Physics 121-2 Course of Study

Distance Learning Option


Course Title, Number and Description

Course title and description: Principles of Physics I-II (4 credits each semester). Covers fundamental principles of Physics. Includes mechanics, thermodynamics, wave phenomena, electricity and magnetism, and selected topics in modern Physics. Prerequisites are one year of high school algebra or equivalent.   A concurrent course in college algebra and trigonometry is recommended.   Lecture 3 hours per week, laboratory 3 hours per week. Total 6 hours per week.

The nature of the course

This course is offered via the Internet and via distributed CD-R and/or DVD-R disks in an asynchronous mode. The student will receive instructional information and assignments and will respond to assignments by email and by web forms. The student must have access to a suitable computer either at home or on campus. On-campus computers are available in the College Learning Lab and in the Math-Science Lab, as well as in College classrooms whenever classes are not scheduled in those rooms. The locations of these labs and directions for finding them can be obtained in the Office of the Division of Science and Engineering Technologies in Room 1208 of the Occupational Technical Center, the Library or the Office of the Division of Business, Humanities and Social Sciences in Room 721 of the Learning Resources Center.  Computers must have Internet access, a CD-Rom or DVD-Rom drive and Internet access, and the ability to execute Windows executable programs (.exe programs).

To play the optional video clips, computers must have the ability to play MPEG files.  Windows Media Player and most other video players have this capability.

Email the instructor for information.  The instructor's email address is published every semester in a footnote to the instructor's courses in the VHCC schedule, and can also be obtained through the VHCC website www.vhcc.edu.

The instructor is available via email or web forms (instructions for using these forms are contained in the orientation to the course) at any time and will normally respond promptly (usually within 24 hours and almost always by the end of the day following your submission) with answers to questions, feedback on your efforts, and other information. Exceptions may occur in the event of Internet service interruptions and occasions when the instructor is out of town. 

Broad Goals

The broad goals to be achieved by students in the course include the following:

Understanding through direct experience, experiment, syntax and mathematical formulation

Understanding what it means to validate a hypothesis to a given level of precision by means of an experiment.

Development of the ability to analyze and solve complex problems.

In addition to these course-specific goals, the following general education goals will be accomplished:

Specific objectives

Each assigned task and problem constitutes a specific objective, which is to complete that problem or task and understand as fully as possible its relationship to the stated goals of the assignment and to other concepts, problems and situations encountered in the course.

In addition to the above, the following specific objectives will be accomplished in relation to the specified activities, or to equivalent activities.  These objectives comprise approximately 80% of the course:

Objectives:

Conceptualize and analyze numerically, graphically and symbolically the behavior of the various physical systems, generalize your understanding and analysis as much as possible, and solve problems utilizing this knowledge, within the context of the following situations, relations, problems and tasks:

First-Semester Topics

Measurement and Analysis of Uniformly Accelerated Motion; Measurement of Nonuniformly Accelerated Motion 

Measurement of Restoring Forces on and Motion of a Pendulum including

Relationship between Force and Acceleration including

Vectors

Forces

Potential and kinetic energies; energy conservation including

Impulse, Momentum, Conservation of Momentum, including:

Projectiles and circular motion including:

Torques and rotation; Momentum and Energy in Rotation including:

Gravitation  including:

Simple Harmonic Motion

Second-semester Topics

Waves

Thermal Energy and Thermodynamics

Fluids

Electrostatics

Electrical Circuits

Magnetism

Modern Physics

Experiments and computerized problem sets will be integrated with the problem sets.

Students will learn to do the problems in the introductory problem sets, and complete the experiments.

Requirement of communication

Regular communication is required of the student. This includes turning in assignments in a timely fashion and in responding in a timely manner to feedback on these assignments. Any deviation of more than three days from the chosen schedule of the course must be approved in advance by the instructor. Exceptions will of course be made in the event of documented illness or other unexpected emergencies, but the instructor should be informed of such situations within a reasonable time of occurrence.

Text and Other Instructional Materials

The text is Physics by Giancoli, current edition, published by Prentice Hall. 

All assignments will be posted on the homepage. Additional materials may be distributed on CD-Rom or DVD-Rom media.

The Problem Sets on the homepage and the experiments performed by the students are the focus of the course.  Directions for experiments and other information are found through the instructor's homepage.

Lab kits will be purchased through the VHCC Bookstore at a time which will be indicated by the instructor.  Preliminary labs will be completed using simple materials included with the initial set of CDs.  Specific information regarding lab kits is posted along with much more information at http://www.vhcc.edu/dsmith/genInfo/ .  Lab kit information is included under Textbook and Course Materials.

Areas to be Covered

Experiments and computerized problem sets will be integrated with the problem sets.

Students will learn to do the problems in the introductory problem sets, and complete the experiments.

The first-semester course will include text Chapters 1-9 and approximately the first half of Chapter 11, with supplementary experiments, problem sets and other materials.

Topics will include:

For second semester, topics from the following chapters will be included, with starred (*) chapters covered without major omissions except from optional sections as so described in the text, and with at least most fundamental topics in the remaining chapters covered:

Instructional methods

Students will complete and submit the assignments specified on the homepage.  Any student not specifying an alternative schedule, agreed upon by the instructor, for completion of assignments will by default be expected to complete assignments according to the dates posted on the homepage.

The instructor will respond in a timely fashion to any work submitted, making suggestions where improvement is needed and posing questions designed to enhance the student's learning experience.

Questions posed by students and the instructor's responses, as well as examples of work done by students, may be posted for review.

Students may on occasion be asked to critique work done by other students. The instructor will not make reference to the identity of any party in this exchange, permitting students to protect their anonymity.

The instructor will when necessary arrange meetings with individual students or groups. However the primary means of communication will be via email, and all questions and difficulties must be fully addressed first through this means, and face-to-face meetings will occur only when electronic communication options have been exhausted.

Grading policy

Approximately three tests and a cumulative final examination will be given. The final exam will be weighted as two tests (see weighting below).

A grade will be given on assigned work, based on the student's final mastery of the assignment as evidenced by the initial attempt and followup work based on the critiques received by the student. The average of grades assigned on this work will count as half of a test grade, or approximately 10% of the grade in the course.

Labs must be completed as assigned.  The lab average will constitute 25% of the grade for the course.

Both the lab average and the weighted average on tests and exams must be passing in order for a student to receive a grade of C or better.

Raw test and exam scores will be normalized to the following scale, according to the difficulty of the test, as specified in advance of each test by the instructor:

A: 90 - 100

B: 80 - 90

C: 70 - 80

D: 60 - 70

F: Less than 60.

The final grade will be a weighted average of test and exam grades, grades on homework and the lab grade. A summary of the weighting is as follows:

Major Quiz (Physics I only):  Weight 0.5 or 1.0, whichever is to the advantage of the student.

Test #1: Weight 1.0

Test #2: Weight 1.0

Test #3 (Physics II only): Weight 1.0

Test #4 (Physics II only): Weight 1.0

Final Exam (Physics I only): Weight 1.0 or 2.0, whichever is to the advantage of the student.

Score on Problems and Questions: Weight 0.5.

Lab Grade:  Lab grade is 25% of course grade.  Both lab average and the average of all other contributions must both be passing in order to receive a grade of at least C.

In the event of a college-wide emergency

 

In the event of a College-wide emergency, course requirements, classes, deadlines, and grading schemes are subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates, a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading scheme.

 

In the case of a College-wide emergency, please refer to the following about changes in this course:

 

·      Course web page http://vhmthphy.vhcc.edu/ (click on your course)

·      Instructor’s email dsmith@vhcc.edu (however, you should use your access page for the most reliable responses)

 

For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to:

 

·      Web site  - www.vhcc.edu

·      Telephone Number - 276-739-2400

·         Emergency Text Messaging or Phone System- Virginia Highlands Community College uses VHCC Alert to immediately contact you during a major crisis or emergency. VHCC Alert delivers important emergency alerts, notifications and updates to you on your E-mail account (work, home, other), cell phone, pager or smartphone/PDA (BlackBerry, Treo & other handhelds). VHCC Alert is a free service offered by VHCC. Your wireless carrier may charge you a fee to receive messages on your wireless device. VHCC will test the alert system each semester. Register online at alert.vhcc.edu or by sending a text message to 411911 keyword: VHCC 

In the event of an emergency just regarding this class, the instructor will contact all students via email, and may post information to your access site.  You should check both email and your access site.