Dear PHY231 students,

We wish to welcome you to Physics 231.  Please let us explain how the course works.

The course home page is posted at:
    http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/phy231/

Here, you can find office hours, grade scale, class announcements and most
other information concerning the course. Everything described in the message
you are reading is described, often in more detail, at the course home page.

The LON-CAPA site, which includes on-line homework and lecture material, can
be accessed by dialing into:
   http://msu.loncapa.org
Log in with your pilot ID and password. You can find log-in help at
   http://msu.lon-capa.org/res/msu/felicia/Instructions/instructions.html
In preparing for the homework and exams, you can either study the course text
book (Serway and Faughn, College Physics) or the on-line lecture material
which is posted on LON-CAPA. My recommendation is to buy the text book and to
access the on-line material when you feel the need for more explanation. The
on-line material includes many on-line demonstrations.

Homework is listed on-line in the LON-CAPA "HOMEWORK" folder. Inside that
folder you will find each week's homework problems. You are given 99 tries for
each problem. The system will inform you immediately whether you have correctly
answered the problem. Homework is due every Tuesday morning at 3:59 AM (except
for the first week's HW which will be at 10:00 AM because of Martin Luther
King's Day). Answers will be made available immediately afterward. The entire
year's problems are posted, though we warn you that we might change a few
problems during the semester.

The course will have three midterms, all given during class in 1410 BPS. The
location of the final is not yet determined. The dates, which are also posted
on the course calendar and can be accessed from the home page, are:
     MIDTERM I:    Thursday, Jan. 31st
     MIDTERM II:   Thursday, Feb. 28th
     MIDTERM IIII: Thursday, Apr. 3rd
     FINAL         5:45-7:45 PM, Monday, April 28th (Location TBA)

Grades are calculated on a 100 point scale. Each midterm counts for 20 points,
the final counts as 30 points, and the homework counts as 10 points. There are
no "dropped" exams. We will offer make-ups for students who need them. Make-ups
taken after the week of the exam will be assigned a penalty unless there is an
exceptionally good reason, e.g., "I was in the hospital giving my sister a
kidney transplant".

Each midterm will include 20 questions, 10 conceptual (e.g., T/F) and 10
numerical. The final will have 32 questions, 16 conceptual and 16
numerical. The extra two points on the final will count as extra credit.

Up to five points of extra credit can be gained from in-class
participation/quiz points. These points are awarded using "clicker"
technology (http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/phy231/clickers.html). Each student
must purchase a clicker at the book store. Points will not be counted until the
Thursday of the second week. The clickers need to be registered on the lon-capa
web site. The clicker grade will be calculated relative to 50% of the possible
points, but no more than five points will be granted. For each clicker
question, you are awarded one participation point, plus one extra point if your
answer is correct. During clicker questions, you are encouraged to discuss the
questions with your class mates. There are no make-ups for class participation
points, as the 50% leeway should easily account for sicknesses and trips.

If you are upset by having to come to lecture to earn clicker points, you might
consider switching to the online section (PHY 231C), which has the same
homework and exam dates. If it is your intention to attend only a fraction of 
the lectures, we recommend that you switch to the on-line section.

All the exams are closed-book, closed-note. You will be provided a standard
formula sheet which can be accessed at:
	http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/phy231/cheatsheet/cheatsheet.html
We HIGHLY recommend that you use this sheet for doing your homework. The exams
are much easier if you know what formulas are on the sheet, where they are, and
how to use them.

Many of the exam problems will be inspired from homework problems. At least one
problem from the second and third midterms will be a "modified" problem from
the previous midterm(s). The 16 questions on the final exam from material
covered in the first three midterms will come from "modified" problems from the
following sources: the 231 midterms, the 231C midterms, or the exams from
previous courses posted on the course web site. "Modified" could mean that 'y'
is given and 'x' is asked for, whereas the original problem had the reverse. It
might also mean word changes such as "helicopter" -> "bird", or a conceptual
problem might be morphed into a numerical problem. Old exams are posted on the
course web page, following the "EXAMS" link.

The homework grade will be calculated relative to a base of 80% of the total
possible points, but you will not be allowed to score over 100% on the HW. For
example:
  If you correctly answer 40% of the problems, you get 50% of the points.
  If you correctly answer 80% of the problems, you get 100% of the HW points.
  If you correcly answer 98% of the problems, you get 100% of the HW points.

No extensions will be granted for the homework unless there are exceptional
circumstances. The 20% leeway should account for technical problems, such as "I
can't log in from my parent's house".  Students are responsible for finding
locations from which they can answer the questions. If there are campus-wide
network problems, we will make extensions for the entire class.

Students are encouraged to work with one another on homework problems. The
Strosacker Center, Room 1248 Physics, is designed explicitly for that
purpose. It will be staffed throughout the week by TAs who should be able to
assist you with all your physics needs. Staffing hours will be posted on the
course home page at the end of the first week of class.

No advice for success in physics class applies to everybody, but nonetheless, we
give some pointers here.

1) Work on the class more than one day per week. Don't try to do everything in
   a 12-hour marathon session.

2) Don't read the course chat pages before trying the problems yourself. Often
   students provide combined formulas which work only for the specific
   problem. It is better to start with what is on your formula sheet. Also, if
   you write on the chat page, your comments will be more helpful if you refer
   to the formulas on the formula sheet, e.g., "combine F=ma with
   x=v0t=(1/2)at^2 to get ____ ".

3) If you get a problem correct after getting the hint, ask yourself "How
   should I have recognized the correct method?", not just "What was the right
   thing to do?". A chess master can easily explain to a novice why he made a
   certain move. For instance, "I wanted to gain control of the d-4 square and
   block his bishop", but it is much more difficult for the master to explain
   why he did not make one of the other 73 possible moves. The same applies for
   knowing how one should know which physics formula to apply.

4) Don't over-think the exam problems. We are not trying to trick you with the
   problems. There is a group of people who think "Oh,
   that is too obvious", and talk themselves out of the correct answer. This
   same group struggles with driver's exam written tests.

5) Take advantage of the Strosacker center and the instructor's office hours!

Please don't hesitate to send an email if you are having any problems or
questions, though we request you to first check out the course web page before
writing us concerning procedural items.

We hope to meet as many of you as possible in the coming months and wish you
the best of luck for the upcoming semester

Sincerely, 

	   	   Scott Pratt
		   prattsc@msu.edu
		
		   Carl Schmidt
		   schmidt@pa.msu.edu