The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Physics 104-001, First Summer Session 2011

Instructor:  Dr. Duane Deardorff

Course | Book | Philosophy | Course work | Grades | Resources 

Daily Class Schedule | Real-world Problems | Web Project

 


Class times and location

Class meets:  MTWRF  8:00 to 9:30 AM  in 215 Phillips Hall

Instructor contact information

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

Course description

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.

 Textbook

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

Instructional Philosophy

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!

Course Work

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.

Grades

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.

Learning Resources

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)

Physics Study Tips

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

PhET interactive physics simulations

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