Welcome to the summer session of PHY 231C.
 
 
You are receiving this message because you are enrolled in PHY 231C section 730 or section 731.
 
I realize this message is long, but you should read it carefully and in detail as it is part of the syllabus It is copied in the announcement section of the syllabus for your reference.
 
We will cover all material usually covered in a fifteen week course in a little over six weeks.  This course runs only in the first summer session starting on May 18 and finishing with the final exam on July 1.  In general, there are two
homework sets due each week.    Every week during the session will require a
significant online time commitment with a reliable high speed internet connection. Extensions of the homework due dates will not be given.
 
There are two exams.  The midterm exam and final exam are traditional, multiple- choice paper and pencil exam taken either here on the MSU campus or off-campus with an appropriate exam proctor.  On the Monday following the midterm exam, a correction exam will open up in homework mode.  The correction exam is completed online just like all of the regular homework assignments.  This correction assignment allows you to do the same exam again with a different
randomization for your assigned values.   30% of the positive difference
between your correction exam score and your original exam score is added to your original score as a bonus.  The correction exam can only help you – do nothing and your original score stays as-is.
 
If you are living or traveling far from the MSU campus at the time of an exam, beyond a reasonable commuting distance, or if you are traveling with an MSU- sponsored program, you may be able to arrange a proctored off-campus exam. Your travel time must be greater than one hour to qualify for a proctored exam. If you are taking a regular class which meets here on the MSU campus (i.e.
PHY251), you are considered to live close enough to take your exams here and
are not eligible for off-campus exams.   If you require a proctor, it is your
responsibility to find an appropriate proctor in your area.  Arrangements for a proctored exam must be made well in advance of the exam, as such requests made after the deadline will not be accommodated and you will have to take the exam at MSU on its scheduled date.  You can find arrangement details and deadlines by clicking on the link in the exam section of the syllabus.
 
The required text book is Rex & Wolfson: Essential College Physics, Volume 1.
It is sold at the MSU bookstore and at SBS on Grand River.  This class will use LON-CAPA. LON-CAPA is a computerized homework and exam management system developed right here at MSU. We will NOT use Angel, D2L or the Mastering Physics add-on to the textbook in this course.  Since this is an online class, you are not required to purchase an i-clicker.
 
Whenever you finish using Lon-CAPA you should *ALWAYS* log out.  Staying logged in for an extended period of time will prevent you from seeing any new material added to the course i.e. correction exam, exam results, practice exam
problems.   In addition, leaving Lon-Capa idle for a long time can cause access
errors (i.e. getting a message when trying to answer a problem stating the system is not available).  No extensions will be given for such preventable errors.
 
Please visit www.loncapa.msu.edu and log in using your MSU Net ID and password.
Select the "PHY 231C, Summer 2015" class. The first item on the top is the syllabus.  You can also review the syllabus without logging in to Lon-Capa
here: http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2015summer/PHY231C/  Read all sections of it carefully. This is the official syllabus of the class.
 
The next item is a folder containing the lectures for the course.   The “Online
Lectures” folder contains the lectures specifically designed for this online course; they are in the form of narrated PowerPoint presentations with example problems and some lecture demonstrations.  A high speed internet connection (i.e. not dial-up) and a computer with the ability to view flash video are required.  All of the online lectures for the course are currently available. 
Embedded within the online lectures are bonus homework questions.  These questions are optional and can only help your score in the course.  Most of these questions, relate at least in part to the assigned reading and/or the
online lecture immediately preceding the question.   These questions are
programmed in exam mode (multiple choice) with correct/incorrect feedback disabled; the correct answer will be available after the due date.  The discussion board on these bonus questions is disabled and so.  In addition,
hints and/or solutions to these bonus questions will not be provided.  
 
Also within the online lecture folder are some practice exam problems with
video solutions.   These problems were given on exams in previous versions of
the course.  You are encouraged to use these to help prepare for the exams. 
Try solving the problems first before watching the solutions.  Even if you answer the questions correctly, you may find some additional useful information in the solution.
 
The next folder will contain the homework for the course.  There are homework sets that are due, in general every Tuesday at 5PM and Thursday at 5PM.  The first homework set is due FRIDAY, May 22nd at 5PM (this is the only set due on a Friday).  All homework sets are currently available, so if you know you have a conflict at some point in the semester, you can work ahead.  Additionally, you should not wait until the last minute to do the assigned homework --
extensions on homework will not be granted.    
 
You are encouraged to come to the help room (BPS 1248) with your questions. 
Our Teaching Assistants are more than happy to answer your questions.  Starting May 18, the help room will be open for this course on Mondays and Wednesdays from Noon-9:00PM; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00AM-5:00PM. During these help room hours, there will always be two TAs in the help room.  One is assigned specifically to provide online help using the course discussion board.  While this TA will be in the help room, the online support TA’s first priority is to give online assistance.  Only after all online questions are answered is this TA permitted to assist students in the help room.
 
You are also encouraged to use the discussion board inside LON-CAPA. If you don't understand a problem or you need help, just click on the "Post discussion" link and post your question. If you are seeking electronic help on a homework problem, use the post discussion option.  More likely than not, others will have the same question and unlike email, everyone can then benefit from your question and subsequent response(s).  If you know the answer to a question, just post your answer. Don't forget: The best way to learn is to teach.
 
Working and understanding the homework problems is a very important part of understanding the material.  While, you can likely find a quick, easy formula derived by someone else in the class that will yield the solution to a homework problem, going straight for this type of solution will not help you learn the material.  If you are faced with a similar problem that does not use the same end formula, that quick and easy homework solution would be of little help. 
However, if you understand the underlying concepts and the process that went in to finding that end formula, that similar problem should not be difficult to solve.  Rather than using a quick and easy formula that someone else put the work into finding, a better course to follow is attempting to work the problems yourself after completing the assigned readings and watching the online lectures.  Only after an honest attempt at the problems should you seek further assistance.  Yes, this is more work, but my belief in the importance of working through the homework yourself to your success in the course is both emphasized and rewarded by its relative weight in determining your final grade.
 
Lastly, over the weekend of May 23-24 there will be an optional pre-course diagnostic offered.  If you give an honest effort a 1% participation bonus will be added to your final average.  We value your input and want only serious attempts at completing the diagnostic.
 If you don't know the answer to a question, then guessing is allowed. However, simple submission patterns(like AAA..., or BBB...) or rapidly clicking on any response throughout the diagnostic will be filtered out from the diagnostic. 
Lon-Capa allows me to easily check the time spent on each problem in the diagnostic. Any students having there submissions filtered out for the reasons described above will also forfeit the  participation bonus.  A similar diagnostic with an additional 1% participation bonus will be offer over the weekend preceding our final exam (June 27-28).  More details on each of these will follow.
 
Richard Hallstein
(BPS 1253, (517) 884-5509, hallstein@pa.msu.edu)