Group Problem Solving (Recitations): Students will meet once a week on Mondays for an 80-minute problem solving session. During this meeting, students will work in groups of 3 under the supervision of an instructor. This instructor will serve as a facilitator for students so as to encourage quality problem solving and critical thinking skills in physics. Each session, the instructor will provide groups with three (3) worksheets where students will be required to demonstrate their algebraic process in problem solving. In order to obtain the next worksheet, groups will be expected that their work includes a step-by-step solution to the previous problem. Towards the last 10-15 minutes of each group problem session, there will also be a short quiz that students will complete individually and will be based on the topics covered in that day’s meeting. The total grade for this activity each week is 5 points. The average Group Problem grade weights 20% of your final grade. Issues pertaining to the recitations should directly be addressed to Shumaila Chishti.
Online Homework: There will be one online homework assignment every week. These assignments must be submitted electronically through the web. Online Homework will be made available for download five to six days before the due date, most likely Wednesday before 11:55 PM. After the due time the answer key will be turned on and the submission will be turned off. Under no circumstances will a delayed online homework be accepted. You can login and print out your homework as many times as you want, but you are limited to only four (4) submission attempts to complete each online assignment. The grade for the questions correctly solved in the first attempt will be worth 100%, those solved in the second attempt worth 75%, those solved in the third attempt worth 50%, and those solved in final fourth attempt worth 25%. The average online homework grade weights 20% of your final grade.
Exams: There are two (2) midterm exams and one (1) final exam that will be conducted in person on campus. Each midterm exam will consist of 15 multiple choice questions on the material related to the indicated chapters. The cumulative final will have 30 multiple choice questions on all of the chapters covered in the course. There is no penalty for a wrong answer. It is therefore important that you give an answer to every question even if you have to make an educated guess. An exam formula sheet will be provided for each exam, which will also be available online for your reference throughout the course. If you need help consult your TA, the course administrator, or the Lecturer. You can use a scientific or graphing calculator for the exams.
Recitation Make-ups: It is very important that you attend every recitation meeting and lecture. You must attend the section in which you are enrolled. If you miss a recitation because of any illness or other reasons, only ONE makeup during the semester will be allowed during the same week in a different section. To participate in a different section, you need permission via E-mail from the Recitation Course Assistant. Attendance in a different section without prior approval will result in ZERO credit for the recitation. In order to account for all types of absences, the Professor will drop the two (2) lowest recitation scores at the end of the semester. These dropped scores are strictly related to absences and are unrelated to student performance.
Academic Integrity
While you are encouraged to form collaborative learning and study groups with fellow students in this class, you are always expected to hand in your own work in this course. Responses to online assignments and exam questions must be exclusively your own work. In addition, sharing private course material (such as lecture slides, videos, assignments, etc.) on social media websites and the use of websites such as Chegg, CourseHero, Bartleby, etc. are strictly forbidden and is considered a violation of academic integrity, as defined by the Rutgers Office of Student Conduct. Any violations of these rules will be personally dealt with by the Professor and may lead to severe University disciplinary action. It is in the best interest of the students and the morale of the class to follow these rules and not to tolerate any departure from them by others. Any instances of academic dishonesty that takes place in this course must be reported to the Professor immediately.
Recommendation Letters The Lecturer will assist the top 10 students in the class with admission to medical schools, graduate schools, etc... by providing recommendation letters. The rest of the students may contact their TAs to find out more about their policy of providing recommendation letters.The students who qualify for a recommendation must provide the following items:
- The appropriate application forms properly filled out.
- A personal statement.
- A college transcript.
- A resume.
REMARKS
This course is primarily for science, health profession, and science teaching majors. Since access to these professions requires a good physics background, the course is structured to help students who can benefit from our personal attention and innovative instructional methods. In order for all of us to succeed, there must be an understanding that both you and we have an obligation to the program. We expect you to attend all classes and to participate, to do the assignments on time, read lecture materials ahead of time, etc.
This course is a cooperative enterprise. You and your classmates depend on everyone arriving at each meeting promptly. If you find that your schedule or the course system prevents you from arriving on time, or staying to the end, please take the course in another year when there are no conflicts.
We would like to emphasize the importance of good manners to create a positive and supportive learning environment in the lectures. The lectures will begin and end on time. Coming late or leaving early is rude and disruptive. If you find that on a particular day you must leave early, please speak to the lecturer before class. If you must chew gum do it with your mouth closed and without noise. We will not use the last four rows in the lecture hall.
Our responsibility is to provide you with the best possible learning experience. Please feel free to discuss any aspect of the course with the Lecturer or his colleagues. The instructors welcome your comments and suggestions about content and organization at any time.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THIS CLASS
- I recommend that you read each chapter before we get to it in class. This will enable you to ask meaningful questions and to recognize difficult concepts.
- Immediately after each class, study the lecture material and try to grasp the concepts. Familiarize yourself with the step-by-step worked out problems given in class. Then, try to solve these problems by yourself, without looking at your notes.
- During the week-end of the same week review the lecture material once again to reinforce the understanding of the concepts. Once you feel comfortable with the material try to solve the homework assignment associated with the material.
- It is very useful if you can memorize the basic formulae that get used often.
- Make use of the resources at the textbook's web site. The site contains numerous ways of exploring the material and of testing yourself.
- Use the lecture and the recitation to your advantage. Stop the instructor if there is a step that you didn't understand - (s)he is there to help you where your difficulties are. Of course, this works best if you come prepared with specific questions and/or sample problems.
- Try to get ready for each exam at least one week in advance. Go over all the lecture videos and the write-ups including Lecture notes, Homework Problems, and Online Homework. This is more efficient than cramming for one night (not only will you be tired, you will also forget everything quickly again).
- Practice exams with solutions may be available one week before each exam. You should never study from the practice exams. You do the practice exams just to evaluate yourself. If you did a problem incorrectly, try to review the concept then do the problem again on your own. Do similar problems from the text to reinforce the concept.
- Try to use the exam formula sheet frequently to familiarize yourself with it.
- Remember, exams will only cover the material discussed in class. Exam questions are most likely found somewhere in your notes.