Instructor: Thomas L. Gibson Office: Sc 27 Office Hours: 2:00-3:00 (M-F)
Text: Fundamentals of Physics 6th edition, Enhanced Problems Version, by Halliday/Resnick/Walker
Course Coverage: The course will cover material from the first 21 chapters in the text.
Course Web page: www.phys.ttu.edu/~ritlg/courses/p1308/index.html

Grading Policy:

The following six scores will be accumulated during the course of the semester:
Short Quizzes; Exam I; Exam II; Exam III; Final; Final.
The course grade will be the average of the Short Quizzes and your four highest exam scores. NO MAKEUP EXAMS OR QUIZZES WILL BE GIVEN. Your letter grade will be determined on the following scale:
(55-64) D; (65-79) C; (80-89) B; (90-100) A. I do use +/- grades one point either side of a grade boundary, e.g., grades of 78 or 79 earn a C⁺ while grades of 80 or 81 earn a B^-.

Quizzes:

Short (unannounced, in-class) quizzes based on assigned reading, homework, online quizzes, and material covered in class will be given at least once a week. If you take all of the on-line quizzes, at the end of the semester you may replace your two lowest in-class quiz grades with the average of the highest value for each of your on-line quizzes.

Hour Exams: Three one-hour exams will be given.

Final: A comprehensive final exam will be given.

Important Dates:

May 29 = Thursday---Classes start for the First Summer Semester.

June 13 = Friday---Last day to drop course and receive an automatic W.

June 27 = Friday---Last day of classes.

June 30 = Monday---Final Exam (Chapters 1-21) (8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.)

Course Goals:

This course is intended to acquaint students with the basic laws of physics, to develop a better understanding of physical science in general, and help prepare you for other upper-division physics and engineering classes. To this end, the course will emphasize a mix of conceptual understanding and standard "end-of-chapter" homework solving skills.

Approximate Dates and Coverage for One-hour Exams:

• Exam 1 (Chapters 1-6): Friday, June 6, 2003.
• Exam 2 (Chapters 7-11): Friday, June 13, 2003.
• Exam 3 (Chapters 12-16): Friday, June 20, 2003.

Important Notes:

Any student who, because of a disabling condition may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements, should contact the instructor as soon as possible so that the necessary accommodations can be made. Proper documentation must be presented from the Dean of Students' Office.

The faculty is strongly committed to upholding standards of academic integrity. These standards, at the minimum, require that students never present the work of others as their own.

Strategy for Success:

• Be prepared! Study your notes, read the material in the text before we cover it in class, and take advantage of the online resources. This will help you keep up, will make for more productive classroom interaction, and will help keep you prepared for those unannounced in-class quizzes that will make up 20% of your final grade.
• Begin all homework assignments as soon as possible. The assignments take time and thought.
• Once you can work through a problem with your notes, book, study group, etc., write the question down on a blank sheet of paper and then try to rework it entirely on your own a day or so later.
• Never wait until the night before a test to "begin" studying.
• The summer schedule is, to say the least, brisk. Don't get behind.
• See your instructor if you are stuck--that's why they pay me the big bucks!

Page last modified May 26, 2003
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