111 Policies
A. General
The course during this semester begins on TUE Jan. 20 and
concludes on TUE May 5.
LECTURES are on TTH from 10:30-11:45 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;
homework problems are available only at your WebAssign website. A 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 CPS (Classroom Performance System) transmitter.
You must register your CPS transmitter in order for your responses to be
graded (see the guide to CPS).
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 TUE Jan. 20. The last recitation
meeting will be on WED Apr. 29. The purpose of recitation is to give
the student an opportunity in a small class environment to learn
essential concepts and problem-solving strategies. On the weeks of
1/27, 2/17, 3/17, 3/24, 4/14, and 4/21, each recitation period
will open with a short quiz. On the week of 2/3, TEST 1, on the
Mathematics of Motion, will be given during your recitation period.
HELP-STUDY
sessions are for the students' benefit, but participation is optional.
Beginning MON Jan. 26, PSH-352 will be staffed by volunteer faculty
and Teaching Assistants each day between 8:40 and 4:30 (staffing ends at
3:30 on THUR). Teaching Assistants associated with this course, and your
instructor, will keep some of their office hours in Help-Study
(i.e. PSH-352).
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. The student will be responsible for receiving any
class information disseminated through e-mail. Exam and term grades
will be published by e-mail or web page as soon as they are available.
If you currently have a working ASU e-mail account, then you need do
nothing. If you have not recently used your ASU email account, then you should
double-check to make sure that your email is properly being
redirected to your favorite email address.
B. CPS (Classroom Performance System)
You will use your CPS transmitter to answer Multiple Choice questions
during the lecture period. Your answers will be graded, and your
CPS grade will count 10% of your overall class grade. For the first
week, CPS questions will be considered practice questions, as
you learn to use your CPS transmitters. Beginning TUE Jan. 27, CPS
questions will be graded. You are always encouraged to discuss CPS
questions with your neighbors in lecture, but when answering, always
think for yourself. A correct answer will be counted as 1 point,
an incorrect answer will be counted as 0.7 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 100 CPS questions over
the course of the semester, so the maximum possible CPS score will
be about 100 points. The final CPS grade will be determined as a
percentage out of 90 points (or ~90% of all possible points
should the number of possible CPS points change.) Your maximum CPS
grade is 100%, i.e. more than 90 points will not be counted as extra
credit. Since only 90% of all possible CPS points are required for
a perfect CPS score, no opportunity is provided to make up missed
CPS 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
All homework (HW) problems will be found on your PHY 111 WebAssign website.
A guide to using WebAssign (including
registration information) can be found on the course web site.
Assignments are arranged by topic; there is one assignment per
lecture. HW due dates are available only at your WebAssign webpage.
In general, assignments associated with TUE lectures are due on
MON of the following week and assignments associated with THUR
lectures are due on WED of the following week, but the official
due dates are always the ones found at your WebAssign site.
Assignments submitted after the due date has passed will receive no
credit. Assignments submitted more than 48 hours before the due
date will receive 10% extra credit.
While working on the homework problems, STUDY GROUPS ARE STRONGLY
ENCOURAGED. For most students, talking about physics is an essential
part of understanding physics and developing an accurate and useful
physical intuition. Remember, HW problems are practice for the
tests; using the proper analytical process for doing the problems is
much more important than actually getting the problems done (the point
values of HW problems are actually quite small). If you do the
problems by simply plugging into an equation from a textbook example,
then the HW will be of little or no value to you, and you will
struggle on the tests.
A total of approximately 2300 homework points will be possible. The final
homework grade will be determined as a percentage out of 2000 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 2000 points
will not be counted as extra credit.
760 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR
A PASSING GRADE IN THE COURSE.
D. Quizzes
Over the course of the semester, each student will have 14
recitation meetings; six of these recitations will begin
with a quiz. Quizzes will be given during the weeks of the
following Tuesdays: 1/27, 2/17, 3/17, 3/24, 4/14, and 4/21.
Your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Since one quiz score
will be dropped, THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES FOR ANY REASON.
Exception: once (AND ONLY ONCE) during the semester, you may
arrange with your TA to attend an alternate 111 recitation;
a list of 111 recitations for our class can be found here. Quizzes will be similar
to WebAssign HW problems assigned on TUE or THUR of the
previous week.
E. Examinations
Test 1, on the Mathematics of Motion, will be given during your recitation
meeting on either 2/03 or 2/04. It will consist of two free-response
problems, and will count 10% of your overall grade. The remaining three
tests will cover material indicated in the schedule by lecture numbers.
Each of tests 2-4 will consist of 2-3 free-response problems and 10-15 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 concepts 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 Canon
Production Center in Noble Library beginning WED Jan. 28.
Examinations are governed by the following policies:
THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP TESTS FOR ANY REASON. The lowest test
score of tests 1-4 will be dropped. The two highest scores
of test 2-4 will each count 20% of your overall grade. If
test 1 is kept, it will be weighted at 10% of your overall
score. If test 1 is dropped, then your lowest score from
tests 2-4 will automatically be reduced to a weighting
of 10%. (This part of syllabus changed on 2/13. GBA)
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 (and your ASU Sun Card).
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).
In general, 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:
CPS (total points out of 90): 10%
Homework (total points out of 2000): 10%
Quizzes (best 5 of 6): 10%
Test 1: 10%
Tests 2-4 (best 2 of 3): 40%
Final Examination: 20%
A MINIMUM OF 760 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. 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 the ASU Student Information site).
The deadline for course withdrawal is Apr. 3. Other deadlines
are also given in the Calendar or the Undergraduate Catalog.
Reading Schedule
Lecture Schedule