Physics I

Fall 2001

Course Overview



Instructor: Dave Feldman Email: dave@hornacek.coa.edu
Office: Third Floor Arts and Sciences Phone: x249, 276-5284
Mailing List: physics1@hornacek.coa.edu Office Hours: TBA
Tutors: Jacob Usinowicz, Hua Wang, Katrina Zarrella Help Sessions: Wednesdays, 6:30 -- 8:00 pm


Course Overview

As our primary text we will use the Six Ideas books by Tom Moore. I would like to cover all of unit C and about a third of unit N.

I have several main goals for this course:

  1. I want to help you improve your quantitative literacy, problem solving skills, and mathematical confidence.
  2. I want you to learn several big physics ideas: conservation of energy, momentum, and angular momentum; and Newton's Laws.
  3. I want you to gain experience working effectively in groups.


Evaluation

Your evaluation will be based roughly on the following: I recommend against grades; I believe they are more likely than not to interfere with genuine, reflective learning. However, I will assign grades (for those who so opt) by following the guidelines in the COA Course Catalog. I do not have any quota of A's, B's, etc.


Policies, Advice, and Stuff:

  1. Homework will be due Fridays at the end of the day. More than one unexcused late homework assignment will result in me mentioning this in your narrative evaluation and may result in a lowering of your grade.
  2. You are strongly encouraged to work together on homework. You can also consult me, class tutors, other faculty, friends, and family. However, the homework you hand in should represent your own understanding. This means that if your friends get a homework problem and you don't understand how they did it, you shouldn't photocopy their solution and turn it in.
  3. Falling behind in this course is not a good idea. If you're confused about something, it's very important that you seek help sooner rather than later. There are many people around who can offer help. However, we can't offer assistance if we don't know who needs it when. You need to take responsibility to seek help if you need it. On a related note ...
  4. I do not expect all of the homework assignments to be easy; I don't expect you to be able to sit down and do them easily the first time. Don't let yourself get frustrated -- I strongly suggest working with others and seeking help if you need it.
  5. Exams will be open notes, open book, and (essentially) untimed. You may not, however, get any help from any humans during the exam.
  6. I will almost always assign reading for each class. You should do the reading, and come prepared with some written questions or areas that you want to discuss. More info about class preparation can be found here.
  7. More than two missing homework assignments will result in a grade no higher than a C.
  8. I expect you to attend class and labs.
  9. I will be sending out class info via email. Thus, it's important that you check your email.
  10. Academic misconduct -- cheating, plagarizing, etc. -- is bad. Any cases of academic misconduct will result in a judicial hearing, as per pp. 14-15 of the COA handbook. Possible consequences range from failure of the assignment to expulsion. For more, see the revised statement on academic integrity passed by the faculty winter term, 1999.


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