5/27/2011: I'm back in town and the final is still scheduled for June 7.
I trust that those of you who intend to take it have signed up (today was the
deadline). If you haven't signed up and still want to take it, let me know
as soon as possible. I will send an email to those who signed up
-- if you don't get an email today, and you thought you had signed up, let
me know. When I find out more about the format of the final exam,
I will send an email to those who have signed up.
5/6/2011:I hope those of you who were impacted by the April 27 tornado have had a chance to begin recovering.
As you probably know, the College of Arts and Sciences has requested that instructors post the grades as of April 27, and I have
just posted these on eLearning. . Your letter grade is in the column labeled "Apr27.Let", and the numerical grade is in
"Apr27.Gr". As explained in detail in a memo on the web
(http://as.ua.edu/home/April 30, 2011.pdf),
you can choose (by May 24) whether to accept this grade or take the
online final exam, which will be given June 7 at 2PM. I know many of you are doing other things this summer and don't
need to be interrupted to take this, so I've tried to make the as-of-April-27 grades as generous as possible. I shifted the
scale on the quizzes (so 65% instead of 75% is a C) and the in-class activities (62% is a C). In addition, I added 0.2 (i.e
1/5 of a grade point) to everyone's overall average numerical grade before converting it to a letter grade. The result is
that 56% of the class got A's and B's. However, I know there were some students who were counting on the final to
raise their grade, and this is still possible if you do well (though you shouldn't sign up to take it unless you intend to devote
some time to studying for it, since if you don't do well it could lower your grade instead of raising it.) The coverage will
be similar to that of the sample final on the course web site, though because it is online the format will obviously be
different. The exact format of the online final has not been determined yet (it might be given through Quest or through
eLearning) -- I will give more details on the course web site after I
return from a meeting on May 24. The as-of-April-27 grade has
also been tentatively uploaded to the official registrar's site (MyBama),
though it can change if you take the final exam.
4/29/2011: The Dean's office has decided that the final exam will
be June 7, so there is no need to respond to the survey mentioned below.
You need to decide by May 27 whether you want to keep your present grade
(which I'll post in the next few days) or take the final
(which could potentially either raise or lower your grade).
They have also decided that the final will be online so you can take it
even if you're away from Tuscaloosa.
That requires that it be an open-book exam, which will change the format
somewhat -- there will be no questions whose answers are in the book.
This will make it harder for some students and easier for others.
4/29/2011: I sent everyone an email asking you to respond to
a survey
about your preferences about the optional final that the University
has suggested. You don't need to email me requesting your present grade,
I'll post those as soon as I have them and send you an email.
4/29/2011: I just got internet access back (the power came on in my
office an hour or so ago). I hope you're all OK (physically, anyway --
I already know that some of you had apartments destroyed).
I'm just beginning to go through the emails from the University about what
to do. The bottom line seems to be that no one needs to make any decisions
immediately -- there is no final exam and no graduation, and I assume the
deadline for final grades will be extended.
I will post pre-final grades on eLearning within a few days
(I'll put another notice here when I do) and I understand you will
have the option of taking that as your final grade. The other option,
of taking a delayed exam, isn't as clear -- I'll let you know about that.
Because the last homework was due right after the tornado, obviously some
of you weren't able to do it, so that one (PS 14) will not be counted.
4/23/2011: LAST homework assignment (PS 14) is on Quest, due Thursday at 11PM as usual.
4/22/2011: Exam grades are on eLearning: raw score, numerical (0-4) grade
and letter grade. Solutions are posted on exam link above.
Approximate grade cutoffs were A>17.38>B>14.13>C>10.88>D>7.63>F
(although only the numerical (0-4) grade is used at the end of the course).
4/18/2011: Problem set 13 is up and due Thursday night. It is mostly
Chapter 36 with a couple of problems on diffraction (Chapter 37).
Don't forget that the last 1-hour exam is on Friday (April 22).
Lecture .ppt for Ch36 and part of 37 is on the Lectures directory.
4/13/2011: Homework for Thursday: One of the problems asks for the angle
between two rays -- this means the total angle through which the ray turns.
If you make a right turn in your car, and then turn right again, you've turned
a total of 180 degrees.
4/10/2011: Lecture .ppts for Chapters 34-36 are on Lectures directory.
3/30/2011: You will get an extra day to do Homework #10 because
someone added a day to March without telling me.
It is due at 11 PM April 1, which turns out to be Friday.
3/28/2011: Homework #10 has been posted. It's shorter (4 problems)
because we're recovering from Exam 2.
Powerpoints for Chapters 32 and 33 are on the web site (link above).
3/26/2011: Exam grades have been uploaded to eLearning.
Solutions have been posted (link above).
3/24/2011: Homework due tonight, exam tomorrow. Lectures for Chapter 32
have been posted.
Exam covers Chapter 28.3 (Kirchhoff's Rules) through Chapter 32.4
(i.e., not including LRC circuits).
3/22/2011: Back from spring break. You should print out and read the
Induced EMF lab (it was rescheduled to this Wednesday March 23).
Don't forget homework 9 and exam 2 also.
3/11/2011: New homework assignment 9 has been posted -- due after Spring
Break, March 24, Thursday, 11PM. The next day, March 25, is the 2nd exam.
3/7/2011: There has been a change in the lab schedule: there will NOT be
a lab this Wednesday, March 9. It has been postponed to the (formerly empty
slot) March 23. There is still an exam March 25.
3/2/2011: Still didn't get the problem set title of PS 7.R1 quite right!
It says Ch28 -- but PS 6 was about Ch 28, this is about Ch 29 (magnetic fields).
I've fixed the title now.
3/1/2011: There was a problem with the instructions at the beginning of PS 7.
I have put up a revision called PS 7.R1. A few of you had already done PS 7 in spite of the garbled instructions -- you don't need to re-do it, I'll count
the old one.
Those who haven't done it (or got messed up on it) should do the new revision.
3/1/2011: Midterm grades have been posted (as of Feb. 18's exam).
Weightings are: test 3*13=39, clickers 6, activities 6, labs 9, quizzes 9,
homework not counted in total yet.
Breakdown is on eLearning. If any of the grades don't match what you
thought you had, send me (if it's the homework or clickers or exam) an email
and I'll send you a further breakdown by homework date or clicker date.
If it's the lab, activity, or quiz, check with Chocka.
List of clicker dates is in file ClickerGradeHeader.xls
on the Lectures directory (see link above).
You can find out what each one was by looking at the corresponding lecture .ppt.
There were 16 clicker questions counted, but the lowest 3 were dropped
(i.e. you got 100% if you got 13/16).
2/20/2011: Exam grades have been posted on eLearning (see link above).
Raw score is Test1 line, T1Grade is on 4.0=A scale, T1Let is letter grade.
Tentative cutoffs are A>23.88>B>19.6>C>15.38>D>11.13>F, interpolate for +/-.
2/19/2011: Exam solutions are on Exams directory (link above).
2/6/2011: Lecture .ppts for Chapter 26 and 27-28 are on the website.
Remember to print out and read the lab for Wednesday.
1/24//2011: Problem Set 2 is on Quest, due THURSDAY at 11 PM.
(PS 1 is due tonight at 11). Lecture .ppts for Chs 23-24 are up.
Because of a physics department meeting, I won't be able to hold my usual office
hour in Bevill (normally 3-4 Tuesday & Thursday) this Tuesday, Jan 25.
Chocka's office hours are Tuesday 1-4 in room 329 (the studio physics room).
1/15//2011: Problem Set 1 is on Quest, due next Friday at 11 PM.
[Later delayed to Monday Jan. 24 at 11.]
There is no class Monday Jan. 17; remember to read the lab writeup before
class Wednesday Jan 19.
1/12//2011: I will have to change my official office hour (I have a conflict at 2PM Wednesday) -- it will be changed to 3:15-3:45 Wednesday.
1/11//2011: Opportunity for ECE majors:
double major, only 4 more credits.
1/7//2011: Opportunity for freshman or sophomores:
NanoJapan
12-week internship, most expenses paid. DEADLINE Jan 28.