PHYS 10 - Descriptive Physics
Instructor: Eric Harpell
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Course Description
Motion, gravitation, heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism, atoms, and nuclei. Present day scientific problems and developments such as alternative energy sources, solar energy, nuclear power, lasers, relativity and black holes. Designed for non-majors in physical science. Strongly recommended: Mathematics 105, 105M, or 107.
To take this class, you must have daily access to a computer with an Internet connection, an email account, and experience using a web browser. You will also need to update your email address in CLASS-Web when you register.
Check the college catalog for CSU/UC transferability and to see if this course meets AA/AS degree requirements.
This class begins Jan 22 and ends May 30.
On-Campus Meetings
Students must access the Physics 10 home page and follow instructions for "logging in" by the end of the second week of class or they will be dropped from the class. Students will be required to attend a minimum of five on-campus meetings for participation in hands-on activities and assessment.
There are no on-campus meetings .
How This Class Operates
This is not a self-paced class; there are due dates throughout the semester that you are expected to meet, just like in a traditional, face-to-face class.
Since this is a Distance Education class, most of the work is done at your computer and with your textbook. However, for each on-campus meeting, you will be given participation points, and you will take a quiz. More than that, I will show off all the best demonstrations I can put together and do my best to bring this subject to life. I will also answer questions and help you link up with your classmates to form a learning community, or a least help you find a shoulder to lean on from time to time.
When not on-campus, you will be taking several homework quizzes online. To facilitate this process, we will be using Blackboard and a web site called The Physics Place, which is produced by the publisher of your textbook.
While there are many components to this course, including the textbook and homework assignments, your main task is simply to keep ahead of the reading material. The suggested (but not collected) homework and required chapter quizzes are designed to make sure of this.
Class Activities
Online class discussions
You are not alone in Physics 10. Most of the time, if you have a question, someone else in the class will have the answer. Likewise, if you have an interesting idea that you would like to share, there is someone else who would like to hear it and respond.
To make this process more fun, interesting, and useful to you, the Discussion Board in Blackboard will include areas where you can discuss assignments and even quizzes with other students. While this is not technically a "chat" area, it is a a place where you can post your questions, thoughts, and replies to your fellow students.
The instructor will monitor this area periodically and even participate as a member of the class. Your participation grade will include your use of the Discussion Board. Your participation grade will be a judgement call on the instructor's part. If you are coming to class and participating there, it will outweigh infrequent use of the Discussion Board, for example.
Quizzes
There are three types of quizzes in this class:
- On-campus quizzes
- Online quizzes in Blackboard
- Online chapter quizzes from The Physics Place
Online quizzes in Blackboard must be submitted electronically. When the quiz is available in Blackboard, the link will become active.
Chapter quizzes from The Physics Place are always open, but you must submit them in "blocks" prior to class meetings. Please be sure to check the schedule a few weeks ahead to be prepared for the quizzes.
All online quizzes are "open," meaning that you can use any source available to you, and take as long as you'd like during the time the quiz is available. However, you may not collaborate directly with another person (i.e. you must work on the quiz alone). On-campus quizzes are, obviously, taken in a classroom setting.
Missed and late quizzes
If you miss an on-campus quiz or a quiz in Blackboard, your percentage on the final exam will be applied with no penalty to the missing quiz. If you miss a second quiz, your final exam percentage minus 20 percent will be deducted. The third (or more) missed quizzes will result in a grade of zero on that quiz.
Note that your percent score on the final exam will automatically replace your lowest quiz score, even if you haven't missed a quiz.
Class Project(s)
Optional:
If you wish to research a topic of interest to you or create a PowerPoint presentation then present the results to the class, you can do this in lieu of taking one of the eight on-campus or Blackboard quizzes. If you take all of the quizzes, this will replace your lowest score. In fact, the presentation will be worth 30 points instead of 25, so if you do a good job, you can can even earn 5 points extra credit. In general, you should only do a presentation if you have missed a second quiz or are truely interested in a particular topic.
How Students are Graded
Grades in Physics 10 will be based on your performance on:
- Four on-campus quizzes and four online quizzes in Blackboard (8 x 25 = 200 points)
- Chapter quizzes and tutorials from The Physics Place (200 points)
- Attendance and participation (50 points)
- A final exam (50 points...also replaces your lowest quiz score)
Total: 500 points
There is one on-campus final exam to be held during Finals week. This exam will be comprehensive, but based primarily on material from the Blackboard and on-campus quizzes. In fact, the best way to prepare for the final is to keep good records of your quizzes...know why each answer is correct, or incorrect!
The final exam will be multiple choice and short essay. Remember, even if you don't do well on the quizzes, you can study the solutions and do well on the final exam! Essay questions choices for the final exam will be given one week ahead so that you can prepare.
Grading for the class
A = 88.5%
B = 76.5%
C = 65%
D = 52.5%
Succeeding in an Online Course
Students who succeed in online courses tend to be independent, self-motivated learners with good computer skills. If you are a procrastinator who relies heavily on the instructor for motivation, can't use a computer too well, have taken less than 21 units of college credit in your lifetime, and/or have a grade-point-average under 2.0, you should probably consider enrolling in a face-to-face course instead.
Also, don't enroll in this class if you believe the myth that learning online requires less effort than learning face-to-face. This course covers the same content and has similar activities as the face-to-face version of the course; only the method of delivery changes.
LPC offers a tutorial called "Succeeding in an online course" that will not only tell you if you are a good fit for online learning, but it also offers many strategies -- among other pertinent information -- that will help you succeed online. Please complete the tutorial.
Blackboard
This course will use the Blackboard course management system as its virtual classroom. To learn how to log in to Blackboard, go to the Blackboard Login Procedures page. Once you enroll, you will not be able to log in until the first day of class.