Physics 107: Fall 2008: General Information

Physics 107 - Information

Instructor: Marc Sher
   Office: Small 224
   Phone: 221-3538    Email: mtsher@wm.edu
   Office Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays 3 PM - 5 PM, and by appointment. I'm often in and you're welcome to stop by anytime. I will try to be in most Thursday afternoons.
Text: College Physics by Giambattista, Richardson, Richardson, 2nd edition
WWW: physics.wm.edu/~sher/107.html. Information about the labs is at lab.physics.wm.edu
Sections: You must register for the lecture section, one problem session (107P) and one laboratory (107L). Labs will meet for the first time the week of September 1st; Problem sessions may meet briefly the first week of classes.
Syllabus: A schedule of what sections of the text will be covered, the in-class tests, the labs, and the homework assignments is attached.
Homework: A set of problems is due at midnight on Thursday each week. The homework answers will be entered via the WWW using WebAssign (www.webassign.net). This software will enable provide instant feedback on which problems were answered correctly (and which were not). You will be allowed multiple attempts to upload answers (up to a maximum of 3 attempts per problem set, with 5 attempts allowed the first week and 4 the second week---except that questions with multiple choice will allow 1/2 the number of attempts as choices), and your grade will be based on the last submission. I will be available via e-mail until 9:30 every evening. Solutions will be available on the WWW the morning after the due date. Note: I will not be readily available on Wednesday and Thursday the second week of class (first assignment), but Prof. Armstrong (armd@physics.wm.edu) will be available with questions and webassign help.
Your username for WebAssign will be your W&M username (eg. mine is mtsher); for "Institution" you should enter "wm", and your initial password will be your student ID number, unless you have used Webassign in the past in which case your password MIGHT be your old one (try both if one doesn't work). I have set up WebAssign accounts for everyone who was enrolled as of Monday August 25; if you added in after this, I will add you to WebAssign within a couple of days. If you purchase your text at the bookstore, a webassign card with a registration number is included. You may also buy a webassign card separately (for those who bought the book elsewhere). If you do not buy it from the bookstore, you will need to pay a registration fee, which is more than the bookstore fee, which can be paid online using a credit card (if you don't have a credit card, then come see me). You will have a couple of weeks before you have to pay the access fee.
Fermi Problems: Every lecture (except just before exams), the instructor will give you a "Fermi problem". Fermi problems will count for 4 percent of your grade. A page describing Fermi problems is attached.
In-class quizzes: Roughly 15 times during the semester, there will be a short one-question multiple choice quiz during class. You will have a few minutes to answer, and will be encouraged to talk to the people around you about the question. Then you put your name and answer on a piece of paper and turn it in. The answer will then be discussed. The questions may be similar to MCAT questions. These will count for 2 percent of your overall grade (and half credit will be given for wrong answers).
Tests: There will be three 50-minute, closed-book tests during the semester. Scientific calculators are permitted, graphing calculators are to be used for numerical calculations only. No device with any wireless communication capability will be permitted.
Exam: The final exam will be Monday Dec. 15 , 1:30 - 4:30 PM. The instructor does not have the ability to change the time of a student's final; only the Dean of Students can do so.
Withdrawal: Questions about drop/add/withdrawal should be directed to your problem session instructor.
Grading: Your grade is the responsibility of your problem section instructor. Letter grades will be assigned as shown below. Your final percentage will be rounded down to nearest integer (so 89.8% becomes 89%). Scores within half a percent of a higher grade may be rounded up to the higher grade (at the discretion of the problem session instructor with consultation with Prof. Sher and the lab instructor).
```
               A  94-100 %   A-  90-93
   B+  87-89   B  84-86      B-  80-83
   C+  77-79   C  74-76      C-  70-73
   D+  67-69   D  64-66      D-  60-63
   F  <60
```
The grades will be calculated based on
```
   Homework   - 13%  
   Laboratory - 20%
   Tests      - 36%
   Fermi prob -  4%
   Quizzes    -  2% 
   Final Exam - 25% 
```
These grade ranges assume that the overall average in the course is 84 or higher. If it is lower, then the ranges will be adjusted so that the average grade is at the low end of the B range.
Second chance: If your final exam score is higher than your worst test score, then the worst test score will be replaced by your final exam score. This allows students who have a bad day on a test a chance to make it up.
Warning: There is one additional criterion: You must pass (60% minimum) the laboratory section of the course to pass the entire course. Anyone not passing the lab will be given an "F", regardless of the results of the grade ranges.
General Education Requirement: Note that Physics 107 does not satisfy GER2. Rather, Physics 108, which has Physics 107 as a prerequisite, satisfies GER 2A as well as the laboratory requirement for GER 2.