June 19 PHY 231C Post class concept test and survey with participation credit
Dear PHY 231C student,
The post-course survey and post-course concept test are due this coming Sunday,
June 24 at 11:59PM. Both of these items are now available for you to complete,
you were notified about their availability at the session's start and details
are in the syllabus. As such, no extensions will be given.
A similar pre course concept test and survey were offered at the beginning of
the semester(these also include a participation bonus). I encourage you to
complete these post course items, as in addition to the bonus outlined below,
they will be used to help make future versions of this course and its
traditional equivalent.
Bonuses for concept tests and surveys:
Concept tests:
Do neither: no bonus
Do only 1(pre or post): 1 point added to final exam score
Do both(pre and post): 3 points bonus added to final exam score
Surveys:
Do neither: no bonus
Do only 1 (pre or post): 1 point added to final exam scoore
Do both (pre and post): 3 points bonus added to final exam score
The final exam has 100 points and is weighted at 40% of the final grade. Doing
all of these items will add 6 points for a maximum possible score of 106 (out of
100). Even if you did not fully participate in the pre-course versions, fully
participating in both of these post course versions will add 2 points to your
final exam score.
The extra credit for the surveys and concept tests are for participation only
and not for correctness. However, in the case of the concept tests a
serious effort must be given to get the credit. As such, simple submission
patterns (like AAA..., or BBB...) or rapidly clicking on any response throughout
the concept test are not considered serious efforts and no bonus will be given.
https://web.pa.msu.edu/courses/2018summer/PHY231C/Bonus/Bonus.htm
If either are not showing up in Lon-capa, try logging out and re-logging in to
Lon-Capa.
Richard Hallstein
June 19 PHY231C Exam Notice supplement for online video proctored students - move critical messages to inbox
Dear PHY 231C online exam student,
Prior to starting the final exam, please move all critical messages(like this
one) to your inbox. You can do this by clicking on the 'move to inbox button'
just below this and any other unmoved critical messages. You will need to do
this for each critical message.
If you do not, these messages will continually pop up while you are taking the
exam -- eating up valuable exam time.
All students have been notified about this in many previous messages dating back
to the start of the course.
Best wishes on the exam,
Richard Hallstein
June 19 PHY231C Exam Notice (2 of 2) Coverage, practice problems and studying
Dear PHY 231C student,
The final exam is cumulative and covers everything in the course(exceptions
below). It will be based on the assigned readings, the online lectures and the
homework. Some of the problems will be conceptual in nature and some will have
numerical answers. There are 100 possible points on the exam and a total of 30
responses on this exam.
To further assist you in focusing your studies, last week I sent out a rough
breakdown of what will be on the exam and am copying it here for ease of reference:
1D motion: 5 points
2D motion: 5 points
Force and Newton's Laws: 10 points
Work and Energy: 5 points
Momentum: 5 points
Oscillations: 11 points
Rotation: 11 points
Gravity and Orbits: 5 points
Solids and Fluids: 9 points
Waves and Sound: 0 points (will not be on final exam)
Temperature and Ideal Gases: 12 points
Heat: 13 points
Thermodynamics: 9 points
In general, and across all topics you are responsible for knowing units.
A copy of the exam's cover page is visible in the exam folder in Lon-Capa. Some
useful information is included on the cover page.
Here are some study suggestions: review the readings, online lectures and the
homework problems; make a good sheet of notes for the exam.
There are practice exam problems available in the Practice Exams folder. There
are two sub-folders with problems and solutions. One contains every midterm
exam problem I gave in this course during the academic year 2016-2017; the
second contains every midterm exam problem I gave during this past academic year
(2017-2018), plus a selection of problems corresponding to the final chapters
taken from older exams. So, there are four full semesters worth of exam
problems that I assigned for in this course available to you.
All problems, except those CH 11(waves and sound) are applicable
to this exam.
The problems themselves are coded in lon-capa in exam mode with no due date and
correct/incorrect feedback disabled. Thus way, you can return to these problems
later to try them again without having the correct response highlighted from an
earlier correct attempt. There is a sub-folder within the each practice exam
folder with the same questions, but correct/incorrect feedback enabled so you
may attempt these problems and get immediate feedback as to whether your
response was correct or incorrect.
The solutions to these problems take on one of three forms:
1. A new online lecture if a very similar problem is not already present in the
course material.
2. A reference of where to find the solution to a very similar problem in the
online material.
3. A reference of where to find the solution to a very similar problem in the
required text.
When attempting these problems, use a draft of your exam note sheet and then
modify it as needed based on what you thought you were missing or what your
thought would be useful to have included.
As always, click on the move button to inbox button below to keep this critical
message from continuing to pop up as you work on the course.
Richard Hallstein
June 19 PHY231C Exam Notice (1 of 2) is at 5PM on Wednesday, 6/27 in CEM 138
Dear PHY 231C on campus exam student,
The final exam will be on Wednesday, June 27th at 5:30PM in room 138 Chemistry.
Some streets in and around the campus are closed for construction, so you should
allow extra time to get to the exam location.
The exam will be handed out promptly at 5:30PM; students arriving after 5:00PM
will not be permitted to enter the room until after the students who arrived
promptly have started the exam.
The exam is closed book, but you may use two 8-1/2 inch x 11 inch or smaller
sheets of original HAND-WRITTEN notes and equations; your note sheet will be
checked at least once during the exam. You may use both sides of your note
sheets. If you show up to the exam with a set of notes that are not original
and handwritten, you will have to take the exam without notes. In general, on
this exam and the final exam, the questions will be in the order material was
covered in the course; this should help you organize your note sheet.
You should bring a few sharpened number 2 pencils, your student ID (or driver's
license) and a calculator (graphing calculators are OK). However, the use of
cell phones, PDAs, apple watches, tablets, computers or any similar devices for
any reason is NOT permitted. If you have any of these devices out, you will
receive a penalty grade of zero on the exam.
Pencils and calculators will NOT be provided. Also as a courtesy to your fellow
students, you should turn off your stored away cell phone before entering the room.
When taking the exam, all baseball caps or brimmed hats must be removed or
turned backwards. Furthermore, all caps or hats covering the ears must be removed.
When you enter the room, sit in the row assigned to you based on your last name
(seating assignments will be displayed on the screen at the front of the room).
Leave a single empty seat between you and the next closest student on either
side, unless you are on an aisle, then the aisle counts as an empty seat. The
exam and scantron sheets will be handed out once all students arriving promptly
are in their assigned rows. DO NOT open the exam until you are told to do so by
an instructor. You can however, complete the student information section of your
answer sheet. Make sure you include your student ID number and your name on the
answer sheet. Make certain that your exam has your name and picture on the cover
sheet. If it does not, you have the wrong exam. When you are finished with the
exam return both your answer sheet and your exam to an instructor.
You will have two hours to complete the exam.
Richard Hallstein
June 19 PHY231C Exam Notice (1 of 2)video proctor time will be for the 2 hour time slot you signed up for between 7:30PM on 6/27 and 5PM on 6/28
Dear PHY 231C section 731 online video proctored exam student,
You are receiving this message because you are in the online exam section and
you WILL take your final online via video proctor.
The final exam will be next week with your two hour exam starting between 7:30PM
EDT Wednesday, June 27th and 5PM EDT Thursday, June 28th (the time slot in
Examity adjusts your time to your local time). You should have already signed
up for your exam time. If you have not set up your Examity profile and/or
signed up for your online exam time, you should do so immediately.
No accommodations will be made if your preferred online exam time is no longer
available, as slots fill up on a first come first serve basis, and most students
have already signed up.
In addition to a calculator and two double-sided sheets of original HAND WRITTEN
notes, you will be permitted to have a drink on your desk during the exam and a
printout of the instructions for getting started/taking your exam on exam day.
These instructions are specific to connecting to Examity(your online
proctor) via Lon-Capa. The instructions are in place and viewable now in your
exams folder in lon-capa. I suggest downloading the pdf, opening it with your
pdf reader of choice and printing it out. While taking the exam, no other notes
other than the single sheet of original handwritten notes may be used. If any
other pre-prepared notes are used, you will receive a penalty grade of zero on
the exam.
You will have two hours to complete the exam.
As always, to keep this and any other lon-capa messages from popping up while
working on the course, click move to inbox below.
Richard Hallstein
June 12 PHY231C Exam Coverage
Dear PHY 231C student,
While our cumulative final is still about two weeks away, I wanted to give you
an idea of the topics on the exam. While we have homework due on all topics,
some will not be on the final exam and this advance notice should help you in
composing a good set of notes.
Here is the coverage:
1D motion: 5 points
2D motion: 5 points
Force and Newton's Laws: 10 points
Work and Energy: 5 points
Momentum: 5 points
Oscillations: 11 points
Rotation: 11 points
Gravity and Orbits: 5 points
Solids and Fluids: 9 points
Waves and Sound: 0 points (will not be on final exam)
Temperature and Ideal Gases: 12 points
Heat: 13 points
Thermodynamics: 9 points
As always, click on the move button to inbox button below to keep this critical
message from continuing to pop up as you work on the course.
Richard Hallstein
June 8 PHY 231C(section 731 only)Final off campus exam scheduling now available
Dear PHY 231C online web proctored exam student,
You can now schedule your final exam via the Examity link in Lon-Capa. To do
this, you must have already created an Examty profile -- this profile creation
process is covered in an earlier message and in the syllabus.
In Lon-Capa, open your Examity Dashboard via the Examity Dashboard link. Click
on the "Schedule Exam" picture and select a time slot the Midterm exam is one
hour long and you can schedule your exam start time anytime between Wednesday,
June 27 at 7:30PM eastern time and Thursday, June 28 at 5:00PM eastern time.
The granularity is 30 minutes, meaning you can choose start times on the half
hour or the hour.
Examity has a large number of exams to proctor each day, but a finite number of
employees and a finite amount of computational resources to do so. Please be
patient and have several time slots ready on your schedule when selecting a
start time. Times slots are filled on a first come first serve basis.
If your exam is scheduled successfully, you will receive a confirmation message
from Examity.
If you scheduled your exam more than 24 hours in advance of the exam, you will
not be charged any proctoring fee. The MSU Physics department will pay this
cost. However, if you schedule it less than 24 hours in advance of the exam, you
will have to pay the cost of the exam as an on-demand proctoring fee. There is
no reason to wait this long, as the scheduling will be available to you now,
well in advance of each exam.
As always and as stated in many prior messages, click the move to inbox button
at the bottom of each critical message (like this one) to keep it from
continually popping up while working on course material. This is of particular
importance to have been done prior to taking an online exam, as choosing to
neglect to do so or choosing not to read these warnings in course messages will
eat up valuable time as you take your online exam.
Richard Hallstein
June 5 PHY231C score summary, final average/grade projection and exam solution
Dear PHY 231C students,
At the end of this message is your personalized summary of
your scores on the work you have completed through today's
Correction exam and homework set 5. In addition, I have
used this data, along with the course syllabus to give you a
final grade projection. The projection assumes your work in
all categories is represented by what you have done so far.
Below I am including: your MIDTERM post correction score (in
percent); your homework average through set 5 including the
bonus questions and the four bonus survey questions in
percent; your pre-course concept test bonus to be added to
your final
exam score (this is either 1 if you chose to participate in
or 0% not); your pre-course survey participation bonus to
be added to your
(this is 1 if you chose to fully participate, 0 if not);
your projected final exam
score in percent (this is your midterm PRE-correction score
plus concept/survey bonuses);
and the corresponding projected final grade based
on the criteria outlined in the syllabus.
These projections assume ALL future homework (both regular
and bonus) and your final exam are represented by the work
you have done thus far. Clearly, if any future work in any
of these categories changes, your actual scores/grades in
some or all of these projected categories will change as well.
Thus far, we have had 126 regular homework questions and 29
bonus questions (this includes the 5 point section specific
question and all bonus questions due to sate in the online
lecture
folders). So, there were a maximum of 155 homework
points you could have earned through set 5; but your percent
score is based on 126 points as stipulated in the syllabus.
Here is the key to interpret my abbreviations below:
FECNCPbonus: survey bonus points added to final exam score
(1 if you chose to participate +0 if you did not)
PSurveybonus: bonus points added to final exam score
(1 if you chose to fully participate +0 if you did not)
HW%: Homework percent (including start of session 5 point
bonus question
And all bonus questions due to date in online lecture folders)
MT%: Percent score on Midterm (including the correction exam)
PFE%: PROJECTED final exam score in percent (this is your
Midterm, pre-correction score plus any earned concept/survey
bonuses)
PFA%: PROJECTED final course average in %
PFG: PROJECTED final grade
As an *example* of how your projections were calculated,
here is a calculated projection based on the current class
averages in each category (this calculation is based on the
class average, not your personal projection -- the bottom of
the email sent to your Lon-Capa account for your personal
projection):
The class average on the homework through set 5 is 110%.
The class average on the midterm, pre-correction is 66% The
average on the correction exam is 95%. The corrected
midterm average is 74.7%, the average concept bonus is
0.88 points and the average survey bonus 0.91 points.
First, we need to find the post-correction midterm score for
our class average (only your post correction score is shown
below):
MTcorrected = 66% + 0.3*(95%-66%)= 74.7%
Using these averages, we can project a final average and
grade in the course. In this projection and in your
personalized projection at the end of this message, we'll
make these assumptions:
1. Assume homework and bonus point performance for the
remainder of the course remains as it has been thus far.
2. Assume the average final exam percent score is the same
as the average PRE-correction midterm percent score.
Again, if the actual performance differs from these
assumptions, the actual scores will change too.
Homework is weighted at 30%, the midterm at 30% and final
exam 40%. So, this average set of scores yields:
Projected final class average: 0.30*110% + 0.3*74.7%
+0.4*(66+0.88+0.91)%= 82.5%
Using the grading criteria in the syllabus, we see this
projected final average for this hypothetical average
student is 82.5% and the corresponds to a projected final
grade of 3.0 and is 1.5% away from the cut for a 3.5.
Again, the above are all CLASS AVERAGES -- your personalized
scores are at the bottom of this message. Further, this
class average is
*SIGNIFICANTLY* above the long-term historical average for
this course
and its traditional equivalent.
A solution to the exam is now available in Lon-Capa. The
for of the solution is one of the following:
1. A reference to a substantially similar problem worked out
in the online lectures.
2. A reference to a substantially similar problem worked out
in the required text.
3. A new solution video.
Richard Hallstein
Lastly, your summary and projections are as follows:
June 1 PHY 231C Midterm results and correction exam is available
Dear PHY 231C student,
Your midterm exam score and the correction exam are both now available in Lon-Capa.
You can now view your midterm exam and your score in Lon-Capa. To see your
score, select: "View current problem status and grading information" from the
main menu. Next to MIDTERM you will see your total points out of 50.
To review your version of the exam in Lon-Capa, click on Course Contents. Then
open the folder labeled for your section's exams. The midterm is inside a second
folder labeled MIDTERM. You can view an individual problem on the exam,
including your response and the correct response by clicking on the problem
(some problems you can only see your response by clicking on the "Previous
Tries" link at the bottom of the problem's page).
You can prepare a printout of your version of the exam by clicking on the
"print" icon in the upper right corner of the lon-capa window with any exam
problem displayed. This will allow you to generate a pdf of your version of the
exam and show you how many points each problem was worth.
As stated in the syllabus and in earlier emails, you may be able to improve your
exam score by completing the correction exam.
It is your overall score on both the correction exam and original exam which
determines your bonus added to your original score; so complete all problems on
the correction exam (not just the ones you answered incorrectly on the exam you
took with me or your online proctor).
If a correction exam score is higher than your original score, then 30% of the
difference between the correction exam score and your original exam score will
be added to your original score as a bonus. For example, if your original
midterm score is 40 and the correction exam score is 50, then 0.3*(50-40)=3
points will be added to the original score for an exam total of 43 points. So, 43 points (or 86%) will be used as the midterm exam score for final grade
calculation purposes. If the correction exam is equal to or lower than your
original score, then the original score will be used for final grade calculation.
The correction exam is a different randomization than the original exam. So,
just like everyone receives different given values on homework problems, your
correction exam and your original exam will differ slightly.
The correction exam AND homework set 5 on momentum are due next Tuesday, June 5
at 5PM EDT.
If your exam score and/or the correction exam are not showing up, try exiting
Lon-Capa, shutting down all windows of your internet browser and then re-
logging into Lon-Capa.
On Tuesday evening, after the due dates for the correction exam and homework set
5, I will send you a personalized score summary including your work to date in
the course in all categories. This summary will also include projections of
your final average/grade in the course based on your work to date and the
grading criteria in our syllabus. This report will include, as an example class
averages in all categories.
Richard Hallstein
May 21 PHY 231C exam notice (2 of 2) coverage, practice problems and studying
Dear PHY 231C student,
The midterm exam covers everything in the course from its start through and
including the material associated with homework set 4 due on Tuesday, May 29 at
5PM EDT. It will be based on the assigned readings, the online lectures and the
homework. Some of the problems will be conceptual in nature and some will have
numerical answers. There are 50 possible points on the exam and a total of 18
responses on this exam.
To further assist you in focusing your studies, here is a breakdown of the
distribution of points on the exam:
1D motion: 14 points
2D motion: 10 points
Force 16 points
Work and energy: 10 points
In general, and across all topics you are responsible for knowing units.
A copy of the exam's cover page is visible in the exam folder in Lon-Capa. Some
useful information is included on the cover page. Note: the exam cover page
contains information for all exams and not all of the useful information listed
here is applicable to this exam.
Here are some study suggestions: review the readings, online
lectures and the homework problems; make a good sheet of notes for the exam.
There are practice exam problems available in the Practice Exams folder. There
are two sub-folders with problems and solutions. One contains every midterm
exam problem I gave in this course during the academic year 2016-2017; the
second contains every midterm exam problem I gave during this past academic year
(2017-2018). So, there are four full semesters worth of exam problems that I
assigned for in this course available to you.
The problems themselves are coded in lon-capa in exam mode with no due date and
correct/incorrect feedback disabled. Thus way, you can return to these problems
later to try them again without having the correct response highlighted from an
earlier correct attempt. There is a sub-folder within the each practice exam
folder with the same questions, but correct/incorrect feedback enabled so you
may attempt these problems and get immediate feedback as to whether your
response was correct or incorrect.
The solutions to these problems take on one of three forms:
1. A new online lecture if a very similar problem is not already present in the
course material.
2. A reference of where to find the solution to a very similar problem in the
online material.
3. A reference of where to find the solution to a very similar problem in the
required text.
When attempting these problems, use a draft of your exam note sheet and then
modify it as needed based on what you thought you were missing or what your
thought would be useful to have included.
As always, click on the move button to inbox button below to keep this critical
message from continuing to pop up as you work on the course -- this is of
particular importance for those taking their exams online.
Richard Hallstein
May 21 PHY 231C on campus exam section: Midterm exam notice (1 of 2) is at 5:30PM on Wednesday, 5/30 in CEM 138
Dear PHY 231C on campus exam student,
The midterm exam will be on Wednesday, may 30th at 5:30PM in room 138
Chemistry. Some streets in and around the campus are closed for construction,
so you should allow extra time to get to the exam location.
The exam will be handed out promptly at 5:30PM; students arriving after 5:30PM
will not be given an exam until all who arrived promptly have started their exam.
The exam is closed book, but you may use one 8-1/2 inch x 11 inch or smaller
sheet of original HAND-WRITTEN notes and equations; your note sheet will be
checked at least once during the exam. You may use both sides of your note
sheets. If you show up to the exam with a set of notes that are not original
and handwritten, you will have to take the exam without notes. Having any other
notes out other than the original handwritten notes will result in a penalty
grade of zero on the exam and an official report of academic misconduct sent to
the university. Your note sheet will be checked at least once during the exam.
In general, on this exam and the final exam, the questions will be in the order
material was covered in the course; this should help you organize your note sheet.
You should bring a few sharpened number 2 pencils, your student ID (or driver's
license) and a calculator (graphing calculators are OK). However, the use of
cell phones, PDAs, apple watches, tablets, computers or any similar devices for
any reason is NOT permitted. If you have any of these devices out, you will
receive a penalty grade of zero on the exam.
Pencils and calculators will NOT be provided. Also as a courtesy to your fellow
students, you should turn off your stored away cell phone before entering the room.
When taking the exam, all baseball caps or brimmed hats must be removed or
turned backwards. Furthermore, all caps or hats covering the ears must be removed.
When you enter the room, sit in the row assigned to you based on your last name
(seating assignments will be displayed on the screen at the front of the room).
The exam and scantron sheets will be handed out once all students arriving
promptly are in their assigned rows. DO NOT open the exam until you are told to
do so by an instructor. You can however, complete the student information
section of your answer sheet. Make sure you include your student ID number and
your name on the answer sheet. Make certain that your exam has your name and
picture on the cover sheet. If it does not, you have the wrong exam. When you
are finished with the exam return both your answer sheet and your exam to an
instructor or an assistant.
You will have one hour to complete the exam.
Richard Hallstein
May 21 PHY 231C exam notice (1 of 2) video proctor time will be for the 1 hour time slot you will sign up for between 6:30PM EDT on 5/30 and 5PM EDT on 5/31
Dear PHY 232C section 731 online video proctored exam student,
You are receiving this message because you are in the online exam section and
you WILL take your final online via video proctor.
The midterm exam will be next week with your one hour exam starting between
6:30PM EDT Wednesday, May 30th and 5PM EDT Thursday, May 31st (the time slot in
Examity will adjust your time to your local time).
Time slot sign up will open up after the tuition refund drop deadline passes,
but no later than Friday, May 25 at 8AM -- I will send you a short email to
confirm it is available. Slots will fill on a first come, first serve basis you
should not wait to do this once it is available.
In addition to a calculator and a double-sided 8.5inch by 11 inch or smaller
sheet of original HAND WRITTEN notes, you will be permitted to have a drink on
your desk during the exam, a printout of the instructions for getting
started/taking your exam on exam day. These instructions are specific to
connecting to Examity(your online proctor) via Lon-Capa and some blank pieces of
scratch paper. The instructions are in place and viewable now in your exams
folder in lon-capa. I suggest downloading the pdf, opening it with your pdf
reader of choice and printing it out. While taking the exam, no other notes
other than the single sheet of original handwritten notes may be used. If any
other pre-prepared notes are used, you will receive a penalty grade of zero on
the exam.
You will have one hour to complete the exam.
Richard Hallstein
May 21 PHY 231C, online exam section midterm exam time slot scheduling will be available by via Examity by Friday 5/25 at 8AM EDT
Dear PHY 231C online web proctored exam student,
Midterm exam time slot scheduling will be available by 8AM this Friday morning
(5/25) at 8AM via the Examity link in Lon-Capa. To do this, you must have
already created an Examty profile -- this profile creation process is covered in
an earlier message and in the syllabus -- this has been avaialble since the
start of the course. If you have not set up a profile, you should do so now.
Once exam scheduling is available, in Lon-Capa, open your Examity Dashboard via
the Examity Dashboard link. Click on the "Schedule Exam" picture and select a
time slot the Midterm exam is one
hour long and you can schedule your exam start time anytime between Wednesday,
May 30 at 6:30PM eastern time and Thursday, May 31 at 5:00PM eastern time.
The granularity is 30 minutes, meaning you can choose start times on the half
hour or the hour.
Examity has a large number of exams to proctor each day, but a finite number of
employees and a finite amount of computational resources to do so. Please be
patient and have several time slots ready on your schedule when selecting a
start time. Times slots are filled on a first come first serve basis.
If your exam is scheduled successfully, you will receive a confirmation message
from Examity.
If you scheduled your exam more than 24 hours in advance of the exam, you will
not be charged any proctoring fee. The MSU Physics department will pay this
cost. However, if you schedule it less than 24 hours in advance of the exam, you
will have to pay the cost of the exam as an on-demand proctoring fee. There is
no reason to wait this long, as the scheduling will be available well in advance
of ethe exam.
As stated in the syllabus and in earlier messages, scheduling for our final exam
will be available on June 7.
Richard Hallstein
May 18 PHY 231C courtesy reminder survey and concept test with final exam bonus point(s) are due this Sunday, 5/20
The pre-course versions of the concept test and survey with final exam
participation bonus are due this Sunday, May 20; the post class versions will be
available on June 18 and will be due on Sunday, June 24 (before the final exam).
As a reminder, here are the details:
Concept tests: An assessment meant to determine student understanding of
mechanics concepts. The department offers this to help improve future versions
of this course and its traditional equivalent. The pre-course version will be
available from the start of the session and is due on May 20 and the post course
version will be available from June 18 and will be due on June 24. A
participation bonus of 1 point added to your final exam score will be given to
all students who seriously attempt* each of these items. Participation bonuses
are as follows: Pre-course +1 point on final exam; Post-course version +1 point
on final exam; any student making a serious* attempt on both will receive an
additional 1 point bonus on their final exam score (for a total of +3 points
added). *- Simple submission patterns (like AAA..., or BBB...) or rapidly
clicking on any response throughout the concept test are not considered serious
efforts and no bonus will be given. This will be checked.
Surveys: Attitudinal survey: This survey is meant to assess student beliefs
about learning physics. The pre-course version will be available from the start
of the session and is due on May 20 and the post course version will be
available from June 18 and will be due on June 24. A participation bonus of 1
point added to your final exam score will be given to all students who complete
each of these items. Participation bonuses are as follows: Pre-course +1 point
on final exam; Post-course version +1 point on final exam; any student
completing both will receive an additional 1 point bonus on their final exam
score (for a total of +3 points added).
Completing all of these as described will add 6% to your final exam score or
2.4% to your final average
Richard Hallstein
May 15 PHY 231C finalized help room, office hours and upcoming bonus point opportunities
Dear PHY 231C student,
My office hours for the session will be Tuesdays from 1PM to 2PM in BPS room 1253.
The help room (BPS 1248) will be open and staffed with learning assistants specifically assigned to this course as follows:
Mondays and Wednesdays: 11AM-8PM
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 11AM-5PM
This week only, it will also be staffed on Friday from 11AM-5PM. As you know, the first homework set is due this Friday at 5PM -- all other sets are due on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 5PM.
On the days of our two exams, Wednesday, 5/30 and Wednesday, 6/27 the help room will be staffed from 10AM-4PM.
Whenever the help room is staffed for this course, on learning assistant is specifically designated to provide online help via the lon-capa discussion option. A second learning assistant provides support for students physically in the help room (BPS 1248).
My office hours for the session will be Tuesdays from 1PM to 2PM.
Upcoming due dates for optional extra credit items:
Section specific bonus homework question worth 5 homework points is due tomorrow, Wednesday, 5/16 at 5PM
Pre-course concept test with final exam participation bonus is due this Sunday, May 20.
Pre-course survey with final exam participation bonus is due this Sunday, May 20.
You can review all bonus point opportunities here:
https://web.pa.msu.edu/courses/2018summer/PHY231C/Bonus/Bonus.htm
Extensions will not be granted to students choosing not to participate prior to these deadlines -- this includes choosing not to read course messages/the syllabus.
Lastly, to avoid Lon-Capa continually posting these critical messages, you should click the move to inbox button at the bottom of the message. This is of particular importance to students taking their exams online, as if you do not move these messages to your inbox, they will constantly pop up while taking your exam.
Richard Hallstein
May 11 (welcome message 3 of 3 - section 730, on campus exam section)
Dear PHY 231C, section 730 summer session 1 on campus exam student,
You are receiving this email because you are enrolled in section 730 of PHY 231C
for the first summer session and I want to make sure you are enrolled in
the correct section. No worries if you are not, as there is plenty of room in
both sections and it is easy to switch sections if you need to via schedule
builder here: https://schedule.msu.edu/
First off, there are two exam folders in Lon-Capa. Each folder currently
contains only the cover sheet for our midterm exam (useful constants and
information). However, you will only be able to access the on campus exam
folder.
Your exams will be given in person on the MSU campus on May 30 at 5:30PM in CEM 138 and June 27 at 5:30PM in CEM 138.
If *ALL* three of the following conditions are met, you can have your exams
proctored via webcam, but you will need to switch sections:
1. You are living greater than a 1 hour drive from MSU
2. Regardless of how far you are living, you are not enrolled in another course
meeting on the MSU campus in East Lansing (if you live close enough to come here
for class, you are close enough to come here for our two exams).
3. Your computer hardware and internet connection meets the criteria outlined in
the syllabus.
If *ALL* of these conditions are met and you wish to use online video
proctoring, you must enroll in section 731. Students using online video
proctoring will be watched/video recorded for the duration of each exam via
student provided webcam and microphone; the computer screen will also be
recorded. If any of these three conditions are not met or you wish to take your
exams at MSU even if they are met, you are enrolled in the correct section (730)
and no further action is required.
For convenience, here is a link to the syllabus: https://web.pa.msu.edu/courses/2018summer/PHY231C/
Richard Hallstein
May 11 (welcome message 3 of 3 - section 731, online video proctored exam section)
Dear PHY 231C, section 731 summer session 1 online video proctored exam student,
You are receiving this email because you are enrolled in section 731 of PHY 231C
for the first summer session and I want to make sure you are enrolled in
the correct section. No worries if you are not, as there is plenty of room in
both sections and it is easy to switch sections if you need to via schedule
builder here: https://schedule.msu.edu/
Students in this section 731 will have their exams proctored via student
provided webcam and microphone. You will be watched/recorded via your
computer's webcam for the duration of each exam and your computer screen will
also be recorded.
If *ALL* three of the following conditions are met, you are enrolled in the
correct section and will have your exams proctored via webcam:
1. You are living greater than a 1 hour drive from MSU
2. Regardless of how far you are living, you are not enrolled in another course
meeting on the MSU campus in East Lansing (if you live close enough to come here
for class, you are close enough to come here for our two exams).
3. Your computer hardware and internet connection meets the criteria outlined in
the syllabus.
If *ALL* of these conditions are met and you wish to use online video
proctoring, you are enrolled in the correct section (731). If any of these
three conditions are not met OR you wish to take your exams at MSU even if they
are met, you must enroll section (730) and take your exams at MSU on May 30 and
June 27.
If you remain in this section, you will need to set up an account with Examity,
the online video proctoring service. This is covered in detail in the online
proctored exam section of the syllabus. Links to this part of the syllabus are
both on the opening page of the syllabus and in the exam section of the
syllabus. For convenience, here is a link to the syllabus: https://web.pa.msu.edu/courses/2018summer/PHY231C/ You will be able
to set up your account later during the first official week of the session -- after open add ends. Most likely Friday(5/18), but possibly late Thursday(5/17).
You will be able to schedule your midterm exam start time on the morning of Friday, May 25 and the final exam start time on the morning of Thursday, June 7; I encourage you to do this early, as time slots will fill up on a first come first serve basis.
If you need technical support for Examity, you can contact their 24/7 support
via: phone 1-855-EXAMITY (1-855-392-6489) select option 1; email or chat -- both
of these are linked on every Examity webpage.
Lastly, there are two exam folders in Lon-Capa. Each folder currently contains
only the cover sheet for our midterm exam (useful constants and information).
However, you will only be able to access the online video proctored exam
folder.
Richard Hallstein
May 11 (welcome message 2 of 3 - extra credit)
Dear PHY 231C student,
Students will, at times ask at the end of the semester about doing extra work to
get a higher grade. In this class, there are plenty of extra credit
opportunities offered throughout the session and I encourage you to take
advantage of these opportunities. The time to start accumulating this extra
credit is now (not at the end of the session, as then it is too late). These
bonus opportunities have limited windows of availability and strict due dates.
Other than what is outlined below, no other extra credit will be given. Please
take advantage of each of these opportunities, as they can significantly help
your final grade in the course. Much of this is in the bonus point section of
the syllabus.
Here are all of the bonus point/extra credit opportunities available in the
course:
Bonus homework, section specific survey question due 5PM on Wednesday, May 16 – is worth 5 regular homework points (it will add more than 0.5% to your final average). This one, frankly should not take you more than 30 seconds to complete. Here are the details:
This question is necessarily due at 5PM on Wednesday, May 16 to allow students
enrolled in the wrong section time to switch into the correct section. This bonus question is different from the bonus questions outlined below and embedded with the online lectures.
Concept tests and surveys (different from the survey mentioned above): the pre-course versions are available now and are due on Sunday, May 20; the post class versions will be available on June 18 and will be due on Sunday, June 24 (before the final exam). Here are the
details:
Concept tests: An assessment meant to determine student understanding of mechanics concepts. The department offers this to help improve future versions of this course and its traditional equivalent. The pre-course version will be available from the start of the session and is due on May 20 and the post course version will be available from June 18 and will be due on June 24. A participation bonus of 1 point added to your final exam score will be given to all students who seriously attempt* each of these items. Participation bonuses are as follows: Pre-course +1 point on final exam; Post-course version +1 point on final exam; any student making a serious* attempt on both will receive an additional 1 point bonus on their final exam score (for a total of +3 points added). *- Simple submission patterns (like AAA..., or BBB...) or rapidly clicking on any response throughout the concept test are not considered serious efforts and no bonus will be given. This will be checked.
Surveys: Attitudinal survey: This survey is meant to assess student beliefs about learning physics. The pre-course version will be available from the start of the session and is due on May 20 and the post course version will be available from June 18 and will be due on June 24. A participation bonus of 1 point added to your final exam score will be given to all students who complete each of these items. Participation bonuses are as follows: Pre-course +1 point on final exam; Post-course version +1 point on final exam; any student completing both will receive an additional 1 point bonus on their final exam score (for a total of +3 points added).
Completing all of these as described will add 6% to your final exam score or 2.4% to your final average
Available now and due with associated homework assignments throughout the
session. There are about 250 regular homework problems and about 50 additional
bonus homework problems. Homework is weighted at 30%, so attempting these bonus
problems could add 6% to your final average. Here are the details:
There are bonus questions in the online lecture folders. You should be able to
answer these after completing the assigned reading from the required text and
watching the online lectures. These bonus questions are programmed to look like
exam questions, as such, they are all multiple choice. In addition, some of
these bonus questions are questions used on previous exams for this course and
its traditional equivalent. Lon-Capa's feedback option is disabled, so unlike
regular homework problems, Lon-Capa will not tell you if you have the correct
answer until after the due date. In addition, the discussion board on these
questions has been disabled. These questions are meant for you to work out
yourself after having read the assigned reading and watched the online lectures.
All points earned here will be added to your total homework points as a homework
bonus (so, homework scores over 100% are possible). Hints and/or solutions to
the bonus questions will not be provided.
Correction assignment for the midterm exam done online as a homework assignment
can increase your midterm score and thus, you final average. It will be
available from on Friday, 6/1 and is due on Tuesday, 6/5 along with homework set
5. Here are the correction assignment details:
The midterm exam will have a correction exam assigned as a homework assignment
in Lon-Capa. 30% of the positive difference between the correction exam and the
in-class (or proctored) exam will be added to your in-class exam score as bonus.
As such, the correction exam homework assignment can only add points to your
midterm exam score. Only students taking the original exam will have access to
the correction exam. The correction exam will be available at noon two days
after the scheduled exam and will be due at the regular homework due date/time
the following week.
No other extra credit will be offered or given in this course.
Richard Hallstein
May 11 (welcome message 1 of 3)
Dear PHY 231C student,
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. All online course material will be delivered using Lon-Capa. You can log in using your MSUnet ID and password (same as your email) here: https://loncapa.msu.edu/ This message will be resent today via lon-capa’s mail system and again on the official start of class, Monday, May 16 using both the Registrar’s system and Lon-Capa’s mail system. I apologize in advance for these duplicate messages, but it is necessary for me to make all reasonable attempts to contact all enrolled in the course.
I realize this message is long, but you should read it carefully and in detail as it is part of the syllabus and it is copied in the announcement section of the syllabus for your reference. You will also receive two additional emails today. One is a section specific email about our two exams. The other is an outline of all available extra credit (bonus points) available to you in this course. There are some opportunities only available in the first week, so review this promptly!
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 14 and finishing with the final exam at the end of June. 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 type exams taken either here on the MSU campus (must enroll in section 730) or off-campus via your computer/web-cam for qualifying students (must enroll in section 731). Qualifying means all three of these conditions must be met:
1. You must live greater than a 1 hour drive time from where you are living to MSU.
2. You cannot be enrolled in any other course requiring you to drive to MSU during the session (if you are close enough to attend class here, you are close enough to take your two exams here).
3. Your computer and internet connection meet all of the requirements outlined in the off-campus online proctored exam part of the syllabus. Of course, if you meet all of these requirements and wish to take your exams at MSU, you can do so, but need to be in (or change to) section 730.
On the Friday 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 your score on the exam; do nothing and your original score stays as-is.
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 2018" class. The first item on the top is the syllabus. You can also review the syllabus without logging in to Lon-Capa here: https://web.pa.msu.edu/courses/2018summer/PHY231C/htm 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 Lecture 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 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 extra credit bonus questions will not be provided.
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 18th 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. There is an extra credit survey question due Wednesday, May 16 (this coming Wednesday) at 5PM – it addresses your enrollment in the proper section and this due date is necessary as open add ends at 8PM on 5/16; if you’re in the wrong section you can change sections. This should take you seconds to complete and is worth 5 homework points of extra credit.
There is also a folder with practice exam problems. One set of practice problems include every single problem from midterm exams I gave in this past academic year (Fall 2017 and Spring 2018).The other set of practice problems include every single problem from midterm exams I gave in the previous academic year (Fall 2016 and Spring 2017). These problems are coded in Lon-Capa and appear in exam mode for zero credit (no due date is set and correct/incorrect feedback is disabled to allow you to return to the problem later). A second folder with each practice exam is available for you with correct/incorrect feedback enabled. The solutions to these problems take on one of three forms:
1. A reference to a very similar problem in the required text.
2. A reference to a similar problem worked out in the online lectures.
3. A new video solution.
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, as you may find some additional useful information in the solution.
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 14, the help room will be open for this course on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00PM-8:00PM; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00AM-5:00PM. During these help room hours, there will always be at least two TAs in the help room assigned to this course. 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. Please do not send questions about the homework via email – the discussion board should always be used for this purpose. 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 or by someone online, which 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 will 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.
To reiterate, two additional emails will follow this one. Please read them both promptly.
Richard Hallstein
(BPS 1253, (517) 884-5509, hallstein@pa.msu.edu)
Last updated: March 2, 2018