• The goals of this course are to help you learn some of the basic ideas of waves and quantum mechanics and how they relate to modern applications. The approaches used to achieve these goals involve 1) lectures to interactively discuss and demonstrate the principles, 2) interaction with instructors in discussion sections to provide one-on-one help with concepts and problem solving, 3) laboratory experiments allowing you to actively explore these principles, and 4) computerized homework on the World Wide Web using the TYCHO system.

• Credit for Physics 211, 212 and credit or concurrent registration in Math 242 are prerequisites for Physics 214. We expect you to have a good understanding of classical mechanics, to be able to differentiate and integrate simple functions, and to be familiar with vectors, including dot and cross products. We also deal in this course with partial derivatives and integrals of functions of vectors.

• Two 75 minute lectures will be given each week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition to the traditional presentation of lecture and demonstration material, each lecture will involve a few interactive learning sessions (we call them ACTs). During these sessions students will work in groups on a specific assigned question and will discuss the results with other students and with the instructors. This will allow the instructor to pinpoint problems in understanding and deal with them before moving on. The purpose is to help you understand; your participation is necessary for this to occur
• In order to provide an environment more conducive to participation and interaction, each student will have an "I-clicker" with which to answer various questions during lecture. Some minor credit will be assigned for each lecture in which the clickers are used (but only one lecture per day per student).
• Come to the lecture! We will go through examples and ACTs which are not available in the published lecture notes, and the lecture discussion will elaborate on the material published in the lecture notes.
• Although we do not have Preflights in 214, we still want to retain the feature that you can ask questions or make comments on confusing issues from the previous lecture. This is now enabled via the "Ask the Professor" link off the course homepage.
• The Lecture notes will be available at TIS, Follett's and University Bookstores. Note that the lecture slides may be modified somewhat from the published notes due to the necessity for making corrections, correcting typographical errors, etc. The most updated version of the lectures (including answers to ACTs) will be available on the 214 Webpage after all lectures on a given day are given.
• Do not let yourself get behind! This course covers a large amount of material. The understanding of new topics will frequently require knowledge of previous material.

• Each week you will attend a two-hour discussion section conducted by a TA. These sections will be active learning sessions in which you will work in small groups solving problems presented to you by your TA. Discussion problems are designed to aid and test you in the understanding of the course material; you should find them beneficial in preparation for the hour exams. The solutions to these problems will be posted online (see link off the course homepage) at the end of each week.
• During each discussion session, your TA will administer a short quiz (usually about 15-20 minutes in length) based on the material covered in the previous week's lectures and homeworks. This quiz will be graded and recorded in the gradebook.
• If you cannot attend your regular discussion section on a particular week due to a conflict, contact your discussion TA at least the week before your conflict. It is usually possible to attend an alternate section on these occasions.

• Each of the 2-hour laboratories will involve a series of activities, including (i) setting up simple experiments to study topics studied in class, (ii) making predictions about the outcome of your experiments, (iii) performing measurements of different phenomena you have studied, (iv) analyzing your results, and (v) answering questions concerning your results and predictions. In addition, at the beginning of each lab, you are expected to turn in your Prelab, a short set of questions designed to address the main topics of the lab. The Prelab will be graded and will count for 1/4 of your lab grade.
• If you miss a lab experiment, consult your laboratory instructor as soon as possible. It may be possible to make up a laboratory experiment later in the week, if the equipment has not yet been dismantled. Laboratory experiments are set up on Monday morning and are taken down after section L5G on Friday at noon. For a listing of all of the sections, see the Section Schedule. If a make-up laboratory is not possible, an EX grade will be assigned for excused absences. Missed and unexcused labs will be assigned a grade of zero. This penalty can have severe consequences.

• Each week you will be responsible for completing a computer-based homework assignment. These assigments are graded and are an important part of the course.
• LOG-IN and LOG-OUT Some of the on-line activities (homework, gradebook, etc.) for this course run on a secure server and must be logged into. Students enrolled in (and staff associated with) the course must log in using their UIUC NetID and their ph password (this is the same id and password used to access the U of I Direct registration system and the CCSO dial-up system). If you are enrolled in the course and are having trouble logging in, send email to dkane@uiuc.edu. If you are not enrolled, you can log into many of the secure activities using guest/phyug as your NetID and guest as your password. (Enrolled students should avoid using the guest login since credit is not recorded for guest.) You should always log out of the secure server at the end of your work session.
• Many homework pages use symbol font for mathematical equations. Without symbol font equations will be difficult to read, e.g. you will see "p" instead of "pi", or "m" instead of "mu". Symbol font is usually available on Macs and PCs without any special effort. Unix systems must be correctly configured. The Engineering College workstations were reconfigured in January, 1998. Contact the HW Master, if you are having difficulty.
• To start work on a homework assignment, click on "Homework Assignments" on the Physics 214 homepage. Then click on the assignment you wish to work on. To receive full credit, the homework must be completed by the date indicated on the assignments page (usually 8am on the Tuesday, sometimes Thursday-- look at the syllabus). Homework completed during the week immediately following the due date will be accepted but will earn only a maximum of 90% of the original grade. Homework submitted more than 7 days after the original due date (i.e., after 8AM on the next Tuesday) will not receive any credit. Although all of the homework problems appear on the Homework index page, homework problems for all but the current week are generally not available. The homework problems will be made available at least one week before they are due.
• You may work a problem as many times as you like and only the highest grade is recorded in the gradebook. You can never lower your score by reworking a problem.

• One 90-minute multiple-choice exam will be given at 7 PM on Monday, February 11 . You will be assigned a room for the exam based on your discussion section, and attendance will be taken by your discussion TA. Bring a calculator and pencils to the exams. In addition, bring your official university identification card to show upon request.
• A conflict exam will be scheduled for those with a legitimate (documented) schedule conflict. This exam will be given at 5:15 PM on the same evening as the regular exam.
• A midterm exam review session will be held on Sunday, February 10. The time and place will be posted on the homepage.

• Your final grade for Physics 214 will be based your total score on all the components of the course. The total score is the sum of your scores on the final exam (350 pts), the midterm exam (200 pts), four labs (145 pts total), six TYCHO homework sets (145 pts total), five quizzes (four highest = 150 pts total), and i-clicker participation (10 pts total). Rough guidelines for letter grade ranges are:A+(960), A(935), A-(910), B+(885), B(855), B-(830), C+(800), C(770), C-(740), D+(700), D(660), D-(620), and F(<620), where the number in parentheses is the lowest score for that grade.
• There will be 5 Discussion quizzes; your quiz grade will be the sum of your 4 highest individual quiz scores, adjusted to compensate for grading differences among discussion section instructors.
• All 4 lab scores will be used in calculating your lab total at the end of the semester. (No lab scores will be dropped.) Scores used in this calculation will be adjusted to compensate for grading differences among lab section instructors.
• Since most students in this course work conscientiously, scores on TYCHO homework assignments will be very high. For example, last semester most Physics 214 students had homework-quiz and lab scores greater than 160 pts (80%). Consequently, high homework and lab grades will not compensate for low examination grades. On the other hand, you can seriously lower your grade if you have low homework and lab grades. The real payoff for doing well on the homeworks and the labs is a better understanding of the physics and, consequently, higher examination scores.
• To give you an indication of your standing during the semester, you will be given renormalized (curved) scores for each hour exam. Last semester, Physics 214 students who received final grades of (A, B, C, D) had average exam scores of (91%, 82%, 70%, 61%).
• You will be able to view your grades on all components of the course using the course gradebook accessible from the homepage. During the semester, you should check that your lab and quiz grades are correctly entered in the gradebook; any problems here should be brought to the attention of your section instructor immediately.

• The final exam will be two hours in length and will cover material from the entire course. The final exam will be on Monday, March 3 . You will be assigned a room for the exam based on your discussion section, and attendance will be taken by your discussion TA. Bring a calculator and pencils to the exams. In addition, bring your official university identification card to show upon request.

All questions about grading policy or any of your grades should be directed to the Exam Master.

• Unexcused absences from any quiz, lab (or any missing lab report), or the midterm exam will be assigned a zero grade; excused absences will receive an EX grade. If excused grades on quizzes and labs are not made up as decribed below, they will be converted to a numerical grade at the end of the semester that is determined by the grades on the remainder of the labs or quizzes taken during the semester.
  An EX grade on the midterm exam will be changed to a numerical grade based on a make-up exam to be given as soon as possible after the regularly scheduled exam. Arrangements for this exam must be made by the student with the Exam Master PRIOR to the date of the regular exam.
• If you miss a discussion quiz for a reason you believe to be valid, go to your discussion TA and describe the circumstances. He or she will evaluate your case and in the process may consult relevant offices within the university for additional information before making a decision. If the reason for your absence is judged meritorious, you will be assigned an EX grade for the missed quiz. Unexcused, missed quizzes will be assigned a grade of zero.
• If you miss a lab experiment, consult your lab instructor as soon as possible. It may be possible to make up a lab experiment if the equipment has not yet been dismantled. If a make-up lab or quiz is not possible, an EX grade will be assigned for excused absences. Missed and unexcused labs will be assigned a grade of zero.
• Excused grades for lab reports, quizzes and the midterm exam will be given only in one of the following circumstances: (a) illness; (b) personal crisis (e.g. automobile accident, required court appearance, death of a close relative, weather conditions which make it impossible to get to the university); and (c) required attendance at an official UIUC activity (e.g. varsity athletics, band concert).
• In case of (a), go to the McKinley Health Center. If upon examination the staff decides you are sick, you will receive a slip from the Center with a telephone number that you should bring to 231/233 Loomis. OR go to your private physician and obtain a written excuse. The excuse should contain your doctor's name and telephone number so that your T.A. can call to verify the information.
• In case (b) contact the Dean of Students' Office 333-0050. (At night this number is known as the Emergency Dean). Inform your lab or quiz T.A. that you have done so. The Dean's office will send confirmation of this to the course office, 233 Loomis. They will place the excuse into the gradebook and give a copy to your instructors.
• In case (c) inform Johnetta or Cindy in 231/233 Loomis in advance if you will miss the midterm exam; similarly inform them and your discussion or laboratory instructor about quizzes and labs that you will miss.

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