Physical Electronics (ECE 6221)
George Washington University
Personnel
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Course Coordinator:
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Earl Skelton, Earl F Skelton |
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Teaching Assistant:
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David J Nagel |
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Instructor Information
Instructor: Professor Skelton
Office: Reiss Science Building, Rm. 507
Telephone: 202-687-5795
FAX: 202-687-2087
e-Mail: efs9@georgetown.edu
Dialogue via e-mail is strongly encouraged. e-mail is open "24/7" – that's 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
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[Use the "NAV" button on your Remote Control to navigate.]Course Description
Course Description:
Physics-041 is the first of a two-part introductory, calculus based, general physics course intended for students in pre-medicine, science, and engineering programs. Doing well in this course does not require you to be a “genius”, but you will have to think about the physical concepts in order to understand them and you will have to apply these ideas in order to solve computational problems. To accomplish the former, all you really need is your brain (in good working order) and the willingness to use it. To accomplish the latter, you will need some mathematical skills, most of which are outlined in Appendices A and B in the course text book. You should consult these pages to be sure that you are comfortable with all of the mathematics presented there.
Course Objectives:
1) To help you learn to think analytically and critically;
2) To help you understand the fundamental concepts of physics;
3) To enable you to apply these concepts qualitatively as well as quantitatively;
4) To give you an appreciation of how big a role physics plays in your daily life.
Course Strategy:
The central idea of this course is to help you learn to think critically and analytically. This is not something that can really be taught, but rather it is something that comes slowly over time with lots of practice. Clearly, in order to really understand the material, it is absolutely necessary for you to be actively involved. Together, this is what we will be working on throughout the semester.
We will not be spending lots of time in class simply repeating what is presented in the textbook. That would be wasting your time, because that material can (and will be expected to) be covered by you in your reading out of class. That is what the book is for! Before we begin a new chapter, it will be necessary for you to have already read the material in that chapter in order to get the most out of our exercises in class.
Class time will generally be spent practicing the material, which should in turn help you to obtain a better and deeper understanding of the underlying concepts. This will involve interactive Personal Response System questions, computer simulations, video clips, in-class demonstrations, and examples of numerical problems. The class time is when we have the best opportunity for extensive interaction. You are strongly encouraged to ask questions and initiate discussions in class at all times.
Pedagogical Philosophy:
Some professors prefer an adversarial relationship with their students. That is NOT my style. My philosophy is that we are all on the same team. You are taking this class to learn physics and I am here to teach you physics. I will do everything within my power – and within the law – to help you earn the best grade possible in this course.
This course is graded on a absolute basis; there is no grading on a “curve” and it is possible for every member of the class to earn a grade of “A”. You are NOT in competition with your classmates and it is to your advantage to help each other. When you explain a concept to someone, your level of understanding will deepen. It is a “win-win” situation.
Course Format:
Your attitude towards the course should be one of self-responsibility. Unfortunately, a basic working knowledge of physics cannot yet be delivered in pill form. Therefore, you are stuck with learning it the hard way - thinking through concepts, answering questions, and solving problems. You will get out of the course exactly as much as you are willing to put in.
It is up to you to:
(1) read the material before you come to class;
(2) work on the Post Lecture Questions (PLQs) and Homework Sets early and often and be sure to complete them well before their deadlines. If you wait until the last minute, you do so at your own peril.
(3) regularly check the web site for updates and course information;
(4) participate in the BlackBoard discussions;
(5) come to office hours regularly if you have questions.
You also may ask questions by e-mail, which will be answered either individually or else in class if there seems to be a particularly confusing point about which many students ask. The BlackBoard system will provide web access to useful information about the course, so please check there first for administrative or scheduling details before using e-mail.Class Hours
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; 10:15 – 11:05 AM; Reiss Science Building, Rm. 103Office Hours
11:30 AM – 1:30 PM, Mondays and Wednesdays and by appointment – but, any time that I am in my office, and the door is open, please feel free to stop in.Project Information
Post Lecture Questions (PLQs) and Homework (HW) Sets:
Associated with each of the 37 scheduled lectures is a PLQ set of five questions based on either the reading material assigned for the lecture or the topics covered in the lecture. Each PLQ becomes available at 6 AM on the day of the Lecture with which it is associated and remains available for 72 hours. You will have three (3) tries for each question and must complete the PLQ within the three days it is available.
At 6:00 AM on Wednesday of each week, unless a test is scheduled for that Friday, a Computational Problem Set (CPS) will become available on course LONCAPA web site. Each CPS will consist of 20 to 30 computational problems based on the material to be covered during the week. You will be allowed twenty (20) tries for each computational problem. Both of these assignments must be completed before 6 AM on the second Tuesday morning after they opened and you are required to correctly solve 20 problems for full credit. All problems solved beyond the required 20 will earn CPS extra credit.
IN OTHER WORDS, YOU HAVE THREE (3) TWENTY-FOUR HOUR DAYS IN WHICH TO COMPLETE EACH PLQ and SEVEN (7) TWENTY-FOUR (24) HOUR DAYS IN WHICH TO COMPLETE EACH HW SET. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO COMPLETE THESE ASSIGNMENTS DURING THEIR PERIODS OF AVAILABILITY. IF YOU WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN PERIL.
LONCAPA Club of Perfection Certificate:
Understanding science is reflected in the ability to correctly solve problems. That ability will be assessed in this course via ten LONCAPA HW Sets. You are required to solve a minimum of fifteen problems in each CPS, thus a total of 150 problems by the end of the semester. You are strongly encouraged to strive to correctly solve each and every one of all the problems/questions given.
To encourage and reward your quest for academic excellence, the Department of Physics of Georgetown University is offering a handsome certificate, suitable for framing, to any student who accomplishes this formidable goal. If you correctly solve all the assigned problems in every CPS, you will be awarded a handsome LONCAPA Club of Perfection certificate at the end of the semester and 2 points will be added to whatever grade you earn on the in-class Final Examination, not to exceed 100%.
This is not an impossible task, because you are allowed 20 tries for every problem. It is STRONGLY recommended that, after you have gotten a few “red boxes”* for a computational problem that you seek help. Help is available from any classmate, who already has solved the problem, or from the course TAs or Lab Instructors, or from your course instructor - me. There is no reason why EVERY student enrolled in Physics-041 cannot earn a LONCAPA Club of Perfection certificate. It is simply a matter of making this commitment to yourself and then exercising the necessary discipline, determination, and tenacity to achieve that goal.
Warning: When you work with others there is the danger that you do not really learn how to solve the problems yourselves. When you participate in study groups, make sure that you have spent some time on the problems by yourself before you meet and, if you had great difficulty contributing to the discussion, practice additional problems alone to assure yourself that you can actually do it alone.
Personal Response System (PRS):
PRS is an interactive teaching tool that, it is hoped, will make coming to class both educational and entertaining. All lectures are given using PowerPoint and PRS. Incorporated into each lecture will be PRS questions, some just for learning or polling and some as concept test questions. Every response to a PRS question earns one point; every correct response to an PRS test question earns additional 2 points. All planned PowerPoint lecture slides will be posted to Bb in the section "Planned PowerPoint Slides", abbreviated as "Plannes PPTs"; all PowerPoint slides presented in class will be posted to Bb in the section "Presented PPTs" after the lectures have been given. The slides in the "Presented PPTs" section will remain there until the end of the semester. The planned postings will contain the PRS questions; the presented slides will contain both the PRS questions and answers.
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*LON-CAPA provides instant feedback to any answer submitter. Correct answers are reported in green boxes; incorrect answers are reported in red boxes.Exam Information
Monthly Tests:
On the last Thursday evening in September and October and on the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving, an in-class test will be given during the hours from 6:30 to 9:30 PM.
Accompanying each MT will be an optional recovery administered by LONCAPA (see below for LONCAPA details). Any student not earning 100% on the in-class test, can improve his/her grade by completing the optional recovery.Grading Information
Grading Element (% Final Course Grade)
1. Monthly Test No. 1 (15%)
2. Monthly Test No. 2 (15%)
3. Monthly Test No. 3 (15%)
4. Personal Response System (05%)
5. Homework (administered via LONCAPA) (15%)
6. PLQs (administered via LONCAPA) (05%)
7. Laboratory (15%)
8. Final Examination (15%)
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Grading scheme:
100.00 - 93.000 ... A
92.999 - 90.000 ... A-
89.999 - 87.000 ... B+
86.999 - 83.000 ... B
82.999 - 80.000 ... B-
79.999 - 77.000 ... C+
76.999 - 73.000 ... C
72.999 - 70.000 ... C-
69.999 - 67.000 ... D+
66.996 - 63.000 ... D
62.999 - 60.000 ... D-
59.999 - 00.000 ... F
Grades in each of the grading elements are rounded up to the nearest thousandth ONLY.Textbook
Douglas C. Giancoli,
Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004), 3rd edition; ISBN 0-13-021517-1
or, a less expensive alternative text may be used:
Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Kinetic Books, ISBN 0-9766865-2-.
For Customer Support (issues related to your software key for the book, installation issues and issues related to use see
http://www.kineticbooks.com/smartsupport/kb.php)