Mystery of the Physical World
Michigan State University
Personnel
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Course Coordinator:
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Felicia V Berryman, Bradley M Sherrill |
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Instructor Information
Prof. Brad Sherrill Office hours: 2:00-3:00 Tuesday and 3:00-4:00 Thursday, W203 Cyclotron Building (or by appointment, 355-9672 ext 322) E-mail address: sherrill@nscl.msu.eduCourse Description
To explore the current scientific understanding of time, space and matter.Prerequisites
(MTH 103 or MTH 110 or MTH 116 or LBS 117 or MTH 106 or concurrently or MTH 124 or concurrently or MTH 132 or concurrently or MTH 201 or concurrently or STT 200 or concurrently or STT 201 or concurrently)or designated score on Mathematics placement test.Class Hours
Tu Th 10:20-11:40 amOffice Hours
Office hours: 2:00-3:00 Tuesday and 3:00-4:00 Thursday, W203 Cyclotron Building (or by appointment, 333-6322)Helproom Hours
noneProject Information
Homework assignments are important in the final grade. Students are expected to solve problems and to answer qualitative questions in a weekly, individualized assignment. The assignments are completed by entering answers through the LONCAPA. Instructions for using the LONCAPA system are available at
http://loncapa.msu.edu/student/. You are encouraged to work together on the homework, but each student's answers will be different and must be entered individually. A scientific calculator will be necessary to answer a few of the problems.
Exam Information
Exams will consist of approximately 40 multiple choice questions based on the assigned readings and lectures. You can bring one page, one side, of hand written notes to each exam, and 3 for the final. The relevant material will be reviewed the lecture prior to the exam and will be summarized on a review sheet that will be available one week prior to the exam.
- Midterm Exam #1 Thursday, October 6 at 10:20 a.m. in room BP1410
- Midterm Exam #2 Thursday, November 3 at 10:20 a.m. in room BP1410
- Midterm Exam #3 Thursday, December 8 at 10:20 a.m. in room BP1410
- Final Exam Tuesday, December 13 at 10:00 a.m. in room BP1410
Grading Information
Basis for the Grade: Performance on answering questions from the homework, in-class exercises and exams will be the basis for the final grade. There will be 3 midterm exams. You can be excused from an exam for medical reasons or severe personal difficulties. A signed letter will be necessary to be excused. A student cannot be excused from more than one exam. If you have taken all 3 midterm exams and are happy with your grade, you do not need to take the comprehensive final exam. If you take the final, the lowest exam score will be dropped. There will be a quiz or an exercise every lecture. No makeup for in class work will be given.
- During the term extra credit work will be given and will be added to the homework score. Approximately the equivalent of one homework assignment will be available.
- There will an in-class exercise or quiz each lecture. The grade will be calculated using 70% of the maximum as a 4.0. This is to allow for missed classes. No make-up quizzes or excuses for missed work will be given.
- Grade basis: Homework assignments 30%; Midterm exams and Final exam, 20% each (the highest 3 scores are counted); in-class quizzes and exercises, 10%.
- Grade scale: The following grade scale is guaranteed. The actual scale may be lowered from these values but will not be raised. 0.0 - 0 to 47.5, 1.0 - 47.5 to 55.0, 1.5 - 55.0 to 62.0, 2.0 - 62.0 to 68.0, 2.5 - 68.0 to 76.0, 3.0 - 76.0 to 83.0, 3.5 - 83.0 to 90.0, 4.0 - above 90.0.
Readings
Readings will be assigned from the web. They will be posted a days before each lecture and should be completed prior to the corresponding lecture.Coursepack
noneTextbook
No text book is required. You will need the following: H-iTT Two-Way Remote Unit (
http://h-itt.com/ ) and a calculator with scientific notation. You must bring your clicker to class each day.
