The course comprises four important components that operate in parallel. 1) Lectures that cover the conceptual aspects of the material. 2) Workshop sections that are devoted to applications, questions and problem solving. 3) Laboratory work to introduce you to practical applications of electricity and magnetism. 4) A term paper must be written on some application of electricity and magnetism to a topic you find of interest
Lectures will be given on Tuesday and Thursday 1105 - 1220 hours in Hoyt Hall commencing Tuesday 5 September. Lecture notes will be distributed in class to minimize note taking in an effort to make classes more of a learning experience. Demonstrations will be given in class. Attendance of lectures is obligatory since there is considerable experience that shows that the most successful students in courses are those with the best attendance records. If unable to attend a lecture then contact the instructor to ensure that the missed material is covered.
Workshops will be an integral part of this course. You will meet once per week, for up to two hours, with a group of about ten other students plus a leader. The basic idea of the workshop concept is to institutionalize the study group with the addition of some leadership and supervision. At the workshop sessions, students will work through sample questions and conceptual exercises designed to elucidate the material taught in class, while a recitation component will address solving homework problems. The purpose of the workshop leader is to facilitate the discussions rather than lecture or provide answers. The workshop leaders will record your attendance and level of participation at workshop sessions and this will taken into account in the final course grade. Workshops will commence the week of September 11. You MUST sign up for a workshop section by Sunday September 11. Sign up at http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~cline/P142/index.html and follow the instructions. The section size is limited so you will have more choice if you sign up early. Only those registered for the course will be able to access the signup page. Send an email to Cline@pas.rochester.edu listing your full name, ID, class year and major if you cannot access the signup page. Workshop sections may be moved in time to accommodate schedule conflicts.
Laboratory work is required for P142. You must sign up for the Physics 142 laboratory course. You MUST perform the experiments and hand in a satisfactory lab reports to pass the course.
Laboratory work comprises five 3-hour laboratory experiments scheduled every other week in B&L 268. The Laboratory Lecture is scheduled for 8 September in Hoyt Auditorium, 3:30-5:00 pm. All students in P142 must attend this lecture if they have not heard this lecture in the past. Please refer to the web address
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~physlabsfor information, laboratory experiment manuals, and for signing up for laboratory sessions. Contact Professor McFarland for all matters pertaining to the P142 laboratory course.
Problem sets will be assigned weekly to illustrate and enhance the understanding of material taught in class. They will be posted on the P142 web page. Lectures will emphasize concepts while the problem sets and workshops will emphasize quantitative problems. It may be necessary to grade only a selection of the questions for each homework problem set due to manpower limitations; it is felt that instructor time is better spent providing guidance during workshops rather than grading homework. Solutions to the problem sets will be posted on the P142 website one week after the assigned deadline. Note that examinations will emphasize quantitative problems, thus it is crucial that you take the time to learn the skills required to solve the assigned problems every week, prior to looking at the solutions. You will seriously reduce the chances of a high grade in this course if you do not expend the consistent effort needed to develop the skills to solve quantitative problems.
A Term paper will be assigned that requires you to write a 5 to 10 page paper that applies what you have learned in electricity and magnetism to one specific application of your choice. The topic must be approved by Professor Cline to ensure that the topic and scope are appropriate to P142.
Reading Assignments will be given prior to each lecture. Reading assignments will be given prior to each lecture.The knowledge gained from this pre-lecture reading should enable you to extract more from each lecture. Reading O'Hanian, or other textbooks, in parallel with the lecture notes is important. It is crucial that students keep up with the material since each lecture is based on understanding material presented in prior lectures.
Office Hours. Office hours are provided to allow you to interact directly with your instructors. Contact your workshop leader, or Professor Cline, whenever you need help and arrange mutually convenient times to meet. Office hours are posted on the P142 web page, but help can be made available at other times. Students should take advantage of the office hours and help provided by the instructors. Every student is required to meet with Profesor Cline one-on-one at a time to be scheduled after the first test. Signup for interviews will be available at https://spider.pas.rochester.edu/signup/P142INTERVIEWS-F06/