132 Policies
A. General
The course during this Summer Session commences on Tuesday, July 6 and
concludes on Friday, Aug 6. There are no Monday sessions.
A schedule of experiments and meeting dates is
distributed with this Syllabus. Laboratory Sessions are scheduled on
Tuesday - Friday from 10:40 AM until 12:40 PM. IMPORTANT NOTE: NO FOOD
OR DRINK IS ALLOWED IN THE PHYSICS LAB ROOMS.
Help-Study sessions are for the students' benefit in gaining assistance with
the conceptual and procedural basis of an experiment. The Help-Study Hall
(PSF-462) will be staffed by the Instructor and Teaching Assistants from
11:20 AM until 2:20 PM each day except on PHY-131 examination days (July 13,
21, 29, and Aug 6). Teaching Assistants will not otherwise keep office hours
except by appointment, but will alert their respective sections to the hours
which they will be present in the Help-Study hall. However, assistance may
be solicited from any member of the course staff on duty.
B. Laboratory and Grading Policy
There are ten experiments scheduled for the term. Nine experiments will
be graded; the first experiment, Introduction to the Oscilloscope, will
not be graded. In order to obtain a passing grade (C or better), a student
must have completed seven of these. An A grade requires completion of all
nine with a least a grade of C in each lab.
The laboratory format is based on cooperative learning. Students will work
together in teams of three or four. Teams will be organized by the section
TA at the beginning of each set of three experiments; thus, during the term
each student will have three sets of teammates. All team members are
expected to participate in all aspects of the experiment and to understand
each function thoroughly, as well as the physical basis of the experiment
and the conclusions drawn from the data.
Each team will be given a team grade based upon an TEAM INTERVIEW
conducted by the TA and/or the lab instructor. Thus, in general, all
members of each team will receive the same grade for each lab.
However, the section TA has the option of lowering the grade for an
individual team member based upon appropriate reasons including, but not
limited to, absence or failure to participate fully with one's team.
Likewise, the TA may recommend a higher grade under suitable circumstances.
During the interview, each team member will be asked one or two questions.
Questions are asked to the individual team member, not to the team as a whole,
and those individuals must answer alone without prompting from other members
of the team. So, no matter how you decide to divide up the tasks of the lab
among your team members, it its the responsibility of the TEAM
to make sure that every team member knows all the relevant points of the
lab before the interview begins. Also reviewed during the team interview
will be the data, the analysis, and the conclusions, which must be
prepared beforehand in an acceptable format (see below under
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS). The interview questions and this team
write-up will carry approximately equal weights in determining the team
grade.
The team grades will be letter grades carrying the following values:
A 4.00 B+ 3.33 C+ 2.33
A- 3.67 B 3.00 C 2.00
B- 2.67 etc.
Any team receiving a grade of less than B- in the initial
interview will be asked to repeat the interview and/or redo their team
write-up. The highest possible grade in a repeat interview is an A-.
Roughly, in the interview and on the team write-up, major issues or
questions are worth 2/3 of a point and secondary or smaller
issues are worth 1/3 of a point. For example, in 131, error
propagation issues are usually worth no more than 1/3 of a
point. On the other hand, after having done the lab on Electric
Field Plotting, an inability to describe the major properties of
electric fields would be worth at least 2/3 of a point.
Similarly, in the team write-up, failing to properly label
axes on graphs might cost only 1/3 of a point or less;
while an incorrect calculation of a critical value would cost
at least 2/3 of a point.
Your final lab grade will be the average of your five lab grades
with:
A >= 3.5
B 2.5-3.49
C 1.5-2.49
D 0.5-1.49
F < 0.5
An A also requires completion of all nine graded labs (C or better).
A final grade of B also requires completion of at least eight of the
graded labs (C or better). Recall that completion of less than seven
of the graded labs is an automatic F.
C. Data Recording
Data are to be recorded in ink on 8 1/2 X 11 quadrille
sheets (5 X 5). Team members should share the cost of a pad of
quadrille paper. These are to be no erasures or "white-outs". Errors
are to be lined out. At the end of each laboratory period or the
conclusion of the experiment, each data sheet is to be dated and initialed
by all team members and section TA. Data should be recorded in tabular
form with well-labeled columns, or otherwise distinctly entered onto the
data sheet. The data may be transferred to computer spread-sheets, etc.,
for analysis if the team so desires. Each team member should obtain
photocopies of all signed data and analysis sheets. (This is for your
own protection.)
D. Presentation of Results
Under the interview structure and in light of the summer's compact
schedule, no individual formal written experimental reports are
required. However, the data are to be analyzed, with full attention
to experimental and statistical uncertainties, where required, and
the results are to be presented in tabular and/or graphical format as
appropriate. There should also be a clearly written description of
the analysis process complete with pertinent equations. BE SURE TO
STATE YOUR CONCLUSIONS PROMINENTLY AND CLEARLY. All these
documents, initialed and dated, as well as the original raw data
sheets, are to be presented at the interview. At least one person
in your group should keep a photocopy of the entire packet.
E. Scheduling of Interviews
Most interviews will occur during the last hour or so of the second day
on which the particular experiment is scheduled on a first-come
first-served basis. Interviews normally will last no more than
ten or fifteen minutes.
F. Relation to Lecture
The Department of Physics and Astronomy cannot afford to stock sufficient
equipment to allow all students to conduct the same experiment at one time.
Therefore, it is impossible to coordinate closely the laboratory work
with material covered in the PHY-131 lecture. Consequently, some students
may encounter a concept or physical principle in the lab before learning
about it in lecture. This is not necessarily a bad ordering of the learning
process; many prefer it. On the other hand, some students may wait for a
week or more after learning the physics theory before doing the relevant
experiments. In either case, it is expected that material encountered
in each course will eventually be reinforced by material from the
other course in such a way as to enhance understanding.
G. Withdrawal
Withdrawal policies are established by the University (see the
2004 ASU Calendar.) The deadline for
unrestricted course withdrawal is July 13.
Other deadlines are also given
in the Calendar. The important point to remember
is that after July 13 (and before any other withdrawal deadline) one will
receive either a W or an E depending respectively upon whether or not one
is "passing" the course at that time as certified by the instructor. In
particular, having missed three or more experiments at the time of
withdrawal will be interpreted as failing.