The following will govern face-to-face interactions in this course. In response to COVID-19, the following policies and requirements are in place to maintain your learning environment and to enhance the safety of our in-classroom interactions.

• You are expected to wear approved face coverings at all times during class and within buildings. Following this policy is all of our responsiblity.
• This course is being offered in a HyFlex format, which means that you may choose to either attend the course remotely or attend it in person. For those who choose to attend in person, we encourage everyone to maintain physical distancing to the extent possible.
• Hand sanitizing stations are available in the classroom and throughout the building for your use.
• Please follow our guidance on how to enter and exit the classroom. Practice physical distancing to the extent possible when entering and exiting the classroom.
• If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms (please see the guidance from the CDC on symptoms of coronavirus), please use the UF Health screening system and follow the instructions on whether you are able to attend class. UF Health has guidance on what to do if you have been exposed to or are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms.
  • Course materials will be provided to you with an excused absence, and you will be given a reasonable amount of time to make up work. Find more information in the university attendance policies.

This section tells you how to contact the course instructor and TAs and gives an overview of how communication will happen and in what time frame.

There are 7 TAs available to help you during discussion sections and office hours.  The office hour schedule and contact information for TAs can be found in Office Hour Links on the sidebar.

Communications

Only messages through the official course e-Learning mail tool are guaranteed a response. When contacting instructors copy messages to BOTH Dr. McGill and Prof. Ray and do not click the "send individual email" button. The only exception to this rule is if you are writing about DRC matters: all messages about DRC accommodations go only to Prof. Ray. Emails to TAs do not need to copy the instructors.

On weekdays we respond to email between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm and will usually respond within 24 hours. On the weekend we will respond within 48 hours. 

Class Comportment

All participants of this course (students, TAs, and instructors) should adhere to the following netiquette policies:

• Treat your instructor and classmates with respect in email or any other communication.
• Always use your professors’ proper title: Dr. or Prof.
• Use clear and concise language.
• All college level communication should have correct spelling and grammar (this includes discussion boards).
• Avoid slang terms such as “wassup?” and texting abbreviations such as “u” instead of “you.”
• Avoid using the caps lock feature AS IT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS YELLING.
• Limit/avoid the use of emoticons like :) .
• Be cautious when using humor or sarcasm as tone is sometimes lost in an online interaction and your message might be taken seriously or sound offensive.
• When posting on the Canvas Discussion or Zoom Chat in your online class, you should:
  • Make posts that are on topic and within the scope of the course material.
  • Take your posts seriously and review and edit your posts before sending.
  • Be as brief as possible while still making a thorough comment.
  • Always give proper credit when referencing or quoting another source.
  • Be sure to read all messages in a thread before replying.
  • Don’t repeat someone else’s post without adding something of your own to it.
  • Always be respectful of others’ opinions even when they differ from your own.
  • When you disagree with someone, you should express your differing opinion in a respectful, non-critical way.
  • Do not make personal or insulting remarks.
  • Be open-minded.

This section tells you the role and responsibilities of the TA, how to contact the TAs, and gives an overview of how communication will happen and in what time frame.

Statement on TAs' Role

The TAs will be running your discussion sections, writing and grading your quizzes, and managing quiz makeup requests. We (the instructors) will guide the TAs in these endeavors. All course policies have been set by the instructors, and any questions about them should be sent to both Dr. McGill and Prof. Ray. Your TAs are not the authorities on course policy. They are, however, excellent authorities on physics, and you should not be shy about asking them questions. They are actively involved in departmental TA training to continuously improve their teaching practices.  If you have any concerns please contact Dr. McGill and Prof. Ray.

TA Responsibilities

• Create weekly quizzes.  These quizzes are approved by the instructors prior to being given.
• Grade weekly quizzes.
• Return graded quizzes/post grades 1 week from the date the quiz was taken.
• Approve makeup quiz requests within 3 days of the request being made.
• Provide a re-grade of quiz grades, when requested.
• Run discussion sections and all this entails (taking attendance for participation credit, facilitating student-created problems, problem solving, etc) and hold office hours.
• TAs are not responsible for creating or interpreting course policies.  Any questions/clarification required for course policy must be addressed to your instructors.

Office Hours

Office Location: Due to Covid, we will begin the semester with fully online office hours. See the Office Hours Links on the left sidebar for full details. You are welcome to attend the office hours of any TA.

This section overviews the materials you will need to complete the assigned work in the course. 

Important for those of you in different time zones from the East Coast of the USA: Times/dates of all items listed in our syllabus in Canvas are in US East Coast times. Canvas does not automatically reset these to show when they will occur in your local time. **Currently UF policy is such that exams must be taken in person in Gainesville.

Required Reading and Other Course Materials

• Canvas Notifications:
  • You must have your notifications in Canvas set such that you get instant notification of all course Announcements and (minimum) daily notification of emails.
• Text (e-book):
  • College Physics: A Strategic Approach by Knight, Jones, and Field (4e). You will need to set up a Mastering Physics account in order to access the e-text. See this link for further details. UF All-Access is only for the e-text and does not include the HW system.  You must register separately for the HW system.
• Homework:
  • HW will be presented and submitted through Expert TA. To access the homework, click the "Assignments" link in the left-hand navigation menu. Clicking on an assignment will take you to the assignment in Expert TA. The first time you do this, you will be asked to pay for your access privileges.  See the screenshots in this document for help navigating this process.
• Clickers:
  • Most lectures will feature a few in-class clicker questions for extra credit. UF has purchased a sitewide license to the iClicker system; please see iClicker setup slides for instructions on how to get set up. Use only your @ufl.edu email address when registering; if you use a different account we will not be able to match you to the gradebook and you will not be awarded any points you may earn.
    
• Calculators:
  • 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.  For this course, calculators are a necessity. Internet-capable calculators and cell phones as calculators are not allowed.
  • Canvas does not have a built-in calculator. You must bring your own calculator to your quizzes and exams; failure to bring your own calculator is not grounds for requesting a makeup.

Recommended Reading and Other Course Materials

Our course material is separated into Modules based on topic.  We have provided additional materials (videos, problem solving, etc) and these are located in the Modules.

Required Technology

Lectures, discussion sections, and office hours will be held live-time through Zoom in a HyFlex fashion. All students will need a reliable high speed internet connection to take online quizzes and exams. If you are attending remotely, you will need Zoom.

• Reliable internet is vital to your success in this course.  Makeups will not be permitted for students relying on spotty wireless; it is best if you ensure you have the ability to also connect to an ethernet line.  Students with Macs: Mac does make a dongle for ethernet use should your laptop not come with a built-in port. 
• Only instances of catastrophic internet outages will be approved for makeup requests.  These must be accompanied by a detailed outage map from your provider verifying the outage.
  • Quizzes will be taken electronically using the course website.
• Materials and Supplies Fee: n/a.

Grading in this course takes place within the following parameters.

• Your course grade will not be assigned based on a curve but will be based on a 100-point fixed scale.
• Your grade is determined by your performance on the following in-class and out-of-class components: 3 exams, weekly quizzes, and on-line homework. In addition you can earn extra credit through discussion section participation and in-class clicker questions. 
• 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 homework, the discussion quizzes and participation, and the clicker questions. The forgiveness factors are given in the table below. 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.  
• Grading in this class is consistent with UF grade and grading policies.
• Assignment Values: Point values/percentages for each assignment are available in the Assignments page of Canvas.

Course Schedule

The course schedule, including lecture topics, content covered on quizzes and exams, and UF holidays, is found in Module 0.

Policy on Late and Make-up Work

Homework solutions are released immediately after the due-date thus no late HW can be accepted for credit.  Makeups for quizzes and exams are permitted under UF attendance policy guidelines. See the following dropdowns for further details: Additional Information, Exam-Specific Information, and Quiz-Specific Information.

Grade Return Timing

Homework grades and solutions are released within 1 minute of the due-date through Expert TA. Graded quizzes are returned by the following week's discussion session. Exam grades should also be posted within 1 week of the exam.

Grade Composition

Point Range for this Class

Note that we round up at 0.50 percentage points. Thus, 59.50% rounds up to 60.00%, while 59.49% does not. Also note that a grade of C- is not a qualifying grade for major, minor, Gen Ed, or College Basic distribution credit.

This course is aligned with the UF policies described below. 

• Contact Hours:
  • "Contact Hours" refers to the hours per week in which students are in contact with the instructor, excluding office hours or other voluntary contact. The number of contact hours in this course equals the number of credits the course offers.
    

• Workload:
  • As a Carnegie I, research-intensive university, UF is required by federal law to assign at least 2 hours of work outside of class for every contact hour. Work done in these hours may include reading/viewing assigned material and doing explicitly assigned individual or group work, as well as reviewing notes from class, synthesizing information in advance of exams or papers, and other self-determined study tasks.
    • For tips and suggestions on how to approach this class and the appropriate amount of work required to master the topics we'll be covering see the page: How To Study For PHY2053

• UF Attendance Policy for Excused Absences

• Statement Regarding Evaluations:
  • Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. See the guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at. 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 the GatorEvals website. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students.

• Statement Regarding Course Recording:
  • Students are allowed to record video or audio of class lectures. However, the purposes for which these recordings may be used are strictly controlled. The only allowable purposes are (1) for personal educational use, (2) in connection with a complaint to the university, or (3) as evidence in, or in preparation for, a criminal or civil proceeding. All other purposes are prohibited. Specifically, students may not publish recorded lectures without the written consent of the instructor.
  • A “class lecture” is an educational presentation intended to inform or teach enrolled students about a particular subject, including any instructor-led discussions that form part of the presentation, and delivered by any instructor hired or appointed by the University, or by a guest instructor, as part of a University of Florida course. A class lecture does not include lab sessions, student presentations, clinical presentations such as patient history, academic exercises involving solely student participation, assessments (quizzes, tests, exams), field trips, private conversations between students in the class or between a student and the faculty or lecturer during a class session.
  • Publication without permission of the instructor is prohibited. To “publish” means to share, transmit, circulate, distribute, or provide access to a recording, regardless of format or medium, to another person (or persons), including but not limited to another student within the same class section. Additionally, a recording, or transcript of a recording, is considered published if it is posted on or uploaded to, in whole or in part,any media platform, including but not limited to social media, book, magazine,newspaper, leaflet, or third party note/tutoring services. A student who publishes a recording without written consent may be subject to a civil cause of action instituted by a person injured by the publication and/or discipline under UF Regulation 4.040 Student Code and Student Conduct Code.
  • Our class sessions may be audio visually recorded for students in the class to refer back to and for use of enrolled students who are unable to attend live. Students who participate with their camera engaged or utilize a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded. If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate verbally are agreeing to have their voices recorded. If you are unwilling to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the "chat" feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live. The chat will not be recorded or shared. As in all courses, unauthorized recording and unauthorized sharing of recorded materials is prohibited.
    

• Honor Policy:
  • UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states, “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code. On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” The Honor Code specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions. You are obligated to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor in this class.

Disability Resource Center (DRCaccessUF@ufsa.ufl.edu | 352-392-8565) helps to provide an accessible learning environment for all by providing support services and facilitating accommodations, which may vary from course to course. Once registered with DRC, students will receive an accommodation letter that must be presented to the instructor when requesting accommodations. Students should follow this procedure as early as possible in the semester.

• Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
  • Students with disabilities who experience learning barriers and would like to request academic accommodations should connect with the Disability Resource Center. This class supports the needs of different learners; it is important for students to share their accommodation letter with their instructor and discuss their access needs as early as possible in the semester.
    • The DRC has a new online portal for sending out accommodation letters, and you need an instructor email address in order to use it. For this purpose only, you may use the email address drhray@ufl.edu to generate your letter. All other communications must continue to come through Canvas in order to be guaranteed a response. DRC Accommodation Letters received at least 72 hours in advance of a timed assessment will be in effect for all future assessments. If a response is submitted with less than 72 hours until the next scheduled assessment, then the accommodations will apply after the next timed assessment. Failure to meet the announced 72 hour deadline prior to a timed assessment is not a valid rationale for requesting a makeup assessment. 

Physics, like all human endeavors, is something that is learned. Physics is practiced and advanced by a scientific community of individuals with diverse backgrounds and identities and is open and welcoming to everyone. We recognize the value in diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of this course. This includes, but is not limited to differences in race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and disability.

Our aim is to foster an atmosphere of learning that is based on inclusion, transparency, and respect for all. We acknowledge the different needs and perspectives we bring to our common learning space and strive to provide everyone with equal access. Know that you belong here.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any concerns, or with any suggestions for improving the inclusivity of this course.

The following are additional policies regarding graded material for this course.

• See the Course Schedule in Module 0 for detailed information about lecture topics, quiz and exam content, etc.

• Homework:
  • Before you begin you will need to register your account.
    
  • Homework sets will be due on Fridays at 11:59 pm and will be open for a period of 14 days prior to the deadline.
  • You get 5 attempts to get a question right. You will lose a portion of that part value as a deduction for each incorrect submission attempt. For multiple choice or true/false type questions credit will be deducted for incorrect attempts. Deduction per incorrect answer = 100%/(# of options - 1). Full solutions to homework will be available immediately after the due date in the homework system.
  • Expert TA requires your responses be within 2% of the correct answer to account for rounding errors. Going by significant figures can result in the system marking your answer wrong despite you technically being correct. Do not worry about significant figures unless specifically asked for them in the HW problem.
  • Follow appropriate practices of academic honesty when working on the homework problems: discussions with colleagues and/or tutors about methods of posing and solving a homework problem are acceptable and encouraged. Using a formula that is specific to the problem, derived by someone else to input answers is considered cheating. 
  • Some of the exam and quiz questions will be based on the homework problems. Treat the homework as practice for the exams and quizzes: derive, on your own, any result that you submit and attempt to do so using the provided formula sheet and minimal reliance on your calculator. 
  • Make-up Homework
    • Solutions are released immediately after the due-date; no make-ups are possible for homework. We do, however, apply a 20% forgiveness factor to your homework grade at the end of the semester.
      

• In-Class Clicker:
  • In-lecture clicker questions begin to count on Tuesday, September 7th, 2021. You must use either a computer or mobile device to participate in the clicker questions.
  • We will get set up with clicker on the first day of class.
    
  • Correct responses to clicker questions are worth 2 points and incorrect responses will be worth 1 point. Responding for other students is considered cheating by both parties.

• Discussion Section Participation:  You will be able to earn up to 3 points per week in Discussion Section starting Tuesday, September 7th, 2021. At the end of the semester the total points you earned out of the total possible will be used to scale the 5 extra credit quiz points mentioned above. (ex: The total number of participation points for the semester is 36 and you earn 25. At the end of the semester you will have (25/36)*5 points added to your final total quiz score.)
  • For students choosing to attend remotely, you MUST use your name as it appears in Canvas to join the Zoom meeting in order to receive credit. 
  • The 3 possible points will be earned in the following way:
    • On the first discussion section day you will receive 1 point for participating in the discussion section for the full 15 minutes of section prior to the quiz being administered. You do not receive partial extra credit if you are present for less than 15 min prior to the start of the quiz.
    • During your second discussion section you will be writing your own problems and solutions based on the homework (Student Generated Problems). You will work in groups of ~4. You will receive 2 points if you turn in both a question and a reasonable attempt at a solution (the solution does not have to be correct to earn full points, but it can't be random equations either); 1 point for turning in a question without a solution (or with a solution that is not a reasonable attempt at the the answer); 0 points for not attending and/or not submitting any question at the end of section. For students choosing to attend remotely, these problems will be sent through Canvas email to your TA within 1 hour of the discussion period ending to receive credit.  We will select the best problems every week and compile them into a study guide before each exam.  We will include one of those selected problems (with modified numbers) on each exam.
    • In the second discussion you must be present for at least 40 of the 50 minutes.  You do not receive partial extra credit if you are present for less than 40 min.
      

• Mechanics Surveys:
  • There are two surveys that we ask you to complete during the semester. No preparation is required for either survey; they are designed as course benchmarks. You will receive full points for fully participating in these surveys (i.e. you can answer every survey item incorrectly and still get full points for completing the survey).
  • The first survey will be administered during the second week of classes during discussion section; the second will be administered towards the end of the course.
  • Each survey is worth 3 out of 3 quiz points.

This section provides information on exam content, dates, and makeup policy.

• Exams:
  • Exams each have 15 multiple choice questions and are worth 25 points.
  • Exams are closed book/closed notes; the only materials allowed are your pencil/eraser/pen/highlighter, scientific or graphing calculator, and up to 4 sheets of blank scratch paper. You must show the front and back of each blank sheet of scratch paper to the camera during the Honorlock room scan. Private formula sheets and cell phones as calculators are not allowed. An official formula sheet will be provided.
  • Many, but not all, exam questions are based on homework problems.
  • There will be variable-only problems.
  • At least one exam problem each exam will come from Student Generated Problems.
  • The Final Exam will be cumulative.
  • Dates and content covered by the Exams is found on the Course Schedule in Module 0.
  • In addition to these regular exam dates there are also three makeup exam dates.  Makeup Exam 1 and Exam 2 will be scheduled ~1 week after the date of the originally scheduled exam, scheduled to allow all who missed the original exam to take the makeup at the same date and time.  The Final Exam makeup date is set by UF and found in the Course Schedule.
  • The answer you mark on your Exam is your final answer to a question. We do not look back over your work, even if you think you solved your answer correctly on the scratch paper.
    
  • A student who will miss an assembly exam due to an exam conflict or any other 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. For an absence to be approved, documentation of the reason for absence must be provided.  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 subject matter as the regular exam and in a similar format, although the exams will not be identical.

This section provides information on quiz content, makeup policy, and how to use Honorlock to take your quizzes.

• Quizzes:
  •  Quizzes will be administered synchronously in your first discussion section of the week. All students will be taking the quiz on-line. (Please contact us if you do not have access to a laptop or mobile device for taking the quiz in person.) You have 30 minutes total to take the quiz once started.
  • Any technical issues (internet/formula display) during the quiz must be reported to Dr. McGill & Dr. Ray immediately.  Note: You may also need to contact UF help at (352) 392-4357.
  • Forgetting to bring your laptop or mobile device is not grounds for requesting a makeup quiz.
  • You must be present either via Zoom or in person to take the quiz. Your TA will give you a passcode that you will use to unlock your quiz.
  • Quizzes will be open-book, open-note, but closed-collaboration. You will supply an appropriate calculator, writing implements, any notes you like, and your testing device (e.g. laptop). We will supply the formula sheet that will be used on the closed-book, closed-note exams and scratch paper for those testing in person. We will collect the scratch paper from in-person quiz-takers and ask the remote quiz-takers to voluntarily upload photos of their scratch paper.
  • Quizzes test how well you have learned the concepts and methods of the assigned homework problems. The quiz questions will be related to, but not identical to, the online homework problems. The problems may be restructured to provide guidance, allow awarding of partial credit, and discourage memorization of a solution formula.
  • There will be two questions on each weekly quiz. Each question will be graded on a 3 point scale. While the quizzes are open-book and open-note, you are expected to do the problems on your own without any additional help. Note that formula sheets will still be provided with the quizzes so that you may practice using them for the exams.
  • Content covered by quizzes is found in the Course Schedule in Module 0.
  • To allow for partial credit we will include a text entry field where you can describe in proper English your approach to the problem. This should just be a rough outline of the main ideas you used in getting to your solution. You should only write these after you have solved the problem to your satisfaction, or if you get stuck in getting a numerical answer, then include what you think the general approach should be (the text description allows for giving partial credit).
    • Example: The director wants the boom to begin to tip just as the Rock reaches the end of the boom. How far from the point where the boom attaches to the crane should the counterweight be placed if the counterweight weighs 230 kg and the Rock weighs 15 kg? (Answer in terms of D.)

      On describing your approach in the text entry box:

      Incorrect:

      I would use 1D kinematics to find how long it takes for the Rock to move from the center of the boom to the edge, using D as the distance traveled, and 2pi*D/v as the acceleration.

      Too short:

      Use equilibrium to find the distance.

      Too long (We will not take off for an answer being "too long" - but keep in mind that you still only have 30 minutes to take the entire quiz, including calculations.):

      This problem has a tipping bar and things providing torque, so it is an equilibrium problem. As such, we need to use the sum of the torques = 0 to solve for the unknown variable.  When you move the Rock's torque to the other side of the equation you can replace the taus with FRsin(theta) and then do some algebra to rearrange the known variables to be on the other side of the equation from R for the counterweight. Use 90 degrees for theta because the boom is horizontal and gravity points straight down.

      Just right:

      This is an equilibrium problem. Set the sum of torques equal to zero and solve for the unknown lever arm.

  • Make-up quizzes are permitted provided you have a valid documented excuse (e.g. doctors excuse for illness, official UF sanctioned event).  Submit requests through the Makeup Quiz Request module in Canvas. 
    • There are 3 Makeup Requests Modules available through Canvas; if you use up the 3 requests and require more please contact the instructors directly.
    • Your TA will approve or deny the request.  If approved your TA will contact you for further arrangements.
    • The make-up quiz must be taken within 3 weeks of the missed quiz (not within 3 weeks of the request for approval of the makeup). There will be no make-up quizzes for quiz 1-10 given after 5 pm on Monday, December 6th, 2021.  You have until this date to request any re-grade or to question any grade discrepancy pertaining to the quizzes.  The makeup for quiz 11 must be completed by 5 pm on Wednesday, December 8th, 2021.