Introductory Physics I

Instructors:

8:00 am
10:20 am
1:10 pm

PHY 117
Nathanael Fortune
Courtney Lannert
Travis Norsen

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Fall 2015
McConnell 315 x3980
McConnell 312 x3797
McConnell 215 x3758

Office hours are posted on the PHY117 2COOL Moodle site. Students from all sections are welcome at any
instructors office hours.
Texts: Knight, Physics For Scientist and Engineers, a Strategic approach, 2nd or 3rd edition, vol. 1.
An Introduction to Error Analysis, 2nd edition, 1997 by J.R. Taylor.
Both texts are available for semester-long special reserve for students registered for this course.
Course Structure: In many science courses, the majority of class-time is spent giving you a first exposure
to ideas in the form of lectures; you are then largely on your own to develop and deepen your understanding
through homework assignments and labs. This course is structured very differently. We ask you to acquire
that preliminary exposure to the ideas on your own by reading the relevant sections of the textbook before
class. This will allow us to spend our time together in class working through the much more difficult followup interactions in a fun, interactive way. Our admittedly cheesy acronym for this novel course structure:
CO-ordinated Observations and Lectures in a COlaboratively Oriented Learning environment COOL +
COOL = 2 COOL. So physics is officially 2 cool!
Components and Grading: Class Participation (10%), Pre-Class Check-Ins (15%), Weekly Homework
(20%), Tests (4x 10%), Final Exam (15%). All of your work is governed by the Smith Honor Code:
http://www.smith.edu/sao/handbook/socialconduct/honorcode.php .
Grades are not curved; your grade depends only on your own performance. So it is in your best interest to
work with and support each other. We intend to follow the standard Smith College rubric for final course
grades (A = 93 or higher, A- = 90 or higher, B+ = 87 or higher, etc.). We reserve the right, however, to adjust
final course grades up or down relative to this rubric.
Class Participation: The Two Cool Format means that you will get to be actively engaged when you are
in class. Each class meeting will be a mixture of hands-on activities, short lectures, clicker questions,
demonstrations with predictions, and active problem solving in groups at the board. Your class participation
grade will depend on you being constructively engaged in these activities. If youll miss a class, contact your
instructor (in advance, if possible) to arrange to make up any missed activities.
Daily Reading and Pre-Class Check-Ins (PCCIs): Prior to each MWF class meeting, you should read
through the assigned sections of the textbook and then complete the PCCI by answering a few questions on
the course Moodle site. The PCCI includes two kinds of problems, practice on the material from the previous
class and feedback to the instructors about how well you understood the reading. Research has shown that
people retain skills they have learned best if they practice them within 24 hours of learning them, so we
encourage you to look at the PCCI and do the practice problems as soon as possible after the previous class.
Because the PCCI reading questions are for feedback to the instructors, you do not need to get the questions
right to get full credit. You get credit for showing that you did the reading and let the instructor know what
you did or didnt understand. I dont know what torque is will not get credit; I know Im supposed to
calculate torque but I didnt understand what the book meant when it said the torque depends on the angle of
the force will. Given the purpose of the PCCIs, we will not offer extensions (even for computer crashes,
internet failures, etc.). But in recognition of the fact that everybody will have an occasional conflict, we will
drop your 3 lowest PCCI grades when calculating your course grade. (You are of course still responsible for
the material covered, even if you skip a PCCI.)

Weekly Homework (WHW): WHW will be due on Fridays at the start of class. We encourage you to start
your homework early so that you can take advantage of office hours and the physics master tutors when you
get stuck on a problem or have questions. We also encourage you to get to know your classmates and work
together on homework when you get stuck on a problem. However, your write-up must be your own; you
may not simply copy anothers work. Late WHW will not be accepted. In lieu of extensions, we will drop
the lowest weekly homework grade when calculating your course grade. You are still responsible for the
material in any skipped homework. A more detailed description of WHW rules and policies is linked on the
Moodle site in the Resources section.
Exams: We will have 4 tests and a self-scheduled final exam. All in-term exams will be self-scheduled via
the Science Library in Bass Hall. The final exam is administered by the college during exam period. The
tests and exams cover material presented in readings, in class, in problem-solving sessions and/or assigned as
homework. Normally, the in-term exams will be closed-book, last approximately 2 hours, and will be
available Saturday through Monday. All work must be your own; no information about an exam may be
shared with others. For details regarding exam dates and the exact range of topics covered, please see the
exam section of the course Moodle site.
Problem Solving Sessions: The T/Th discussion sessions will be primarily devoted to collaborative
problem solving practice at the boards. You may attend any of the sessions each week, regardless of which
one you are registered for. (Indeed, we encourage you to switch around and get to know the different
instructors.) You are required to attend one of the problem solving sessions each week.
Labs: In the new Two Cool format, Labs are integrated into the MWF class meetings. Approximately
20% of the PCCI, WHW, and exam problems will be related to lab activities and data/uncertainty analysis.
Free advice:

Learning physics takes work, and each topic builds on the previous one. So get help early if you find a topic

challenging. You have many resources available: the three course instructors, the master tutors, the
QLC quantitative skills counselor, and fellow students. We fully expect that every person in this
class will need to come to office hours and/or meet with tutors regularly. The investment of your
time early on will pay off by making later topics easier to master. You will not be well served by just
getting through some chapter without mastering the material.
When you work together on homework assignments, be sure that you try to work the problem out
yourself until you either finish the problem or get stuck. It is not helpful to get someone to show you
how to do a problem, but neither is it helpful to bang your head against it for an hour if you dont
know what to do. Use your fellow students (or other resources such as the master tutor, course
instructors or QLC counselor) to get yourself unstuck and then resume working on the problem on
your own.
Start your Weekly Homework assignments well in advance of the due date so that you will have time
to get help if you need it.
The best way to be ready for exams is by working out the homework as it is assigned and reviewing
your graded homework so that you understand any errors you made. Also, research shows that
practice is the best way to learn how to solve problems in physics. One excellent way to study for
exams is to practice working in-class and end-of-chapter problems similar to the ones assigned for
homework, starting with a blank piece of paper, and eventually completing the problem without
referring to the solutions. If you get stuck on a problem, get help but then find another similar
problem and make sure you can work that one without help. Until you can do that, youre not ready for
the exam.