The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Physics 25, Summer 2006

Instructor:  Dr. Duane L. Deardorff

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

Daily Class Schedule | Real-world Problems | Web Project | Student Groups

Class times and location

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

Instructor contact information

Duane L. Deardorff - Instructor
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
          Michael Good - Graduate Teaching Fellow
          Office:  210 Phillips Hall
          Office phone:  843-7011
          E-mail:  mgood@physics.unc.edu

Course description

Physics 25 is the second semester of an algebra-based physics course that is aimed at pre-med students and others who are required to take a physics course but do not plan to major in physics. Knowledge of calculus is not required for this course, but references to calculus may be used occasionally. This course covers electricity and magnetism, optics, and modern physics. Concurrent enrollment in a Physics 25 Lab is required since the lab grade is included in the 4-credit hour course grade.

 Textbook

Physics, 2nd ed. by James S. Walker (published by Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004)

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.  To the extent possible, the instruction is aimed to meet a variety of learning styles.  You are encouraged to spend a few minutes examining your own learning style using the on-line Index of Learning Styles survey.
 
Critical Thinking
Most students who take this 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 (these are provided for you on exams), 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

Grades

Course grades (+/-) will be assigned based on your overall, weighted class average as follows:

Weighting Scheme and Letter Grade Divisions
 Component
Weight
  
 
 
  
 Exams (2)
30%*
  
-
  
+
 Final exam
20%
   A  90-92
93-100
  
 WebAssign 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
*If your WebAssign score is lower than your exam average, then your exam average will replace the WebAssign score.
Students who choose to do the optional Web Project may receive up to 3 percentage points of extra credit added to their final course score.
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.

Learning Resources