Course Syllabus

PHY2053: Physics 1, Summer C 2020

Course Description

PHY2053 - Physics 1: This course is a first semester of algebra-based introductory physics. The topics covered include kinematics, Newton’s laws, circular and rotational motion, equilibrium, elasticity, energy, momentum, fluids, oscillations, waves, and sound. 4 credits

Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills: High school algebra and trigonometry, or the equivalent.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will have improved their existing foundation in the concepts, principles, terminology, and methodologies used to describe motion (translational, rotational and combined) of simple objects, the basic properties of matter, harmonic oscillations, and wave motion. Specifically, students will be able to:

1. Analyze particular physical situations, and thus identify the fundamental principles pertinent to those situations to make successful predictions of system behavior,
2. Apply fundamental principles to formulate mathematical equations describing the relation between physical quantities in these particular situations,
3. Solve mathematical equations to find the values of physical quantities, and
4. Communicate unambiguously both the principles that apply to a situation and the results of specific calculations resulting from the steps above.

Student Expectations

To achieve the learning outcomes, students are expected to:

• Visit the weekly module page at the beginning of the week to understand the module learning objectives and to plan your engagement with course content for the week ahead.
• Read the assigned chapters in the textbook and view the corresponding lecture videos.
• Work through the examples presented in the text and in the practice problem videos in order to learn the physics concepts, principles, and problem-solving techniques of introductory physics.
• Complete homework assignments to self–assess your understanding of the module’s concepts and problem solving strategies on a weekly basis.
• Attend discussion section meetings 2x each week to complete timed quizzes based on homework, and to complete group problem solving activities.
• Seek help from your instructor and other students when specific content does not make sense, and seek out additional practice when needed to gain mastery before moving on to future modules. These additional materials are provided on each module page and in MasteringPhysics to help diagnose, and offer remediation, until you feel comfortable and confident in the physics you have learned.

This course requires an extensive amount of time to do all of the above, and students should plan accordingly to spend 12 hours per week on course preparation and practice.

Required Materials

The required text is College Physics, a strategic approach, by Knight, Jones and Field, 4^thed, published by Pearson. The course is set up for an All-Access opt-in to purchase the text online for students who have registered in the course. The opt-in procedure is documented here, and it begins at https://www.bsd.ufl.edu/G1CO/IPay1f/start.aspx?TASK=INCLUDED. For non-local assistance, please contact the UF Computing Help Desk at (352) 392-HELP (4357). (See below for more computing support information.)

The required online homework system is MasteringPhysics, access to which is included in the purchase of the online textbook described above. Access MasteringPhysics using the "MyLab and Mastering" link provided in the Canvas navigation.  The assignments can be accessed directly in Canvas using the "Assignments" link.

In addition, use of HonorLock is required for examinations. You need access to a computer with a video camera, a microphone, and a good internet connection. In order to take exams under the supervision of HonorLock, these technology resources must be available in a quiet room where you can take the exams in privacy.

You are expected to maintain your computer and access to internet throughout this course. Please ensure you have backup plans and access to loaner equipment on short notice in case the equipment you depend upon becomes unreliable. Please revisit your college's policy on required technology tools and access. 

You should have access to a location where you can complete discussion section quizzes during your scheduled discussion section meetings, and exams as scheduled on the syllabus. This location should be free of distraction or interruption. Please notify those living with you of your unavailability during this time and ask others to provide a quiet and respectful environment. 

Synchronous Discussion Section Meetings

Discussion sections are scheduled Zoom meetings where you will get small group instruction on how to answer physics problems, both numerical and conceptual. All students are assigned to attend two discussion section Zoom meetings each week.  A highly skilled TA will guide you through the problem solving process that will be helpful for you as you practice the homework problems on your own outside of class. You will also receive formative assessment feedback on your learning through low-stakes weekly quizzes. The content of these quizzes are based on the problems assigned in homework and serve to assess not only the correct answer to quantitative problems, but also critique and provide feedback on how you justify your answer with an in-depth solution.

Discussion section meetings will also provide a forum to earn extra credit through participation in collaborative group problem solving exercises. 

On a regular week the first discussion session will be the day of the quiz and the second discussion session will be the day of the group problem. 

Please visit the Student Practices for Zoom page of UF, to learn tips and tricks on how to use the Zoom platform.

Canvas and Computing Information

Canvas is the where course content, grades, and communication will reside for this course.

• The course webpage is ufl.instructure.com/courses/398311. You can use this address to access the course even when the UF eLearning site is down, so bookmark it in your browser.
• For Canvas, Passwords, or any other computer-related technical support contact the Computing Help Desk: (Links to an external site.
• http://helpdesk.ufl.edu/
• (352) 392-HELP (4357)
• helpdesk@ufl.edu

Course Policies

ATTENDANCE POLICY:  You are expected to watch the lecture and problem-solving videos and to complete the online reading quizzes, homework, and exams by their assigned deadlines. You are also expected to interact with the instructor and with your fellow students through discussions of the material through the Canvas discussion forum.

ASSIGNMENT POLICY: Homework, discussion section quizzes, and exam windows are announced in the course calendar and appear at the bottom of this page.

HOMEWORK POLICY: Homework sets are completed online through MasteringPhysics at any time between the opening of the assignment and the deadline announced in the course calendar. These assignments are not timed or proctored, but they are subject to the UF Policy on Academic Misconduct (see below). Due to the lengthy availability window for the assignment and the release of homework answers after the due date, extensions are not possible. A forgiveness factor is included in this categorical score to reduce the impact of a missed assignment. 

It is permissible to seek assistance or collaborate on homework with your instructor or your peers. This assistance may include help with interpreting the problem, identifying relevant information in the textbook or course videos, or identifying one’s errors.  No credit is available for late assignments. (See "Canvas Information" above and “Getting Help” below for what to do in the event of technical problems with the Canvas e-Learning system or Honorlock, the proctoring system.)

EXAM POLICY: Three mid-term exams and a cumulative final exam will be taken online, each under the supervision of HonorLock during a time window announced in the course calendar. Exams are not collaborative and are completed alone.

Exam Makeup Policy: A student who will miss an exam due to a foreseeable reason that is approved under UF attendance policies should request in advance to take the conflict exam instead of the regular exam. A student who has an unforeseeable absence from an exam should contact the instructor as soon as possible, normally within 24 hours after the missed exam. If the unforeseeable absence is excused by the instructor, the student will be expected to take the conflict exam unless they have another exam conflict or reason that is approved under UF attendance policies. The conflict exam will cover the same essential subject matter as the regular exam and in a similar format, although the exams will not be identical.

Permitted Materials for Exams: If you are on either the vet or med school track you should be aware that the GRE, required for Veterinary programs, provides their own simple calculators, while the MCAT does not permit calculators at all. In this class, to prevent over-reliance on programmable and/or graphing calculators, we will not allow the use of them on quizzes and exams. Thus, for example, the TI-83 and TI Nspire are not permitted. Scientific calculators that have a simple memory stack (allowing storage of intermediate calculations), have trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions (in radians or degrees), and use exponents are permitted. Calculators may not be shared and may not have electronic communications capability. Cell phones as calculators are not allowed.  Private formula sheets are not allowed. Use of either constitutes academic fraud. You are permitted blank scratch paper to work our problems during the exam.

Discussion Section Quiz Makeup Policy: Contact your discussion section TA to request a makeup quiz. A makeup quiz must be requested within one week of its originally scheduled administration, and if approved, completed within two weeks of its originally scheduled administration. All makeup quizzes must be completed by August 13, 11:59PM EDT.

DISCUSSION BOARD POSTINGS: Each week will introduce a new module (chapter) on physics. Please post your observations or questions on the material, or help answer your fellow classmates’ questions, using the Canvas discussion forum. Your discussion postings are graded as extra credit based on the quality of the questions posed about course content, the quality of the feedback offered to other students, and the amount of interaction you offer to the course. Discussion postings are evaluated four times throughout the semester, coinciding with each exam.

Discussions are moderated to ensure posts remain on topic. Any harassment or inappropriate posts will be removed. After a warning, subsequent inappropriate posts will be deleted and the individual will lose access to discussion boards.

MECHANICS SURVEYS:  There are two quizzes that are a new addition to some of our introductory-level courses. No preparation is required for either survey; they are designed as course benchmarks. You will receive full points for fully participating in these quizzes (i.e. you can answer every survey item incorrectly and still get full points for completing the survey). The quizzes will be completed in discussion section meetings during Week 1 and Week 12. New: The second mechanics survey (Week 12) will have a wider availability window (Aug 8th-Aug 13th), so you will not complete it during a discussion section meeting.

MAKE-UP POLICY: Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work are consistent with university policies that can be found here. For a foreseeable absence, it is your responsibility to identify yourself as requiring an accommodation at least one week prior to the absence.

Assessments and Grade Calculation

Grades in the course are awarded based on an overall course score made up as follows:

Exams: Each exam covers content primarily from each of the four units. However, physics is cumulative, and you will see many physics concepts utilized throughout the semester. Exams will follow each of the four topical units shown on the calendar below. Exams are administered during regularly scheduled lecture period meeting times and will consist of 12 multiple choice questions. You will have 75 minutes to complete each exam.  Blank scratch paper is allowed, as well as a calculator. Formula sheets for reference will be made available during the exam.

Homework: Much of learning physics involves doing physics. This means practice applying physics principles through qualitative reasoning and quantitative problem solving and gaining experience when these approaches are correct and feedback when they fall short. Therefore you will complete weekly homework assignments. You should view this practice as the minimum necessary to prepare for higher stakes assessment. Weekly homework sets are due on Mondays at 9:00pm EDT.  Your homework score is calculated utilizing a forgiveness factor of 0.9, where the maximum number of accumulated points is multiplied by 0.9 to account for any issues you experience which may prevent you from turning in an assignment on time. This calculation is performed at the end of the semester. Weekly homework scores are synced to Canvas a few days after the homework deadline has passed.

Discussion Section Quizzes: Discussion section quizzes provide feedback on your problem solving approach and are graded based on the reasoning supporting the answer you submit. The questions are based closely on the most recent homework assignment. Week 1 and Week 12 include quizzes which serve as diagnostic tools to evaluate your overall conceptual knowledge on force and motion. Quizzes will not be assigned during exam weeks. Your quiz score is calculated utilizing a forgiveness factor of 0.9, where the maximum number of accumulated points is multiplied by 0.9 to account for any issues you experience which may prevent you from doing the best on a quiz.

Discussion Postings: This is where you ask questions about confusing parts of physics every week. It's the best way to raise your hand and ask a question and everyone else will be thankful that you did! If you don't have questions, then discuss how the current module's topics applies to your life. Extra credit is awarded based on your participation and quality of engagement with the discussion boards. New: A forgiveness factor of 0.9 is used in calculating the amount of extra credit from discussion postings, as shown above.

Group Problems: On non-quiz days, students will utilize Zoom breakout rooms to work through collaborative group problem solving exercises. These problems require productive and focused application of what you have learned from reading the textbook and reviewing the lecture and example videos. Extra credit is offered for your active participation in these sessions. A forgiveness factor of 0.8 is used in calculating the amount of extra credit, as shown above.

Forgiveness Factor: A combination of planned and unforeseen factors may cause you to miss some classes or discussion sections, additionally, it is likely for most of us to have a bad day or week (for any number of reasons) during the semester.  To accommodate this reality, we use a "forgiveness factor" as a "make-up" policy to accommodate circumstances that may arise throughout the semester that may hinder your performance in the online HW and the discussion quizzes. The forgiveness factors are 0.9 for both homework and quizzes, and 0.8 for group problem solving extra credit. They are calculated at the end of the semester and mean that you can miss the stated percentage of work associated with that component, but still score 100% of the credit for it.  

Grade Scheme

The following grading scheme will be used in this class, with final grades determined by total calculated score rounded to the tenths place:

Online Proctoring and Exam Conduct

In order to maintain a high standard of academic integrity and assure that the value of your University of Florida degree is not compromised, course exams will be proctored.

• You are not permitted to utilize any resources in addition to what is provided during the exam.
• You are not permitted to discuss the contents of the exam following its administration.
• You are not permitted to receive any information prior to taking the exam about the exam contents.

Violation of any of these conditions is academic misconduct and will be dealt with according to the protocols for reporting Honor Code violations. This is your only warning and if you have questions about whether an action constitutes a violation, you should consult your instructor prior to following the course of action in question. 

Honorlock

You will take your exam electronically using the course website and these exams will be proctored with Honorlock. Honorlock is an online proctoring service that allows you to take your exam from the comfort of your home. You DO NOT need to create an account, download software or schedule an appointment in advance. Please make sure you complete and submit the exam before the end of the testing window. You will need a computer, working webcam, speakers, microphone and reliable Internet connection to be able to take your exams. Wireless internet is not recommended. You may also need a mirror or other reflective surface. Google Chrome is the only supported browser for taking exams in Canvas. You can download the extension at www.honorlock.com/extension/install.

Important: Prior to each exam, visit the Honorlock system check to evaluate your equipment and software. Also, take the practice quiz, worth 0 points, to get familiar with the Honorlock procedure for beginning and taking proctored exams.

Download and read through the HONORLOCK-StudentPreparationLinks.pdf handout for an overview of test-taking tips and requirements. There will be questions answerable from information presented on this handout on your syllabus quiz.

When you are ready to test, log into Canvas, go to your course, and click on your exam. Clicking "Launch Proctoring" will begin the Honorlock authentication process, where you will take a picture of yourself, show your ID, and complete a scan of your room. Honorlock will be recording your exam session by webcam as well as recording your screen. Honorlock also has an integrity algorithm that can detect search-engine use, so please do not attempt to search for answers, even if it's on a secondary device. 

Getting Help

Honorlock support is available 24/7/365. If you encounter any issues, you may contact them by live chat, phone (855-828-4004), and/or email (support@honorlock.com).

If you experience any difficulties with the proctoring system, contact Honorlock's free 24/7 LiveChat and phone support. The LiveChat is available by clicking on the chat window at the bottom right of the exam. Of course, the support team can't answer questions to help you answer questions about the contents of the exam, but they will be willing to diagnose and offer solutions for technical difficulties with the proctoring system.

Course Schedule and Calendar

On Sunday of each week, a new module will become available providing access to lecture videos, worked example videos, and a homework assignment (due eight days later on the following Monday at 9:00pm EDT), and a reading quiz. Further, an adaptive homework assignment may be offered for additional practice based on your total homework assignment score. Notice that we skip Quizzes 3, 6, 9 and 11 because they would have been on an exam week.

Institutional Policies and Procedures

UNIVERSITY POLICY ON ACCOMMODATING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Disability Resource Center (352-392-8565, http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) by providing appropriate documentation. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.

To request accommodation for this course, complete the DRC student survey to submit your accommodation letter valid for Summer 2020 and to schedule any exams and/or quizzes for the semester.

UNIVERSITY POLICY ON ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:  Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at https://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/process/student-conduct-honor-code/.

**NETIQUETTE: COMMUNICATION COURTESY:  All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions and chats. 

http://teach.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NetiquetteGuideforOnlineCourses.pdf

COURSE EVALUATION: Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/students/. Students will be notified when the evaluation period opens, and can complete evaluations through the email they receive from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under GatorEvals, or via https://ufl.bluera.com/ufl/. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public-results/.

ATTENDANCE AND MAKE-UP POLICY: Excused absences and allowances for make-up work are consistent with university policies in the undergraduate catalog (https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx) and require appropriate documentation.

Disclaimer: This syllabus represents my current plans and objectives.  As we go through the semester, those plans may need to change to enhance the class learning opportunity or to react to weather-related closures.  Such changes, communicated clearly, are not unusual and should be expected.