Course Syllabus

What will we do in class?

All students start their first physics course with very well-developed ideas about how the world around them works. Some of these ideas are very good; however, some of them are logically inconsistent, improperly applied, or contrary to careful observation. This is why physics has the reputation of being difficult.

Through careful observation, experimentation, discussion and consensus, we can create ways of describing parts of the world, and agree on the usefulness of these descriptions for prediction and design. This is the scientific process, and will be much of our focus this year. Much of your struggle will be that of coming to understand and be able to apply models that are different from the private models you bring to the class. We will help you accomplish this by spending our class time planning, measuring, analyzing, evaluating, discussing, arguing and reporting.

How is my grade determined?

 Each quiz will be evaluated based on your mastery of material, and a single overall score will be assigned. One re-assessment is possible by completing corrections of your work, performing and turning in extra practice assignments, and taking a second quiz over the same material. New grades will replace the old grades. 

What should I do between classes (and when group study time is provided during class)?

I expect that you will spend 30-45 minutes of time outside of class after almost every class period that we have. This time should be used for all of the following:

• Study

Review the material from class, read the appropriate sections in the text, organize your notes, and do practice questions and problems. Lists of sections to read and problems and questions to choose from will be provided on Canvas under each unit. Answers to textbook problems and TIPERs questions can be found in my office, feel free to come and check your work with them at anytime.

• Ongoing work towards in-class labs and projects.

Often, you and your lab group will need to “assign yourselves” some homework in order to complete labs and projects in a timely way.

• Correcting, revising and re-assessing.

As described above, grades represent your current level of proficiency and therefore only the most recent score on each assessment counts. One result of this is that by assessing material again (on a new, different, assessment), you can replace the current grade. Grades could go either up or down as a result. It is to your benefit to use the time between these assessments to learn from your mistakes and prepare to demonstrate greater mastery the next time. (Which means that time is a factor – act soon after getting your assessments back!) And even after I’ve stopped assessing a standard in class, you can request a personal re-assessment after demonstrating readiness.

So what should you do? After getting feedback on an assessment, locate the areas in which you need to improve. Correct your work in those areas, and go over those corrections with me. I may recommend additional practice at that point. When we both feel that you are ready, you can request a re-assessment opportunity – or there may be one coming up in class anyway.

• 25% Lab Reports and Lab Portfolio.

The College Board requires that you maintain a portfolio of your laboratory work in this course. You will turn in your cumulative portfolio at the end of each trimester for a grade, depending on the overall quality. I recommend that you turn in your labs periodically for comment, and correct your work before adding it to your portfolio. Occasionally, I will assign a lab report. In these cases, I will provide you with feedback for portfolio purposes.

• 10% Project.

During the second half of the year, I will provide some time each cycle for you to work on an interest-based project in physics. You may put the finishing touches on the project after the AP Exam, and present it at the end of the year. The project will graded depending on the overall quality.

• Individual Instruction.

Your work outside of class is likely to require my assistance and direction, and I am available to help you. I can be available 3rd and 5th periods, before school, during break and lunch on most days, and after school. An appointment is required.

Most appointments will be 10 minutes in length. I will assess your current situation, provide some instruction and point you in the right direction. In many cases, the next step would be to meet with me again after some follow-up work. In some cases, a longer appointment makes sense, but usually this method is most effective for learning physics.

A Word about Character.

• The Honor Code.

The honor code allows me to trust you. Please don’t violate that trust. Collaborating and helping one another are encouraged, but all work submitted for assessment should be your own. If you work together on something and then find yourself ready to turn part of it in for an assessment, please talk to me and we will find a way to more accurately assess your own individual proficiency.

Whenever you use the work of another (for example, facts researched for a lab report or project or data obtained from a classmate), you must provide proper attribution – parenthetical citations or footnotes.

• Honor, Respect and Compassion

There is more to honor than the honor code. We could spend several days discussing the nuanced meanings of each of these words, but together they boil down to a few essential points: Remember that other people are people too. They have hopes and dreams just like you. Their opinions and desires are as valid and important as yours. They suffer trials, temptations and sorrows just like you. They, like you, have the great and wonderful gifts of self-awareness, creativity, agency, and the capacity to love… Try to remember that, all day, every day. Seek out their opinions and desires. Try to bring them joy. Assiduously avoid causing them pain.

This is the key to interaction with others in general, and it is also the key to learning and doing science together. Let this be the standard by which we run our class. With this as our goal, we will all fail every day. But here, too, failure is the only path to success.