Physics
303K-MI, Fall 2010 (MWF 12-1, Pai
2.48)
Homepage: http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~itiq/303KMI/chiu/
UT
registration Unique numbers: 56645(primary), 56650, 56655, 56660
In this course, each student
should have two web-accounts:
1.
Teaching Team:
·
Instructor: C. Chiu, Office: RLM 10.206, 471-1707
Office hours: MWF 3-4, other times by
appointment.
Email: Charles Chiu<chiu@physics.utexas.edu>. Please include “PHY 303K-MI” on the subject line.
TA: Matt Haley
LAs: Pedro
Arias, Kevin Melin, Scott Luettgen
See 303K-MI TA/LAs homepage
for TA/LAs contact information and TA session information.
For additional help, see coaching service : RLM 5th level.
2.
Course materials:
3. Clicker sessions
We plan to intersperse the lecture with
interactive quiz (iq) sessions on a fairly regular basis.
During any session students are encouraged to discuss and interact with
neighbors. Clickers will be used for these sessions. The clickers used for this
course are called Iclickers. They are available at
UT-coop.
4. Syllabus: The syllabus gives an
overview of the lesson plan. For each class, the approximate sections in the textbook are indicated. There is a homework assignment
for most of the classes. You may turn in one problem at a time. There is
bi-weekly homework due. The cutoff is at 11:30pm on the due date. No
homework beyond the cutoff will be accepted.
5. Midterms/Final:
6. Grading policy:
During the semester to gauge his/her ongoing
performance, a student should look at %scores for all non-exam items and look
at both the % score(ps) and
the scaled score(ss) for the exams.
The letter grade cutoffs for the
percent-scores and scaled-scores are:
·
ps-cutoffs are: 40%, 55%, 75% and
90% for D, C, B and A respectively;
For each exam, determine your ps-letter
grade and the ss-letter grade. If the two letter-grades are not the same,
the better of the two is the letter grade you have made for it.
After the final exam a separate semester-grading-program independent of
the QUEST-system will be used to evaluate the precise scaled score to percent score conversion for each exam. This is done
through a linear interpolation process which satisfies following
correspondence: ( click here)
§ At the cutoff
points: (ss = 400 corresponds to ps
= 40), (450 to 55), (525 to 75), (600 to 90).
§ At the end points: ( ss = 200 corresponds to ps = 0) and (700 to 100).
The better between original percent-score
and the ss-to-ps converted
score will be selected by the program as the “adjusted percent exam score” in question.
Based
on the grading policy stated, this program will determine the semester-grade
using % scores for all items.
No make up midterm will be given. A student is
required to take all four midterms. At the end of the semester, the midterm
with the lowest adjusted percent exam score will be dropped. If a
student misses a midterm, the missing midterm will be the one which will be
dropped. If the missing a midterm is due to a legitimate reason approved by the
instructor, the student may alternatively elect a no-drop option, where
the student's final exam score appropriately scaled may replace the score of
the missing midterm. After a midterm is missed, if the student would like to
request the consideration of the no-drop option,
the student must contact the instructor immediately by email. For the
no-drop option to be applicable, the student must take all of the other three
midterms.
7. TA
session: TA
session consists of computer modeling and discussions on the nuances of the physics
of the course. TA session grades will be determined by the TA. Deadline of
complaints on TA session grades is the last day of class. No dispute of TA
session record beyond the end-of-class day will be accepted.
8. Good participation status(gp-status): The gp-status
policy is intended to encourage the student to work hard and work persistently
in all aspects of this course throughout the semester. The gp-status will be determined based on student’s pre-final
QUEST-record, which will be closed at a designated time which will be during
the no-class days before the beginning of final exams. Student’s checking on
the accuracy of his/her QUEST record prior to this designated time is one of
the requirements toward achieving the gp-status. (For instance, if a student found an
error in the pre-final Quest-record after the deadline, the correction of this
error will not lead to the change of his/her gp-status.
)
To achieve gp-status,
student’s record must satisfy the following triple 80% -criteria.
1) Homework score
(after 3-drops) >80%
2) TA sessions score
>80%,
3) Iq-score (after 4
drops) > 80%. See the link “iq-score grading
policy” on the homepage of the course.
The following special considerations will
be applied to any student who has achieved the “gp-status”.
·
For
a borderline case, where student's % score is within 2 %-points below the
cutoff, the next higher grade will be assigned to the student.
These
considerations will not be available to a student who has not earned this
status.
First
class reminders:
o
You
need to have a textbook or a WebAssign access code.
You will also need an Iclicker.
o
Read
frequently asked questions (FAQ) on QUEST. Enter your Iclicker
serial number into your QUEST account.
o
Start
working on the first homework assignment. Note the deadline for submission:
11:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
o
Read
(or skim) the textbook and corresponding assignment BEFORE the lecture.
o
Collection
of clicker questions (posted online). Selected questions from this collection
will be used during the class. Study all the posted clicker questions they will
help you to learn the materials.
o
To
take this course, you must enroll in 103M lab. Reminder: MI-student
reference link: Click
here. Lab will begin on the week of 8/30. On lab schedule, when in doubt
check with the lab supply room RLM8.316 (471-5352).
o
One
week after class-begins, also check the pre/co-requisites audit-list
which will be posted outside of the lecture hall. If your name is on this list, please see undergraduate
coordinator Pat Morgan in RLM 5.216.