest
score of all five tests will be deleted in the final course grade
calculation. IF YOU MISS A TEST FOR ANY REASON, THAT TEST MUST
BE YOUR DROP.
Academic dishonesty on an examination will result
automatically in a failing grade for the course and referral to
the Dean for further sanctions. Cheating in any form will not be
tolerated!
The use of hand calculators is permitted. However, YOUR
CALCULATOR MAY NOT CONTAIN STORED PHYSICS EQUATIONS.
Test paper (including scratch paper) will be provided. Bring
only your pencils and calculators.
A short equation sheet will be provided for each test.
It will NOT include any definitions, or fundamental physical
principles (like Newton's Second Law).
No partial credit is given for multiple choice. For the
problems, partial credit is given. Arithmetical errors will be
treated charitably, but for answers that do not make physical sense
(wrong dimensions, deviation by several orders of magnitude, etc.)
no credit will be awarded. In general, you must get the PHYSICS right
to receive any partial credit. Wrong physics = no credit.
Failure to give units is always at least 1 point off for each
occurrence.
In the event of a fire alarm occurring during an examination,
students will be asked to close their examination booklets, gather
their belongings and leave the room as expeditiously as possible,
leaving their examination booklets on the tables where they were
working. The booklets will be gathered and graded as they are.
Unless the alarm proves to represent a bona fide emergency, there
will be no make-up examination.
If a student believes there to have been an error in grading
his or her test, the complaint should be PUT IN WRITING, stapled to
the relevant page of the test, and handed to the course instructor.
The problem will be regraded by the individual who graded it
originally. If the student is not satisfied with the grader's
response to the complaint, he or she may appeal to the course
instructor. In this event, the instructor reserves the prerogative
to regrade the entire examination. Simple errors, such as point
addition, can be corrected by contacting the student's recitation
section instructor.
F. Final Grades.
The final course grades will be determined with the following weights:
PRS (total points out of 200): 5%
Homework (total points out of 1500): 8%
Quizzes (best 10 of 13): 7%
Tests (best 4 of 5): 60%
Final Examination: 20%
A MINIMUM OF 600 HOMEWORK POINTS IS REQUIRED FOR A PASSING
GRADE IN THE COURSE.
The scale for final letter grades will ultimately
be determined by overall class performance. However, any student
who earns 90% of all possible points can expect to receive an A. Don't
depend on your instructors to figure your grade correctly. For a more
detailed explanation see
HOW TO FIGURE YOUR FINAL GRADE.
G. Withdrawal
Withdrawal policies are established by the University (see the
ASU Calendar and page 56 of the ASU General Catalog).
The deadline for course withdrawal is Mar. 31. Other deadlines
are also given in the Calendar or the Catalog (page 18).
Homework Schedule
Lecture Schedule