PHYS 102 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Components:
Detailed description and policies

Overview

All students are required to participate in all course components to earn credit. 

Credit is granted in each course component. 

All course components are subject to the Academic Integrity Policy.

 

Learning Strategy

Our learning philosophy is based on the idea that learning physics is done through practice over time. The course structure is tailored to help students take in, practice, and master physics ideas and their application.

In introductory physics, the deliberate practice process can be summarized as follows:

1. First introduction (pre-lectures and checkpoints)
2. Learn to work with the concepts (lectures)
3. Practice (homework)
4. Apply and Explore It (labs)
5. Challenge and Check Progress (discussion)
6. Check your understanding (exams)

 

Component Description

Pre-lectures and Checkpoints

Due before each lecture, these web-based assessments are designed to introduce the key ideas/concepts of the lecture. A lot of information is provided; you are not expected to understand it all right away.

Assignments are due as presented in the course schedule.

Pre-lecture

Technology used: smartPhysics
Other materials: Note-taking materials of student choice

• Each question may be attempted several times.
• Each question must be answered correctly to complete the activity.
• No late credit.

Checkpoint

Technology used: smartPhysics
Other materials: Note-taking materials of student choice

• Available after prelecture is complete.
• Answer all questions for full credit. You do not need to answer correctly to get credit. You will be able to review your answers for correctness after the deadline.
• No late credit.

Lecture

Technology used: iClicker remote or iClicker app
Other materials: Note-taking materials of student choice, notes handout from schedule page

Each lecture will focus on a topic of the day as described in the course schedule. 

Participation is required.  You must have a functional iclicker or access to the iclicker cloud service at each lecture.

A handout version of the lecture slides will be posted on the Schedule page at least 24 hours before the respective lecture. The annotated slides from each lecture will be posted on the course website within 24 hours of the end of the respective lecture. Recorded lectures will be posted on Mediaspace in a similar timeframe after the lecture concludes.

Participation will occur as follows:

• Attend the lecture in person.
• Answer questions during lecture using the iclicker response system.
• Credit will be granted:
  • Participation in each lecture.
  • Bonus credit for correct iClicker questions answered.

Homework

Technology used: smartPhysics
Other materials: Scratchwork materials of student choice, calculator

Homework is assigned and distributed through smartPhysics.  The homework is due according to the course schedule (typically on Fridays at 8am).

Correct homework answers submitted in the smartPhysics system by the deadline will receive full credit. Credit is given on a question-by-question basis. All questions completed by the deadline will earn credit; questions completed by reduced credit deadlines will receive reduced credit according to the respective deadline.

Homework problems are designed to:

• Practice conceptual understanding.
• Develop problem-solving skills.

Background for the homework is provided by:

• working through the pre-lectures and checkpoints
• attending or viewing the lectures.
• working with your group on the discussion questions.

The web-based homework covering each week's material is due the following week.

To start work on a homework assignment:

• Go to smartPhysics.
• Select the assignment for the week.
• Each problem, or part thereof, may be worked 100 times.
• Full credit for each correct problem will be awarded when an assignment is completed before the deadline.
• Up to 90% credit will be awarded for finishing a problem within two weeks of the original due date.
• Up to 70% credit will be awarded for finishing a problem later than the day of the respective hour exam.
• No homework credit will be available after the final exam.

Laboratory

Technology used: smartPhysics, IOLab (requires USB A port), GradeScope, PrairieTest
Other materials: Laptop or tablet for IOLab connection and collaborative document writing

The lab cycle (see course schedule) is designed to provide the opportunity to explore the applications and implications of the concepts developed in lecture.

The laboratory portion of this course will consist of eight (8) 3-hour laboratories.

1. A prelab exercise due weekly on Tuesday mornings.
2. The laboratory exercise in which students will:
   1. plan and set up simple experiments to investigate topics studied in class
   2. perform measurements of different phenomena studied in lecture
   3. analyze experimental results
   4. make conclusions based on their results and their understanding of the experimental system.
3. A laboratory write-up which will be completed during the session and turned in online at the end of the lab session.

Prelab exercises in smartPhysics are graded based on participation. Your Lab reports will be graded based on rubrics provided to you during class.

Discussion

Technology used: Schedule page (to distribute materials), Gradescope (to turn in work), PrairieTest (for skills check)
Other materials: Laptop or tablet for collaborative document writing and Skills Check, scratchwork materials of student choice, calculator

Students must be on time for discussion. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late for discussion will receive a grade of 0% on their group assignment for the day.

Each discussion session will consist of the following:

• Students will check in with their instructor and work on the Skills Check online
• The instructor of the section will introduce the task for the day
• Students will work in small groups to answer prompts and generate a single group document draft of their responses.
• Each group will submit one document with their work to GradeScope for the TA to evaluate. This document will count as your discussion grade.
• Students will take turns submitting the document each week. Only students in the group who attended the session and participated in creating the document should have their names added to what is turned in.

Skills checks will be graded 50% on participation and 50% on your explanation of your thinking. Your thinking does not need to be entirely correct to earn full credit, but it does need to be explained adequately. Your Discussion TA will provide guidance on what counts as 'adequate' explanation of your thinking.

Discussion participation documents will be graded for participation.