The "Important" Stuff
Structure of Class
This course will consist of a mix of oral presentations, class discussions, and lectures. You will turn in brief written work every week. It is important for you to do the assigned reading before coming to class. The major assignment of the semester will be to develop a senior project proposal. In doing so, you will learn to search the physics literature and to write in a professional style.
Grade Assessment:
- Weekly Writing (35%): Every week
you will be asked to turn in some brief (well) written work. These writing
assignments will be assessed on the following 5 point scale:
- 0: assignment is not turned in or plagiarized
- 1: Assignment turned in but poorly written, unclear, inappropriate or substantially incomplete.
- 2: Assignment incomplete or complete but of marginal quality
- 3: Assignment complete and of acceptable quality
- 4: Assignment is complete, writing is clear and concise with few grammatical errors
- 5: Assignment is complete, writing is outstanding.
- Discussion/Participation
(15%) will be based on your activity during the entire course
(not just a single class). You are not necessarily expected to say something
each class period. Participation can be asking question, answering questions,
or making relevant comments.
- 0: Frequently miss class and/or never participates
- 1: Attends all classes but does not participate.
- 2-3: Attends class and occasionally participates.
- 4-5: Attends class and regularly participates.
Senior
Project Proposal (30%) and Proposal Presentation (20%): The major work
in this course with be your development of a senior project proposal.
It could be your real senior project proposal or if you don’t need
to make a senior project proposal this year, treat it as a “test
run” for the real thing.
You will be expected to make 15-minute
oral presentation of your proposal in class on either Thursday, October
9 or Thursday, October 17.
You will be expected to turn in your “final” version
of your senior project proposal by Thursday, October 23, at 4pm.
Your
senior project proposal and proposal presentation will be graded with
the same rubric being used for actual senior projects. Please see http://physics.mnstate.edu/winkler/phys455/phys455.html for specifics.
A |
B |
C |
D |
F |
≥90% |
80%-90% |
65%-79.9% |
50%-64.9% |
<50% |
Academic Honesty
From the Student handbook (online):
The University expects all students to represent themselves in an honest fashion. In academic work, students are expected to present original ideas and give credit for the ideas of others. The value of a college degree depends on the integrity of the work completed by the student. When an instructor has convincing evidence of cheating or plagiarism, the following actions may be taken: assign a failing grade for the course in which the student cheated or instructors may choose to report the offense, the evidence, and their action to the Dean of their college or the Vice President for Academic Affairs. If the instructor (or any other person) feels the seriousness of the offense warrants additional action, the incident may be reported to the Student Conduct Committee through the Student Support Services Office. The Student Conduct Committee will follow procedures set out in the Student Conduct Code. After its review of the case and a fair, unbiased hearing, the Student Conduct Committee may take disciplinary action if the student is found responsible (see Student Conduct Code for details).
A student who has a course grade reduced by an instructor because of cheating or plagiarism, and who disputes the instructor’s finding, may appeal the grade, but only by using the Grade Appeal Policy, which states that the student must prove the grade was arbitrary, prejudicial, or in error.
In this course, all instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of the College of Social and Natural Sciences for informational purposes. Any academic dishonesty believed to be intentional will result in a failing grade for the entire course.
Special Accommodations
Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutges, Coordinator of Disability Services at 477-5859 (Voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY), CMU 114 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.