PHYSICS 142W Workshop
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
WORKSHOP
GOALS AND Philosophy
It is easy to lose sight of the fact that all science is
based on experiment, either to test the predictions of theories or to present
data the theories cannot explain in order to spur better theories.
If you find science difficult, you are not alone. The concepts themselves are often not easy to grasp. Research has shown that we each must construct our own models of understanding. Simply listening to lectures and rote memorization are not good ways to learn. We must be able to assimilate the concepts and apply them to predict further phenomena. Research has also shown that learning improves when a student thinks about a concept or problem by him/herself first and then discusses it with a small group of peers. That is the philosophy we will follow in this workshop. The abilities to work within a group of peers and to communicate ideas, both orally and in writing, are important skills to have. These are fundamental goals of this workshop.
Most of the experiments in this workshop
will utilize data sensors interfaced to a computer. We utilize PASCO's Data
Studio software, because of its powerful ability to take data, present it,
and analyze it. You will find most of
the analysis tools you need in Data
Studio. You can find the area,
highlight a particular region, find averages, or a host of things with Data Studio. You will find that you can normally be able to fit or model data
with an analytic function. In
addition we have the powerful program Mathcad
available, because you have already learned how to use it in the previous
semester. Feel free to use Mathcad when you think it is
useful. Remember to print out and
include any computer results for inclusion with your group's report. Microsoft’s Excel software is also
available and often useful.
Purpose of the Course
The purpose of this workshop is
1.
to teach you
some important physical phenomena and concepts,
2.
to
teach you to think for yourself and to work in groups of peers,
3.
to teach you
better oral and written communication skills,
4.
to
introduce you to proper laboratory procedures, to use computers and data sensors,
and teach you some basic laboratory techniques, and
5.
to
give you confidence in your ability to take measurements and adequately analyze
and interpret data.
Course Organization
Physics 142W is a dependent course for
Physics 142E, but it is not part of
Physics 142E. It is a one-credit course
with an independent grade. You must,
however, be registered in both a 142E lecture and a 142W workshop, unless you
already have credit for 142E. Each
workshop section will have up to 24 students (and no more).
Every
student must purchase the manual for Physics 142W at the UVa bookstore. This manual contains the workshop activities
which you will use each week.
Registration in Physics 142W will be blocked
on Friday, January 17, 2003. The workshops start
on Monday during the semester’s first full week of classes (January 20, 2003).
In
that first week, you must attend the section of your choice on time. If you are registered for that
section, your place in that section
is secure. If you do not attend or are
late to your registered section, your name will be dropped from that section’s
enrollment.
Those who wish to add to that section will then be added if space is available. Since
only 24 students may be in a section, if more students want to add than is
space available, names will be drawn at random and added to the enrollment
until the 24 spaces are filled. The
remaining students must find other sections to attend. Let us re-emphasize this point: If you are registered for a section and wish
to secure your place in that section, you must
attend that section on time during
the first full week of classes. Note,
however, that there are normally two sections being held simultaneously so
that each time slot has space available for 48 students in the two sections. In the extraordinary
event that you cannot attend any sections during that first full week of classes,
say due to illness or a family emergency, please contact Larry Suddarth (room
214 – physics building, 924-6843, lts7x@Virginia.edu)
as soon as possible. Contact Mr. Suddarth
regarding any problems with registration.
Beginning January 17, 2003, Mr. Suddarth is the only
person who can add you into a section of 142W.
It is your responsibility to be registered for a workshop. If you are unable to find a workshop open
that meets your schedule, you go to a suitable section the first week to see if
space becomes available or to see if someone will switch with you. You may need to go to several workshops
before this is successful.
Your work in Physics 142W will consist of three parts:
1.
A
pre-workshop activity that you must complete before coming to the workshop.
2.
Perform
the workshop itself, answering all the questions and predictions, and attaching
data, results, graphs, and analysis as requested with your group members that
will be turned in at the end of the workshop.
3.
A
post-workshop quiz that you must complete in the specified time period.
Each workshop is two hours (technically
one hour and 50 minutes) long. You are
expected to have vacated the room within one hour and 55 minutes to allow the
next section to begin on time. The
workshops meet during each full week of classes and are overseen by a graduate
instructor (teaching assistant commonly called a TA, for short). The graduate instructor’s responsibilities
are to ensure the safety of the students; protect the equipment; provide good
teaching pedagogy to help you learn as much as possible, provide additional
instructions and information concerning the workshop, grade your work and,
together with the faculty, assign your grade.
A faculty member will be present occasionally in the lab.
The
first part of the first meeting of the semester will be organizational and
preparatory. You will be added or
dropped from the section (as discussed above), meet your faculty member and
graduate instructor, exchange information with your instructors, be informed of
any changes to class policies, etc. In
addition, you will fill out an evaluation to help us improve the workshop
experience that in no way will affect your grade. Then we will familiarize you with computer software Data Studio. We generally try to have activities on material that you have
already seen in lecture, sometimes weeks earlier, but that is not always
possible.
Preparation
For each workshop,
you must do the pre-workshop activity that can be found on the Internet site
WebAssign. It can be found at http://webassign.net/student.html.
You can reach WebAssign from the Physics 142W web page http://www.phys.virginia.edu/classes/142w.stt.spring03/. It is important for you to look at this page
often, because any changes to this manual will be given there. The pre-workshop activity will normally be
given on WebAssign, and you will need to complete the answers online by a
given deadline. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LOOK AT THE WEBSITE OFTEN ENOUGH TO BE AWARE
OF THE WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT, PRE-WORKSHOP ACTIVITY, AND CHANGES IN THE WEEKLY
WORKSHOP. We are not having you
submit a lab report, but instead, we are requiring you to spend time preparing
for the workshop each week. We expect
that since you are better prepared, the workshop will be a better learning
experience. We have in the past had
difficulties with students’ not following instructions with WebAssign.
Our class policy regarding WebAssign and mistakes made with it are
clearly articulated on the class website and will be reviewed and updated
as needed.
In order to complete the pre-workshop
activity each week, you should do the following:
1.
Read over the workshop
material in this manual (including the relevant appendix and outside reading assignments, where appropriate) for the
week’s activity completely to get an overview.
2.
Connect to
the Physics 142W web page to learn about any changes, suggestions, or additional
material given for this week's activity.
3.
Read the instructions
again, but this time more carefully;
highlighting the important features of the workshop. Try to work through any derivations you do
not understand. In other words, be
an active reader and study the manual.
4.
Complete
the pre-workshop activity as directed on the web page.
5.
Bring a graphing
or other scientific calculator to the workshop.
Before attending your workshop section
during the first full week of classes, look over the workshop manual and become
familiar with the appendices to which you should refer as needed throughout the
semester. Particularly important are Appendix B: Graphical Analysis and Appendix D: The Accuracy of Measurements
and Significant Figures. Refer to Appendix D and apply it appropriately
throughout the semester.
Procedure in the Workshop
Since the
workshop periods are two hours long, you will need to be efficient in the use
of your time. Normally you will work in
groups of three. You will be assigned
to a different group each week. We
encourage a free exchange of ideas between group members (and also generally in
the laboratory), and we expect you to share both in taking data and in operating the computer system. You will turn in your workshop materials as
a group at the end of the period.
Everyone must fill out the material asked for in the manual, but you
only should turn in one set of graphs and data when you are asked to print them
out. Be sure that all such printouts
are well noted with the activity number and your lab partners' names. You and your group members will not
necessarily receive a common grade for the workshop each week, because we will
grade both your results and your answers.
Grading Policy
Each week's activity will be graded as follows:
·
The pre-workshop activity is worth 20%.
·
The weekly workshop experience is worth 50% based on the performance in
the laboratory as evidenced by your performance (which is, of course, subjective)
and by your grade on what you turn in each week.
·
The post-workshop quiz is worth 30%.
Your final workshop
grade will be determined by taking the average of all your workshop grades. No
grades will be dropped. Grades will
be assigned on a curve based on your graduate TA instructor’s students only.
We try to take account of the different grading scales of the graduate
instructors.
Absences and Tardiness
Absences and tardiness will be accepted only for legitimate
excuses, i.e. illness, a death in your family, a university sponsored trip,
etc. If possible, contact your graduate
instructor before the time of the
lab (e.g. send an email). Without a bona fide reason, all absentees receive a grade of
zero for that workshop. If you miss a laboratory session because of a legitimate
excuse, your lab instructor will excuse your absence provided that you submit
a written excuse petition. An email will suffice. We may require
a note from your physician or Student Health in case of illness. This
should be done no later than the next scheduled lab period. For approved
absences, it may be possible to make up a missing workshop, but it must be
done no later than the Thursday of the following week. See your graduate instructor or faculty member
for further information.
Late arrival for any lab session is very disruptive and will be penalized. After a 5-minute grace period, the lab instructor will deduct 10% from your grade during the first 10 minutes of tardiness and 15% for each successive 10-minute period (or part thereof).
WEBASSIGN POLICY
Please pay
particular attention to the due dates of the WebAssign pre- and post-workshop
assignments. In general, we will try to
have the pre-workshop assignments posted on the Tuesday of the week before
the actual workshop. The pre-workshop
assignments are due 30 minutes before the workshop. Normally you will be given several submissions to obtain the
correct answer, but sometimes WebAssign malfunctions, so do not waste your
submissions. There will be no time
extensions given, unless you have been excused from the workshop. Contact Professor Thornton for an extension
in that case.
The post-workshop
quiz will be posted no later than Monday of the week of the workshop.
The post-workshops have only one submission
and they have a time limit. Pay particular attention to how much time is allowed for each post-workshop
activity. If you go over this time,
WebAssign will automatically give you a zero for the quiz, despite the fact
that it may still show you which questions you answered correctly.
There is no possibility of us changing your
grade from zero if you go over the time limit. Please allow for possible malfunctions of your
computer and for you reading the time incorrectly. Only the clock in WebAssign is used, and we
have not found it to ever be inaccurate!
You are responsible for keeping track of the available time. We expect you to do the
post-workshop quiz within a few hours of completing the workshop.
We do, however, give you an extension to the following Monday morning
at 5 am. That
is the only extension you will receive.
For whatever reason, if you do not complete the pre-workshop quiz on
time, you will receive a zero. We
hear a multitude of reasons/excuses, but we expect you to do the post-workshop
quiz immediately following your workshop, not on Sunday night.
Please do not request an extension despite what WebAssign indicates
on their screen.
WORKSHOP MAKEUPS
You may
only miss a workshop if your TA or professor has given you permission for the
reasons already mentioned. You must
receive permission from your TA to make it up.
Make up workshops are normally Thursday afternoon in room 215 beginning
at 3 pm. You may only make up a
workshop during the week that you missed it or the following week. The workshops are not left set up more than
the following week. It is the student’s
responsibility to make sure the TA has given permission and to attend the make
up.
If you miss
a workshop for an approved reason, and do not make up the workshop until the
following week, contact Professor Thornton for an extension for the
post-workshop quiz. If you take the
make up on Thursday of the regular workshop week, you do not receive a time extension.