Course Syllabus

PHYS 322, Summer 2024

Electromagnetism II

SLN 13087

Lecture Instructor: Matt DePies
email: mrdepies@uw.edu
Office: PAB B472

Office Hours: TF 12:40-1:40 pm

 

  • Tutorial TA: Elliot Maderazo <maderazo@uw.edu>
    • Time:    Location:
  • Tutorial TA: Matthew Seeley <mcseeley@uw.edu>
    • Time:  Th 12-1 pm, F 3-4 pm; Location: 2nd Floor Graduate Lounge (Th), Physics Study Center (F)
  • TA: Fiona McLary <fionaemw@uw.edu>
    • Time: M 1-2 pm, F 3-4 pm,  Location: B235

 

  • Lecture Hall:  PAA A110

  • Lecture schedule:  TF 9:10 am- 10:40 am

              • Tutorials: Tuesday
  • Course Texts: Griffiths, "Introduction to Electrodynamics", 4th edition 
  • Research Opt-Out survey: [link]

Tentative Weekly Course Schedule: This will be followed as closely as possible, and changes will be announced as necessary. This includes both lecture and tutorial, so look closely!

Tentative Schedule Phys 322A Summer 2024

phys322_sum24_schedule.pdf

Lecture Instructor's Comments

  • Welcome to the second quarter of three electricity and magnetism courses at the University of Washington. You should find this course quite challenging, and the expenditure of time required to fully grasp the subject should be high. That said, you should also find that your mathematical and physics abilities greatly increased by the effort.
  • Classical electromagnetic theory is one of the great stepping stones to modern physics, thus this class lays the foundation for more advanced classes. In particular, A. Einstein's work in electrodynamics led him ultimately to his Theory of Relativity.
  • Maxwell's collection of equations is also a powerful example of what is known as a unified theory. In this case it connects the electric field with the magnetic field in a single theoretical framework. This model has proved to be one of the great achievements in human intellectual development.

General Comments

  • Given that this is Summer Quarter, there are several things to be aware of. One is that there are only nine weeks and so the content is compressed, leading to more work per week. The other is that there is no finals week, the final exam is the last day of the quarter. 

Grading Policy

The final course grade is based on the midterms and final, HW, tutorials, and possibly lecture exercises. However, the lecture instructor may adjust individual final grades by no more than 0.2 grade points (about 5 % out of 4.0 possible) based on records from the lecture quizzes and/or the supplemental homework related to the lecture. All percentages discussed in the policy statement and in the summary below are used to determine your raw grade, before this adjustment is applied.

  • Midterm exams: There will be two closed-book midterm exams. The midterms will emphasize recent material, but may include questions dealing with topics from far earlier in the course. The exams will include both multiple choice and essay-style questions, as well as potential video submissions. After correcting for different average scores on different midterms, the midterms will contribute 30% to your final raw grade. You are permitted to bring one 8.5"x11" page of notes (front only) to each midterm. Calculators are permitted. Cell phones, radios, etc. are not permitted. Laptop computers are not permitted, and the use of the text-storage capability now available on many calculators is not permitted. Exams are to be your own work; you are not permitted to collaborate with any other person. The Physics department reserves the right to ask for valid identification from any student during examinations.

  • Note that there will be no make-up exams, unless sufficient advanced notice is given. Students with outside professional, service, or career commitments (i.e. military service, ROTC, professional conference presentation, NCAA sports, etc.) conflicting exactly with the exam dates must contact the instructor early in the quarter to establish alternate examination procedures.  Except for extreme circumstances, a final grade of 0.0 may be assigned to any student who misses two midterm exams.

  • Final Exam: The final exam is the last day of class. It will be cumulative but is weighted the same as a midterm exam.

  • Exam Grading:

    Exams will count for 50% of your grade.  Your overall exam score will be based on the best of the following two methods:

      • Method 1: 50% from your average exam score for the two midterms and the final.
      • Method 2: 25% from your best midterm score and 25% from your final exam score

     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%

  • Exam Re-grades: If you believe that the points on the examination were incorrectly totaled or if there is a gross error in the grading, you may return an exam for regrading. To do so, you must resubmit the examination no later than at the beginning of the lecture following the one in which the exams are returned. You must write a brief note on the front page or attached to the front page of the exam explaining the possible error in the grading. Do not make *any* changes or marks on the other pages of the examination. Portions of each examination are scanned or photocopied. You should be aware that any request for a regrade may result in a regrading of the entire exam. Therefore your total score may increase or decrease.

  • Homework: Lecture homework will be assigned and collected weekly. It is to be turned in by the end of the day and will not be accepted late.  The absolute importance of homework in learning this subject cannot be overemphasized! Please note that for HW the most important aspect will be the work you show, not necessarily the answer. Particularly creative or novel approaches will be rewarded with higher scores.
    • Written Homework [20%]: for the written homework we are more interested in the work and not the answer. We plan to make the answer worth approximately zero points. You will likely need to explain, using English, why you took the steps you did solving problems. More info in class and we'll update here.
    • Pre-lecture homework [5%]: before each lecture there are a set of problems associated with the reading. Be sure to complete these prior to coming to class.
    • We will drop the lowest homework score.
  • In-class participation [5%]: Questions and quizzes in class will be part of your grade. We will drop the lowest two in-class clicker question scores.
  • Tutorials [20%] Tutorial pretests, tutorials, and tutorial homework will be done during the quarter. We will drop the lowest score on each of the tutorial homework and the pretests.

  • Your responsibility: Check your grades on Canvas every week or two and report any problems to the lecture instructor and tutorial instructor immediately. Exam and homework grades should be recorded for your review within one week from the date that papers are submitted for grading. Supplemental HW, if assigned, should be recorded every two weeks or so. Grading problems that are reported in a timely fashion will be investigated and, if action is warranted, corrected. The lecture instructor may choose to ignore grading complaints that are not reported in a timely fashion.

The Physics Study Center

Students are encouraged to gather and work cooperatively in small groups in the Physics Study Center located in room AM018 of PAA. (to reach the Physics Study Center, go down the stairs that circle behind the Foucault pendulum and proceed toward the end of the hall). Teaching assistants will be available for consultation during many portions of the day if your study group needs assistance, but staffing levels will not support much individual attention. The Study Center is staffed from approximately 9:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays.

Class Policies

Attendance Policy: Since participation is vital for a successful experience, please arrive on time for class. Late arrivals interrupt our in-progress activities and discussions. If you must miss a class session, let the instructor know as soon as possible so that you can make up the work that you miss. DO NOT ARRIVE LATE TO CLASS!

Technology in the Classroom: Since technology is profoundly linked to education, there will be many times when I ask that you employ different tools in the gathering and expression of knowledge. Since, however, education is also more than technology, please turn off all laptops, cell phones, iPods, etc before the start of class and I will let you know when we’ll make use of them. (There are exceptions for students with specific note-taking and other needs.)

Incompletes: University rules state that “an incomplete is given only when the student has been in attendance and has done satisfactory work until within two weeks at the end of the quarter and has furnished proof satisfactory to the instructor that the work cannot be completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond the student’s control.” We strongly discourage incompletes.

Academic Accommodations: Your experience in this class is important to us, so if you have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but are not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical), please contact DRS (Links to an external site.) to arrange accommodations.

Religious Accommodations: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/) (Links to an external site.). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/) (Links to an external site.).

Academic Integrity and Student Conduct: The University takes academic integrity and student conduct very seriously.  Behaving with integrity and respect is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community.  Acts of academic misconduct may include, but are not limited to, cheating by working with others or sharing answers on exams.

Please note that screenshots or recordings of instructors, other students, and course materials during active video (Zoom) participation sessions are strictly forbidden.  Streaming or posting inappropriate materials on any course platform is also not allowed.

All the course materials including exam and quiz questions, lecture notes, lecture videos are intellectual properties of the instructor and the University of Washington. Distributing them in any form without permission is forbidden.  

The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals.  Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution.  More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/ (Links to an external site.).

If you’re uncertain about if something is academic or behavioral misconduct, ask us.  we are willing to discuss questions you might have.

Online privacy:

This course is scheduled to run synchronously at your scheduled time, in person, and recorded in Panopto or Zoom. The recording will capture the presenter’s audio, video and computer screen. The recordings will only be accessible to students enrolled in the course to review materials. These recordings will not be shared with or accessible to the public.
 
The University and Zoom have FERPA-compliant agreements in place to protect the security and privacy of UW Zoom accounts. Students who do not wish to be recorded should:
 
Change their Zoom screen name to hide any personal identifying information such as their name or UW Net ID, and Not share their computer audio or video during their Zoom sessions.


UW SafeCampus

 Preventing violence is everyone's responsibility. If you're concerned, tell someone.
* Always call 911 if you or others may be in danger.
* Call 206-685-SAFE (7233) to report non-urgent threats of violence and for referrals to UW counseling and/or safety resources. TTY or VP callers, please call through your preferred relay service.
* Don't walk alone. Campus safety guards can walk with you on campus after dark. Call Husky NightWalk 206-685-WALK (9255).
* Stay connected in an emergency with UW Alert. Register your mobile number to receive instant notification of campus emergencies via text and voice messaging. Sign up online at www.washington.edu/alert For more information visit the SafeCampus website at *www.washington.edu/safecampus*.

This course is part of a research project examining student reasoning ability and attitudes about physics with the goal of improving physics teaching.  By enrolling in this course you are automatically included in the study.  In a tutorial pretest assignment, you will be given an opportunity to learn about the study and to remove yourself from it if you wish. Your instructor and TAs will not know whether or not you participate.  Throughout the quarter, this link will be active and allow you to review the details of the study, contact a member of the research team, or remove yourself from the study.

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.  By enrolling in this course, you are automatically included in the study. 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.