121 Policies - Spring 2023
A. General
The course during this Semester commences on MON Jan 9 and
concludes on FRI May 5 (at the Final Exam).
Class meetings are on
MW from 3:05 until 4:20 in PSH-356 (or else in Dr. Adams' Zoom
meeting room at https://asu.zoom.us/j/8349628496 if required
by changes to the public health situation).
THERE IS NO LECTURING at these class meetings. Instead, class time
is spent working on the more complex homework problems. (see Active Learning, and
the Active Learning Supplement for Spring 2023).
Minimal preparation for each class meeting is to do the
reading assignment for that
day, and to answer the Reading Quiz questions (at Mastering Physics)
for that reading assignment. To more fully prepare for each class
meeting, also take an advance look at the homework problems which
will be assigned for that day (at Mastering Physics). A
number of multiple choice questions will be asked during each class
meeting. These may cover the reading assignment, or may check your
comprehension of some topic that has been covered earlier in the
class. You are expected to record your response to these
questions by logging in to your Mastering Physics account with your
phone or laptop and using Learning Catalytics. You must
enter your ASU Posting
ID within Learning Catalytics in order for your responses to be
saved and graded.
RECITATION will
meet weekly on FRI from 2:30 to 3:20 PM in PSH-356 (or else in your
recitation TA's Zoom meeting room should public health
become an issue). Nine of this semester's recitations
will include exercises which will be completed with the help of your
recitation instructor and your Learning Assistants (LA's).
These exercises will usually provide an introduction to the concepts and
problem-solving strategies which will then be explored in detail in the
following week's readings, classroom exercises, and homeworks; however,
in some cases, the concepts will have already been introduced in the
reading and the exercises will provide additional practice. For recitations
with exercises, a subsequent lecture may possibly begin with a WebAssign
Review Exercise (RE) which will be directly related to the material covered in the
exercise. Be sure to save your completed exercise; you will be allowed
to use that exercise in working on the Review Exercise questions.
Two of the Review Exercises that use WebAssign are announced in our
schedule; look for WA within our Topic and Reading Schedule to
see the dates of the two announced WA RE's. The six Tests are also given during the
recitation period; on those six days, the recitation period is entirely
occupied with taking the Test (see the
Recitation Schedule for these test dates).
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 may be disseminated
through e-mail. The student will be responsible for receiving it. If you
currently have an 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. Learning Catalytics and Classwork
You will use Learning Catalytics to answer Multiple
Choice questions during the class meetings. For the first two class meetings,
Learning Catalytics questions will be considered practice questions, as we learn
to use the system. Beginning MON Jan 23, at least
some Learning Catalytics questions will be graded. 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 135 graded LC questions
over the course of the semester, so about 405 LC points will be possible.
However, about 340 LC points (or about 85% of all possible LC points should
there be more or less than 135 questions) are all that are required to receive
an overall LC grade of 100%. Since only 85% of all possible Learning Catalytics points
are required for a perfect Learning Catalytics score, no opportunity is provided
to make up missed Learning Catalytics questions. It is your responsibility
to make sure that your Learning Catalytics account is set up properly, and that
you are therefore getting credit for your responses. See our Learning Catalytics information page
for more details. Your LC percentage will count as 8% of your Overall grade
for our class.
Classwork will consist mostly of collaborative
work on the most difficult of our Mastering Physics homework problems,
with many Learning Catalytics questions.
Other classwork activities will include discussion, usually with
accompanying demonstrations and related Learning Catalytics questions,
of the more subtle aspects of the topics covered by the reading for that
day's class.
Approximately once per week class will begin with
a short review exercise (RE); be sure to arrive a few minutes early so
that you are ready to participate. For a few of the review
exercises, you will need to be logged in to WebAssign. These
RE's will either review one of the Reading Quiz questions
for that day, or else a question from the Recitation Exercise
from the previous FRI. Always have your completed Recitation
Exercise available; you may always refer to it during any
review exercise. For all review exercises (whether given at
WebAssign or on paper), participation is what counts. The raw
scores will be out of 6, but a raw score of 1 will count as an
80% RE performance; a raw score of 2-4 will count as a 90% RE
performance; and, a raw score of 5-6 will count at a 100% RE
performance. All RE's will begin promptly at 3:05 and last
for 5-7 minutes. Remember that, for the RE's, participation
is paramount; a raw score of 1 out of 6 translates to 80% for that RE.
There will be roughly 10-13 RE's over the course of the semester,
with about 3 drops, and the RE's will count as 6% of your overall
grade for our class.
C. Reading Quizzes and Homework
There is one Reading Quiz (RQ) for each of the 25 topics listed in our
Topic and Reading Schedule;
all Reading Quizzes can be found only at Mastering Physics (MP). Each RQ
is due at 3:00 PM on the day the topic
for that RQ is covered in our classroom. The Reading Quizzes will count 6% of your overall class grade.
There is one assigned Homework (HW) for each of the 25 topics listed
in our Topic and Reading Schedule;
all Homeworks can be found only at MP. Due dates for each HW are available
on the MP Assignment list. In general, assignments for topics discussed in
class on MON are due by 11:59 PM the following SUN and assignments for
topics discussed on WED are due by 11:59 PM the following TUE, but the
official due dates are always the ones found at MP. While the due dates
for our MP homeworks are set liberally, it is strongly recommended
that you finish each MP homework within three days of the relevant
class meeting. Please take a look at the Tips for Using MP.
Using online HW-answer services (such as Chegg.com) to find answers for
our Reading Quizzes or HW problems is not allowed. Any students found
using such services for one of our HW's or RQ's will automatically
receive a ZERO for that HW or RQ. Repeated incidents will result
in an E as an overall letter grade for our course.
A total of approximately 1875 HW points will be possible. The final
homework grade will be determined as a percentage out of 1685 points
(or ∼90% of all possible points should the number of total HW points
change.) Your maximum homework grade is 100%, i.e. more than 1685 points
will not be counted as extra credit. There may be HW extra credit
opportunities throughout the semester to help you obtain the necessary
1685 points. Your HW percentage will count 10% of your overall class
grade.
850 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR
A PASSING GRADE IN THE COURSE.
D. Recitation Exercises
Nine of the 15 recitation meetings will include an
exercise which will be completed by working with your assigned LA
and/or your recitation TA.
For recitations with exercises, a subsequent lecture may possibly begin
with a WebAssign Review Exercise (RE) which will be directly related to
the material covered in recitation. Two of these Review Exercises are
announced beforehand; look for WA within our Topic and Reading Schedule to
see the dates of these two RE's. Please see the final paragraph in
Part (B) above to see how these WebAssign RE's contribute to your
Overall grade for our class.
E. Examinations
The six tests will cover material indicated in the schedule by
topic numbers. The tests will be given during scheduled
recitation meetings. Three of the tests (probably
Tests 1, 3, and 5) will be Free Response (these are given
in H356), and three will be Numerical (these are given in
H563). If there turn out to be too many students for giving
tests in H563, then one group of students (A or B) will take
a Free Response version of the test in PSH-356, and
the other group will take a Numerical version of the test in
PSH-563. In any case, each student will take three Free
Response tests and three Numerical tests; for each type of
test only the best two scores will be counted toward your
final grade. The main topics for each test are given in the schedule;
however, any test may also include questions which
cover previous topics from earlier in the semester.
The Free Response tests will consist of two pages of free response
questions (usually two or three questions in total); the two pages
of questions will be worth 50 points. These tests will be given on
paper in PSH356; in-person attendance will be required.
The Numerical tests will consist of 10 numerical questions, and will
be given through WebAssign
on computers in PSH-563, with assigned seating; in-person attendance
will be required.
For the Numerical tests at WebAssign, the WebAssign Lockdown
browser will be required, and is already installed on the
computers in PSH-563. You will have six
tries to answer each numerical question, but you will lose 10%
of the available credit for each wrong submission.
For students in quarantine at the time of a test, we will try to
provide an opportunity for a make-up test in PSH-563 at the end
of your quarantine period; however, this depends on the vagaries of
scheduling. Any make-ups must be scheduled and completed before the
next scheduled test. If a make-up cannot be scheduled in your
particular case, then that test will have to be your dropped test
for our Spring 2023 semester; each student gets to drop one Numerical
test and one Free Response test. For the Free Response tests, it is
possible that we might be able to provide an online version especially
for students in quarantine; if this turns out to be possible, then the
quarantine version would require a pdf submission at WebAssign.
The final exam is scheduled for FRI May 05
from 2:30-4:20 PM; it is expected to consist of 40 multiple choice
questions using a Scantron,
and it will be comprehensive.
Tests are governed by the following policies:
In figuring your test average, the lowest of the three Free
Response test scores and the lowest of the three Numerical test
scores will automatically be dropped.
The use of hand calculators is permitted. However, YOUR
CALCULATOR MAY NOT CONTAIN STORED PHYSICS EQUATIONS. Also, you may
not use your cell-phone calculator.
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! It is always possible that you may be
asked to defend your numerical answers.
A full set of test rules is
available at the course web site.
If a student believes there to have been an error in grading
their Free Response test, the complaint should be PUT IN
WRITING and given, together with the original test (the
student should keep a copy of the test), to Dr. Adams
within TWO SCHOOL DAYS of receiving the graded test. The complaint will be discussed with the individual
who graded it originally, and that person will then write a
reply to the student and return the processed complaint to
the student at the next recitation meeting. If the student
is not satisfied with the grader's response to the complaint,
they may appeal directly to Dr. Adams. In this event, Dr.
Adams reserves the prerogative to regrade the entire
examination. Simple errors, such as point addition, can be
corrected by contacting the student's recitation section TA.
F. Final Grades.
The final course grades will be determined with the following weights:
Learning Catalytics: 8%
Reading Quiz: 6%
Homework (total points out of 1685): 10%
Review Exercise Average: 6%
Free Response Tests (drop 1 of 3): 26%
Numerical Tests (drop 1 of 3): 26%
Final Examination: 18%
A MINIMUM OF 850 HOMEWORK POINTS IS REQUIRED FOR A PASSING
GRADE IN THE COURSE.
The scale for final letter grades will ultimately
be determined by the overall class performance. However, any student
who earns 80% of all possible points can expect to receive an A of some
type (A-, A, or A+); students who earn 65-80% of all possible points
can expect to receive some type of B, and students who earn 50-65% of
all possible points can expect to receive a C or C+. Don't
depend solely on your instructors to figure your grade correctly.
For a more detailed explanation see
HOW TO FIGURE YOUR FINAL GRADE (usually posted later in the
semester).
G. Withdrawal
Withdrawal policies are established by the University (see the
ASU Calendar.)
The deadline for course
withdrawal is Apr 2.
H. Appendices
Additional, University-required information on commercial note-taking,
accommodations, classroom behavior, Title IX, and withdrawal details can be
found in the Online Appendices.
Topic and Reading Schedule