Course Syllabus

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Topics covered

Phys 116 covers the following topics:

  • Simple harmonic oscillators
  • Mechanical waves
  • Doppler effect
  • Superposition of waves and standing waves
  • Physical optics
  • Geometrical optics
  • Electromagnetic waves and polarization
  • Quantum physics
  • Atomic physics
  • Nuclear physics

Overview

This course has two components: lecture and tutorial.  Each component has several important aspects. You can see all required components, week by week, in Modules.

This website describes recommended practices to succeed in this course, and this website contains a list of resources you may find helpful for a variety of issues students may encounter during your time at UW.  We recommend the following:

  • Create a weekly schedule to help organize when you will work on the course components.  A sample schedule here.
  • Some people like working in groups, some like working alone. Either is fine, these are different styles of learning.  If you find the course challenging and you are working on your own, consider working in a group.
  • You can use Ed Discussion to post questions or answer others' questions. 
  • If you have any questions, please come to office hours.

Contact me if you need help finding the resources you need.

Contact Information

For questions send an email with your course and section (Phys 116A), your UW net ID (the part before @uw.edu in your email address), and name as it appears on Canvas to:

  • the instructor, Charles Marcus at cmarcus@uw.edu, for personal correspondence related to grades, health issues, etc.
  • the tutorial TA instructor, Adrian Plenefisch at aplenef@uw.edu, for tutorial related issues.
  • the program coordinator at phys1xx@uw.edu for administrator questions related to registering and other administrative matters.

Course Material

The platform for online assignments is MyLab and Mastering through which you also access the e-textbook.

Learning Catalytics is used for in-class quizzes in the tutorials. Lectures will also have in-class discussions without recording answers.

The textbook used is College Physics A Strategic Approach, 4th edition, by Knight Jones Field.

Information on how to access MyLab and Mastering and troubleshooting for common issues can be found here.

Please note that you have been automatically opted in to purchase the eTextbook and MyLab and Mastering.

Class components

This class consists of the following components. For more details of each, click the links below.

Lecture overview

  • Before each lecture you need to complete the assigned reading (see schedule below).  You may not understand everything upon reading the text the first time.  But you should be familiar with the concepts of the reading before class.
  • During lecture I will discuss the reading and allow time to work on questions individually and discuss them with your peers.  I hope you will enjoy the feeling of mild confusion. It's intentional, not evidence that something is wrong. If everything was clear, you wouldn't need to take the class. Massive confusion is another thing.

Lectures are from 2:30 to 3:20 PM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in lecture hall A118 of PAA. I will post lecture slides under the Files. Lectures will be recorded on Panopto which will be also available under the "Panopto Recordings" menu on the left. If you watch the lectures online, you will miss some aspects of the course and we will certainly miss you.

Tutorial overview

In tutorial you will work with your peers to discuss problems designed to help you construct a conceptual understanding of physical laws.  Initially you may find the questions challenging and not easy to answer on your own.  Tutorial sections are designed an environment where you can try out your ideas and and develop your intuition.

Tutorials are from 5PM to 6PM on Tuesday (unless they are exam days) in a large lecture hall 220 of KNE. Similarly to lectures, tutorial sessions will be recorded on Panopto.

Graded components

  • Pre-lecture reading quiz (25% of grade):
    • After completing the reading you need to answer questions on MyLab and Mastering before 11:59 PM on the day before the corresponding lecture.
    • You have up to 5 attempts for each question so work things out first and double check your answer before submitting it. For each wrong answer 10% of the grade is subtracted.  Note that practice problems, adaptive follow-ups, and dynamic study modules available also through Mastering are not graded, but helpful for your study.
    • Pre-lecture reading quiz score will be scaled by 1.25 at the end of quarter (but not allowed to go over 100%). That means you can miss a few and still do well.
  • Tutorial pretest (5% of grade):
    • These are designed to get you thinking about your ideas on topics covered in this course.  They are graded based on a thoughtful attempt, not on correctness.
    • These become available Friday at 3:30 PM and are due on Monday at 2:30 PM.
    • Once you start a pretest, you will have 30 minutes to complete it without the ability to pause.
    • Your lowest tutorial pretest score will be automatically dropped.
  • Tutorial in-class quizzes (5% of grade):
    • Participating in in-class quizzes on Learning Catalytics requires you to bring a web enabled device to tutorial. If you do not own a web enabled device, you can loan for free from the university. See this site for more details. Please contact me if you have problem accessing to a web enabled device.
    • Some questions may be graded purely on participation, but most are graded 80% for participation and 20% for the correct answer. At the end of the quarter the total in-class quiz score is scaled by 1.25, but truncated at 100%.
  • Exams (65 % of grade): 

Important note:

Each exam includes questions based on the lectures and tutorials, so missing a lecture or tutorial section can have an impact on your exam performance.  If you miss a lecture or tutorial, make sure to work through the missed material to minimize the impact on your course grade.

The exam procedure is described here.

The following dates are preliminary and may change.

    • Midterm exam 1 on January 30th from 5:00 to 6:00 PM in Kane Hall
    • Midterm exam 2 on February 20th from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM in Kane Hall
    • Final exam on Tuesday March 12th from 2:30 PM to 4:20 PM in PAA

Note that there are no make-up exams.  So, students with outside professional, service, or career commitments (i.e. military service, ROTC, professional conference presentation, NCAA sports, etc.) conflicting with the exam dates must contact me early in the quarter to establish alternate examination procedures.  Exam scores for students who miss an exam without making prior arrangements will be zero.

Each exam is out of 100 points, and has three components:

    • 80 points on lecture material
    • 20 points on tutorial material

Exams will count for 65% of your grade.  Your overall exam score will be based on the best of the following two methods:

    • Method 1: 65% from your average exam score for the two midterms and the final.
    • Method 2: 25% from your best midterm score and 40% from your final exam score

We try to design the exams such that a student who understands some of the material very well but needs some improvement in the remaining material should get a score around 65%.  If the class average on a given exam is less than 65%, then all the scores for that exam will be adjusted upward so that the average is 65%. Scores will not be adjusted downward even if the class average is higher than 65%.

If you are not sure about a practice or rule, please ask. 

Make up policies

This class is planned to be conducted in-person unless the University announces otherwise.  You are expected to participate in class to fully benefit from course activities and meet the course’s learning objectives.  To protect your fellow students, faculty, and staff, if you feel ill and may be contagious, you should not come to class.  

If you miss assignments for a valid reason (family and medical emergency etc.), please contact me so that I can give you the following accommodations.

  • Pre-lecture reading quizzes' due dates can be extended. Note the pre-lecture reading quiz scores are scaled by 1.25 at the end of the quarter, so contact me only if you missed a significant number of them.
  • Tutorial pretest can be excused. Note that your lowest tutorial pretest score will be automatically dropped, so contact me only if you missed more than one.

Grades

  • Your final weighted percentage is converted to a grade point using the following thresholds. 
    grade point final course score   grade point final course score   grade point final course score   grade point final course score
    4.0 93 3.0 78 2.0 63 1.0 48
    3.9 91.5 2.9 76.5 1.9 61.5 0.9 46.3
    3.8 90 2.8 75 1.8 60 0.8 44.6
    3.7 88.5 2.7 73.5 1.7 58.5 0.7 42.9
    3.6 87 2.6 72 1.6 57    
    3.5 85.5 2.5 70.5 1.5 55.5    
    3.4 84 2.4 69 1.4 54    
    3.3 82.5 2.3 67.5 1.3 52.5    
    3.2 81 2.2 66 1.2 51    
    3.1 79.5 2.1 64.5 1.1 49.5    

Reading schedule

Reading Schedule

Research Study Information

This course is part of a research project examining student reasoning ability and attitudes about physics with the goal of improving physics teaching. Early in the quarter, students will have an opportunity to learn about the study and to remove themselves from the study if they wish. Your instructor will not know whether or not you participate. Please click on this link to review the details of the study, contact a member of the research team, or remove yourself from the study.

Access and accommodation

If you have a health condition or disability that requires accommodations, please contact DRS to make appropriate arrangements.

Religious accommodations

 UW policy concerning religious accommodation, including how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of the course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Academic integrity and conduct

The University takes academic integrity and civility seriously.  Any departures will be handled by university experts on such matters. More information can be found at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/.

Taking photos or recording instructors, students, or course materials without permission is not allowed.  All the course materials  belong to the instructor and the University of Washington. Distributing course material without permission is not permitted.  

If you’re uncertain about whether something constitutes misconduct, please ask Prof. Marcus. Such inquiries never constitute misconduct. 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due