PHYS 250 (GN) Introductory Physics I (4).

Selected topics in mechanics and thermodynamics. (For a more detailed description, see the bluebook.)

For a detailed listing of lecture topics and a schedule of major course events, please refer to the schedule/overview page of our website (http://class.phys.psu.edu/p250sp).

Physics 250 is a 4.0 credit course with a laboratory component. You must be registered for both a lecture/recitation section (PHYS 250) and a lab section (PHYS 250P).

Prerequisite: MATH 022, MATH 026; or MATH 040; or MATH 041 or satisfactory performance on the mathematics proficiency examination.

The text for this course is College Physics: A Strategic Approach, 1st Ed. by Knight, Jones and Field. This course will cover topics from Chapters 1–16.

We strongly recommend that you purchase the bundled version at the bookstore, which includes the textbook (a custom edition for Penn State: Vol 1: ISBN-10: 0-555-02406-7), the recitation materials (College Physics: A Strategic Approach Student Workbook, Vol. 1, 1st Ed. By Knight and Andrews), and a WebAssign access card.

The reading quizzes and numerical homework assignments will be administered through WebAssign, a web-based homework program. Access to WebAssign is automatically enabled for all students enrolled in the course when classes begin, but does require registration within the first two weeks of classes. Registration is obtained by either purchasing a WebAssign card at one of the bookstores (included in the bundle) or making a payment online (https://www.webassign.net/psu/login.html) .

Lectures meet twice each week, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 12:20-1:10 pm in room 119 Osmond.

While we will refer to certain sections from the text as "reading assignments", the lectures are not merely a re-hash of the textbook. Students should read the relevant material from the textbook before the lecture, so that we may spend the majority of the lecture period discussing and clarifying the conceptual material together as a class. Frequent participation is expected.

Laboratory sections meet once a week in room 209 Osmond. Your meeting time is determined by your PHYS 250P section number (check your class schedule or the places link on the class website for the scheduled time for your laboratory section.). You must attend the laboratory section in which you are scheduled — no switching is permitted.

The laboratories are designed to provide you with hands-on experience with the material being investigated in class. Teaching assistants lead the laboratory sessions and act as your guides as you explore the material. Students work collaboratively in three member lab groups to carry out the experiments. Each student is expected to bring a copy of the relevant lab activity with them to class (the schedule of lab activities is available on the class website). Each student is required to be an active participant in their group in order to earn a grade for the laboratory activity.

During the lab session, each group prepares a single write-up, addressing specific points of the experiments. This write-up must be submitted by the group before the end of the laboratory session.

Recitation sections also meet once a week. Your meeting time is determined by your PHYS 250 section number. You must attend the section for which you are registered.

Each recitation period will consist of a group-based exercise in which the students will further develop their problem-solving skills and the concepts presented in the reading and the lecture sessions. You are required to bring a copy of the Tutorials in Introductory Physics text with you to each recitation meeting. These activities have been carefully designed, tested, and refined by the Physics Education Research Group at the University of Washington to help you develop your understanding of the basic principles underlying physics. Although no grades are assigned during tutorial sessions, most students find them to be the most valuable element in the class for learning to perform well on the exam questions and homework problems.

Each tutorial activity has an accompanying homework activity, which is to be completed by every student and turned in at the next recitation meeting for grading.

We will be using an online computer system (https://www.webassign.net/psu/student.html) for our online homework assignments and reading quizzes. This system allows you to submit your homework at any time of the day or night. Your grade on each homework assignment will be available immediately and, in most cases, you will have multiple tries to arrive at the correct answer. The entire process can be done from any computer with a connection to the Internet and a web browser. Because answers to the homework problems are available immediately after the due date, no late assignments can be accepted.

Students are encouraged to work together and collaborate on the homework assignments; however, work submitted for individual assessment must be the work of the individual student. Please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy below.

Report any problems related to submitting your homework through the contact us link on the course website.

Report any problems related to the physics content of your homework to your TA.

There will be two midterm exams and a cumulative final exam. All exams will be closed book. Relevant physical constants and formulae will be provided for you. You may bring a standard scientific-type calculator. (Palm computers or organizers are not allowed.) Cellular phones and other communication devices are not allowed.

The exams will be based on the assigned reading in the textbook, the material covered in lecture, the homework assignments, the recitations, and the laboratories. Exams will have a very strong conceptual emphasis, and will not consist of standard "end of chapter" problems.

Please see the exams page on the course website for more information about the exams in this course.

Your grade in the course will be based on your performance in your group reports submitted in lab, on the tutorial homeworks, on the WebAssign homeworks, and on the exams with the following weights:

Final letter grades for the course will be based on an absolute scale. The course score will be calculated to the nearest integer. No curving of any kind will be employed unless the combined average exam score (computed as the combined average of all midterm and final exams taken to date) is less than 70%. In such cases, the grades on the most recent exam will be adjusted by additively raising the exam scores to allow the combined exam average to meet the target minimum of 70%.

The break points for the various grade levels are:

You can access your scores for completed assignments on the course web page grades link on the course menu bar. You are responsible for verifying all of your scores (with the exception of the final exam score) before the last lecture for the course.

For help on physics outside of class, you should attend the Physics Department Learning Resource Center or the office hours of any teaching assistant for the course, not just your own. The course lecturer also has office hours.

For help on technical issues, such as problems with grades, you should use the contact us link on the course website.

All information and course materials are posted on the web at http://class.phys.psu.edu/p250sp/. On this website you will find

• Weekly schedule of activities containing:
  • Homework assignments
  • Recitation assignments
  • Laboratory activities
  • Lecture notes
• Course News which contains information such as class cancellations or other recent developments
• Exam Information
• Contact information for the course instructors and staff
• Course syllabus
• Grade information

All course schedules, events, and announcements will be posted on this course website; it should be bookmarked and checked frequently.

Note to Students with Disabilities:

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. If you have a disability related need for academic adjustments or reasonable accommodations in this course, contact the Office for Disability Services (ODS) at 863-1807 or stop by 116 Boucke Building. For further information regarding services for individuals with disabilities at Penn State University, please visit the ODS website at: http://www.equity.psu.edu/ODS. Instructors should be notified as early in the semester as possible regarding the need for academic adjustments or reasonable accommodations.

As described in The Penn State Principles, academic integrity is the basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State University, allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. We expect that each student will practice integrity in regard to all academic assignments and will not tolerate or engage in acts of falsification, misrepresentation, or deception. To protect the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and the worth of work completed by others, we will record and report to the office of Judicial Affairs all instances of academic dishonesty.

The University and Departmental policy regarding academic integrity can be found on the course web page with links to the faculty senate policy: http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/47-00.html#49-20.

Labs

The laboratory components of this course are structured around collaborative learning. You must be present in laboratory and be an active participant of a group to do these assignments: no make-up assignments will be given for a missed laboratory. If you are absent from a laboratory section with a valid excuse, as described below, that laboratory activity will not be counted in computing your final grade. If you are absent without a valid excuse, you will score a zero for that activity.

Tutorial Homeworks

No grade is assigned to the tutorial activity itself, although the accompanying tutorial homeworks do count for credit. The homework for a tutorial must be submitted to the recitation teaching assistant (TA) at the beginning of the next session. If you cannot submit your homework on time due to a valid excuse, it is your responsibility to promptly contact your teaching assistant (TA) and provide the valid excuse, in which case that tutorial homework will not be counted in computing your final grade. If you fail to submit your homework without a valid excuse, you will score a zero for that activity.

WebAssign Homeworks & Reading Quizzes

No extensions for WebAssign homeworks or reading quizzes will be granted. You must complete the homeworks and quizzes as scheduled, or provide a valid university excuse.

Examinations

All students should plan to take their exams at the scheduled times. Students can request makeup exams only by submitting a valid written excuse to the course administrator. In the case of sudden or unexpected events that will cause them to miss an exam, students are required to notify the course administrator prior to the exam or as soon as is reasonably possible.

Valid reasons to be excused from an evaluative event (i.e. a graded class activity or a homework assignment) include illness or injury, family emergencies, university approved curricular and extracurricular activities, and religious holidays. If a student is unable to attend a scheduled activity or complete a homework assignment for one of these reasons and wishes to be excused from that activity or assignment, the student must print out an Excuse Form from the class website, fill out the requested information, and submit the form to the student's teaching assistant. The form must be submitted within one week of the missed activity (in the case of an extended illness, within one week of the end of the illness).

A maximum of three (3) activities/assignments will be excused for a student throughout the entire course. More than three absences will interfere excessively with student learning. Students are therefore required to meet personally with the course administrator, after three absences and before a fourth absence, to discuss whether it will be necessary to withdraw from the course. Requests to be excused from a missed evaluative event due to reasons that are based on false claims may be considered violations of the policy on Academic Integrity (Policy 49-20).

A few comments regarding valid excuses:

• The student must provide all requested information on the Excuse Form and sign the form. Incorrect or missing information will result in the request for an excused absence being denied.
• Family emergencies include a death in the immediate family, death of a close friend, sudden hospitalization of a close family member, and events of similar gravity. Students should inform their teaching assistant about the family emergency as soon as possible.
• To obtain an excuse for university-approved curricular and extra-curricular activities, a student needs to obtain a letter (or a class absence form) from the unit or department sponsoring the activity. The letter must indicate the anticipated absence dates, and it must be presented to the student's teaching assistant at least one week prior to the first absence.
• In the case of religious holidays, students should notify their teaching assistant by the third week of the course of any potential conflicts.
• All excuses should be submitted to the relevant teaching assistant, not to the lecturing instructor or the contact us link on the course website. If there is a need to discuss the excuse with the course administrator, the teaching assistant should initiate this process.
• Missing a lab or recitation activity to attend an exam in another course does not constitute a valid university excuse. Every course that offers examinations outside of their normally scheduled meeting times must offer conflict exams for students who are already otherwise scheduled. It is the responsibility of the student to contact the administrators of the course offering the exam in order to request a conflict exam. Failure to be aware that a conflict exists will not be considered grounds for an excuse.

Students arriving more than 10 minutes late for any graded class activity will not receive credit for that day's activities.

The laboratory and recitations are based on collaborative group activities. You will not obtain the full benefit of these activities and it is unfair to the other members of your group if you arrive late. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late will not be admitted and will lose credit for that day's class activities. If you have a valid excuse for arriving late you will be allowed to enter the class late only if you contact the TA in advance.

Students are NOT permitted to attend any laboratory or recitation section other than the one in which they are scheduled. Failure to attend the proper section could result in the loss of grade for that activity.