Class meets: MTWRF 8:00
to 9:30 AM in 215 Phillips Hall
Duane L. Deardorff
Office hours: after class in the Physics Tutorial Center
(Phillips 245) or by appointment
Office: 203 Phillips Hall
Office phone: 962-3013
E-mail: duane.deardorff@unc.edu
Physics 104 is the first semester of an algebra-based
physics course that is designed for pre-med students and other biological
science students who are required to take a physics
course but will probably not major in physics. Knowledge of calculus is not
required for this course, but references to calculus may be used occasionally.
This course covers basic mechanics and thermodynamics, while the second
semester course, Physics 105, continues with electricity and magnetism, optics,
and modern physics. Concurrent enrollment in a Physics 104 Lab is required
since the laboratory performance is included in the 4-credit hour course grade.
Physics, 4th edition by James Walker (Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010) - available at UNC Student Stores or other sources
Note: The 3rd edition of this textbook is also acceptable and can be purchased for much less!
Physics 104 Lab Manual - available in the Course Pack section of UNC Student Stores
Note: A free electronic version of this manual will be available via WebAssign, so you do not have to buy one.
Optional (see below): Mastering Physics on-line tutoring and homework system
Through this course, you will have the opportunity to
analyze the physical world around you and improve your critical thinking
skills. The instruction for this course places significant emphasis on
qualitative physical reasoning as an important foundation to quantitative
problem solving. The instruction focuses on student-centered learning and
involves active participation from the students. The instructor will act
more as a "coach" who facilitates student learning, as opposed to a
"lecturer" who transmits knowledge without necessarily requiring
thought or action on the part of the student. Since the instructional
focus is on learning rather than teaching, students are expected
to take more responsibility for their own learning than might be required in a
more traditional lecture format. At the same time, frequent course
assignments are designed to keep students "on track" through the
learning process. In order to see if this teaching style is right for
you, spend a few minutes examining your own learning style using the on-line Index
of Learning Styles survey.
Critical Thinking
Most students who take an introductory physics course will
not pursue advanced physics degrees and will probably never use most of the
physics concepts taught in the course. Consequently, you will not be
required to memorize lots of physics equations, but you will be required to
comprehend and apply physics concepts to a variety of situations. The reason
that many students find physics difficult is that it goes beyond memorization
by requiring higher level thinking skills (levels 4 through 6 below).
Learning physics is also like learning a foreign language since new words and
symbols must be understood and applied correctly within the context of various
physical situations.
Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain:
1. Knowledge - memorization
of facts, words, and symbols
2. Comprehension -
understanding the meaning of knowledge
3. Application - applying
concepts to various situations
4. Analysis - breaking apart
complex ideas
5. Synthesis - putting
individual ideas together to form a complete explanation
6. Evaluation - judging the
merits of individual ideas and making decisions
Not only are these skills needed for physics, but employers
consistently rank critical thinking and problem-solving ability near the top of
their list of desired traits in valued employees.
Collaborative Group Work
This course encourages collaborative teamwork, which has
multiple benefits for you both as a student and in your career. Most jobs
require at least some interaction with other people, and consequently, most
employers place a high value on their employees' ability to work well with
other people. Also, many good ideas and solutions to problems grow out of
discussions with colleagues. As many teachers will attest, you will find that
the concepts covered in this course will become clearer to you as you discuss
and explain problem solutions to your peers. As you work together, you should
help your peers to understand confusing points, ask each other questions, and
carefully critique any group assignments. You can learn a great deal by
teaching each other!
Comments about taking this course in
the summer: Any
course taken in the summer can be a challenge, and this is certainly true for a
science course with a lab. It is important to have realistic expectations
about the time and effort required to do well in this course.
Readings. You are responsible for reading the textbook and working
suggested problems on your own. The first homework assignment for each chapter
typically consists of conceptual questions, and you are expected to read the
chapter and answer these questions before coming to class. Time
spent in class is intended to be a review and elaboration on the information
you should have already learned from the textbook.
Class Participation is an important part of this course. There are many opportunities for active student participation, both in and out of the classroom, including: responses to in-class questions, surveys that are submitted in-class or on-line, predictions for classroom demonstrations (extra credit is given for volunteering to participate in certain demonstrations), and "Minute Papers" (written feedback to the instructor on how you are doing in the class and questions that you have). Responses to in-class questions are scored primarily on effort, with secondary emphasis on getting the "right" answers. Attendance and participation in discussions, questions, and quizzes are tracked using a class response system called "i-Clicker."
Homework assignments will be submitted via the Mastering Physics on-line tutoring system. Assignments will generally consist of several multiple-choice questions or numerical exercises. These homework assignments are designed to test your understanding of the physics concepts and provide practice with solving typical physics problems. Past student performance has shown that there is a strong correlation between performance on the homework and final course grades. However, if you find that Mastering Physics does not suit your learning style or your performance is low, your overall course average will only include the homework score if it improves your grade. Therefore, the Mastering Physics homework can only benefit your grade in the class! There is fee for using Mastering Physics (paid on-line or at the campus bookstore), but you can get a full refund if you decide within the first 15 days to not continue using the program. In the past, approximately 80% of students have utilized the on-line homework system and found it beneficial as a learning tool. To register, use the Class ID: UNCPHYS104SUM2011.
Real-World Problems will be assigned for homework in addition to standard textbook problems. These problems are designed to help you synthesize a variety of concepts as they apply to real-world scenarios. Each student is then responsible for writing a complete solution on paper using the GOAL problem-solving strategy or GOAL template. Each solution will be "rough graded" using the check/check-minus system used for class participation assignments. Solutions will also be randomly selected to be "quality graded" for accuracy, organization, clarity of explanation, and completeness. Each exam will include one real-world problem to be answered on your own and handed in on the day of the exam. Students are also encouraged to apply physics to their own lives by creating an original real-world problem and solving it for up to 5 extra credit points toward each exam. Real-world problems and their solutions are evaluated based on criteria provided by the instructor.
Exams. There will be 2 unit tests and one comprehensive final exam for this course. Consult the course schedule for the dates of each exam. Test questions will be similar to problems assigned for homework or discussed in class. Each exam will have a format consisting of a variety of problem types to address multiple learning styles and encourage students to learn at all cognitive levels:
Lab. The laboratory portion of
this course is required for all students and counts for 25% of the overall
course grade. Consult the course schedule or lab website for the laboratory
schedule and other information pertaining to the labs. Laboratory manuals
are available in the Course Pack section of the campus bookstore.
Web Project (optional) - You can earn up to 3 percentage points (1/3 of a letter grade) for publishing a website that explains the physics of some form of technology that applies to this course and would be of interest to students in this class (biological science applications are encouraged). The purpose of this project is to help make connections between physics and the "real world" and gain experience with webpage development. Students can work independently or in a group of up to three students to accomplish the goals of this project.
Course
grades (+/-) will be assigned based on your overall, weighted class average as
follows:
Weighting Scheme and Letter
Grade Divisions |
||||||
Component |
Weight |
|
|
|
|
|
Tests (2) |
30%* |
|
- |
|
+ |
|
Final exam |
20% |
|
A |
90-92 |
93-100 |
|
Mastering Physics
Homework |
15%* |
|
B |
80-82 |
83-86 |
87-89 |
Real-World Problems |
5% |
|
C |
70-72 |
73-76 |
77-79 |
Class Participation |
5% |
|
D |
|
60-66 |
67-69 |
Lab |
25% |
|
F |
|
0-59 |
*Your homework score will be either your Mastering Physics
score or exam average (whichever is higher).
If
your exam scores show improvement over the course of the semester, an
additional improvement factor will be added to your final score, which may
result in the next higher letter grade for borderline cases.
Note:
While it is theoretically possible for every student in the class to earn
an "A", the historical average for this course is ~80% (B-).
Honor
Code:
It is expected that each student will abide by the UNC Instrument of Student Governance.
Physics Tutorial Center (245 Phillips hall
- consult schedule on door for availability, generally M-F: 9:30-2:00,
5:00-6:00)
Supplemental
Instruction is offered weekdays at 5:00 pm in Phillips 220 by Dmitry Spivak.
Textbook Companion Website: 2nd edition (free access to
all), 3rd edition (free with new
textbook)
WebAssign
(or Mastering Physics) Tips
Equations and conversion factors ,
Metric prefixes
Practice Exams from Spring 2003: Exam 1, Exam 2, Exam 3 ,
Exam3 from Fall 2001 - full solution
Hyperphysics - A nice overview of physics principles
using concept maps and hyperlinks
Java
Applets for selected introductory physics topics
More
Java Applets from Wiley