LON-CAPA Syllabus

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Syllabus

Last updated: Mon Jan 14 03:38:52 pm 2008 (EST) by Bradley M Sherrill

ISP209, Spring 2008 - Mystery of the Physical World

Michigan State University

Personnel

Course Coordinator:	Bradley M Sherrill

Instructor:	Scott K Bogner

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Instructor Information

Prof. Brad Sherrill Office hours: 3:30-5:00 Mondays, W105 Cyclotron Building (or by appointment anytime, 355-9672 ext 322) E-mail address: sherrill@nscl.msu.edu

Course Description

To explore the current scientific understanding of time, space and matter.

Prerequisites

(MTH 103 or MTH 110 or MTH 116 or LBS 117 or MTH 106 or concurrently or MTH 124 or concurrently or MTH 132 or concurrently or MTH 201 or concurrently or STT 200 or concurrently or STT 201 or concurrently)or designated score on Mathematics placement test.

Class Hours

Tu Th 2:40 to 4:00 pm

Office Hours

Office hours: Mondays 3:30 to 5:00 pm , W203 Cyclotron Building (or by appointment anytime, 333-6322)

Helproom Hours

The TA for our class is Chris Armour. Go to http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~sherrill/isp209s8/helproom.htm for the schedule of when he will be in the help room.

Project Information

Homework assignments are an important part of the final grade. Students are expected to solve problems and to answer qualitative questions in a weekly, individualized assignment. The assignments are completed by entering answers through LONCAPA. Instructions for using LONCAPA are available at http://loncapa.msu.edu/student/. You are encouraged to work together on the homework, but each student's answers will be different and must be entered individually. A scientific calculator will be necessary to answer a few of the problems.

Help on the homework is available in the help room 1248 BPS( http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~sherrill/isp209s8/helproom.htm ), or online in the LONCAPA system.

Exam Information

Exams will consist of approximately 40 multiple choice questions based on the assigned readings and lectures. You can bring one page, two sides, of notes to each exam, and 3 pages for the final. The relevant material will be reviewed the lecture prior to the exam and will be summarized on a review sheet that will be available one week prior to the exam.

Midterm Exam #1�Thursday, February 7 at 2:40 p.m. in room BP1410
Midterm Exam #2 Thursday, March 13 at 2:40 p.m. in room BP1410
Midterm Exam #3 Thursday, April 24 at 2:40 p.m. in room BP1410
Final Exam Monday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. in room BP1410

Deadlines

See the course schedule ( http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~sherrill/isp209s8/schedule.htm ) for homework and exam dates.

Grading Information

Performance answering questions from the homework, in-class exercises and exams will be the basis for the final grade. There will be 3 midterm exams. You can be excused from an exam for medical reasons or severe personal difficulties. A signed letter will be necessary to be excused. A student cannot be excused from more than one exam. If you have taken all 3 midterm exams and are happy with your grade, you do not need to take the comprehensive final exam. If you take the final, the lowest exam score will be dropped.
Other details:

During the term extra credit work will be given and will be added to the homework score. Approximately the equivalent of one homework assignment will be available. The homework grade can not be greater than 100%.
There will an in-class exercise or quiz each lecture. The grade will be calculated�using 70% of the total number of points as a perfect score. This is to allow for missed classes. No make-up quizzes or excuses for missed work will be given. A score of 70% or higher will count as a perfect score.
Grade basis: Homework assignments 30%; Midterm exams and Final exam, 20% each (the highest 3 scores are counted); in-class quizzes and exercises, 10%.
Grade scale: The following grade scale is guaranteed. The actual scale may be lowered from these values but will not be raised. 0.0 - 0 to 47.5, 1.0 - 47.5 to 55.0, 1.5 - 55.0 to 62.0, 2.0 - 62.0 to 68.0, 2.5 - 68.0 to 76.0, 3.0 - 76.0 to 83.0, 3.5 - 83.0 to 90.0, 4.0 - above 90.0.

Readings

Assigned readings from the text book will be posted on the web one week prior to each lecture. They should be completed before attending the corresponding lecture.

Coursepack

none

Web Links

The main page for the course with updated information, schedules, grades, etc. is at:
http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~sherrill/isp209s8/

Textbook

Physics Concepts and Connections 4^th ed. by Hobson ISBN 0-13-187946-4. You will also need the following: ICLICKER remote (http://www.iclicker.com) and a calculator with scientific notation. You must bring your iclicker to class each day.