• Everybody, have a happy and restful holiday!
• 159 interviews have been conducted, and every submission verified. Congratulations to all students on upholding the highest standards of academic integrity. The post-exam interview process has randomly sampled nearly 60% of the class and has now concluded.
• A 50% minimum passing grade on the final exam has been specified in the course outline. This has always been a requirement in most Physics courses.

  However, this is an unusual year, and the stresses on all students, faculty, and TAs are elevated. With that in mind, I decided that I will modify this rule this year. Instead, I will select the highest of the two grades, average of the weekly tests (excluding the three lowest) or the final exam grade, and require that to be above 50%. If that is satisfied, then the grade will be calculated as the usual weighted average. A low exam grade (and a high one!) will still matter, but by itself will not be a gateway to passing the course.

  With the interview process concluded, the grading calculations will be done in the next couple of days. However, since the University is closing for a holiday break, you will not hear about the results until after January 11. Even then, it might take a while for the grades to show in the student record database. Please be patient.

• Students who missed the final exam for a legitimate medical reason: please, get healthy first! Contact the instructor in January, when you are well again, and a make-up exam may get arranged some time in January. If this proves impossible, the students will write the final exam the next time it is offered, at the end of the Winter semester, in April.

• Welcome! Important announcements will show up here.
• Please read these news, and the course outline, closely - do not just skim through. There is a lot of information here, and most of your administrative questions are probably already answered.
• The course uses a free online textbook from OpenStax (see the link on the left).
• Lectures are delivered synchronously, on Mo We Th 12:00-13:00, via this link. The video stream can be viewed anonymously but use your name to identify yourself. Asking a question through a chat channel will be seen by everyone, so do not use inappropriate screen names or language.
• The video streams will not be recorded and posted for later viewing. Instructor's notes generated during lectures will be posted as PDFs at the end of every week (by Fri morning).
• The second hour on Th, 13:00-14:00 is reserved for a synchronous delivery of the weekly quiz through WeBWork. The quiz will open at 13:00 and will be due one hour later.
• This course makes a limited use of Brock's Learning Management System, Sakai. This website is the primary source of information, while online tests and homework are delivered through WeBWork. Further information will be provided here as needed.
  Note that you should use "ab20cd" as your login for WeBWorK, and not "ab20cd@brocku.ca", or "Ab20cd". The login name is all lower-case, and is six characters long; some smart-phone or tablet interfaces auto-complete the "@brocku.ca" part or auto-capitalize the first letter, which produces invalid login IDs.
• Lectures begin on Wednesday, September 9. The first weekly quiz will be on Thursday, September 17.

  There is no quiz on September 10. However, the instructor will remain online during the quiz time slot, to run an informal Q&A through a fully interactive Lifesize session. The link and password will be announced in the first hour of the lecture that day.

• Q&A link is this. Please mute your microphone until you want to speak.
• By popular demand, Homework #2 due date has been extended by 24hrs.
• Help Desk schedule has been established. Beginnning Monday, Sept 14th, there will be multiple sessions:
  Mondays: 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 14:00-15:00, 16:00-17:00, 18:00-19:00
  Tuesdays: 10:00-11:00, 14:00-15:00, 16:00-17:00, 18:00-19:00
  Wednesdays: 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 14:00-15:00, 16:00-17:00, 18:00-19:00

  Links will be posted on Sakai by Monday.

• Physics1 Study Room has been created. This is an unmoderated space (so behave!), a place to hang out and make friends, for exclusive use of PHYS 1P21/91 students. The Room passcode has been emailed to all registered students and will be announced in class on Monday.
• For students struggling with math skills, do not forget to take a look at topic-specific short tutorials, on the right-hand side of the Math section of PPLATO. Topics such as Brackets, Fractions, Simple equations, Inequalities, Simultaneous equations, Quadratic equations, etc. are well covered.
• Weekly Quiz No.1 has been made optional. Instead of two worst grade on your weekly tests, three worst grades will be discarded in calculating the final grade. This way, if you did well on WQ1, you will benefit, and if you did not, it will not count. I also modified slightly a problem from WQ1 and added it to the current homework set. Hopefully, the adjusted problem(s) will make it clear iwhat is the difference between entering a correct number of significant figures (including trailing zeroes) and a number [or a formula calculating it] specified within a 0.5% tolerance of the correct value.
• So, Weekly Quiz No.1. I received more than 100 emails during the quiz, and even though I tried to answer them all as fast as I could (some answers were quite abrupt because of that), I could not keep up. I was repeating myself a lot, so from now on we will keep the classroom chat channel open during weekly quiz, in case I need to make a class-wide announcement.
  If I had the chat open today, I would have announced the following:
  • You are overthinking the sig figs. Unless the text of the problem explicitly asks for sig figs, assume that the default precision WW requires to accept a numerical answer as correct is to be within a relative tolerance of 0.005, or 0.5% of the value. Typically, this translates into about four sig figs.
  • Do not round off at intermediate steps. For example, \( (4/3)/2 = 1.333333.../2 = 0.6666666... \approx 0.667\). On the other hand, if you truncate early, \( (4/3)/2 \approx 1.33/2 = 0.665\). The latter is wrong and you will lose marks.
  • Read and re-read the entire question before answering even the first part, there may be a hint or a condition at the end of the text.
  • Unless the answer is textual ("No solution", or a number expressed as text to match the number of sig.figs, which is going to be rare) always try to enter formulas/expressions instead of numbers, i.e. (4/3)/2 instead of 0.667, or atan(7.8/5.4)*180/pi instead of 55.3, or (1/122)*100 instead of 0.820 (or worse, 1, unnecessarily rounded off to a single sig fig).
  • Because of the confusion caused by the lack of consistency in the way WW treated sig figs, I will assign zero weight to the problems where this got in the way, or possibly, to the entire Quiz No.1, writing it off as a learning experience for everyone. I'll review your answers and decide what is best by Monday. Please, hold off with sending me additional emails about the quiz until I make the announcement here.
  • On the positive side, the concern over the server load seems to have been completely unfounded, a pleasant surprise.
• Preparing for weekly quiz No.2. I have made several adjustments to the settiings of WeBWorK which should help to make its behaviour more predictable. Also, there are no sig fig "traps" in this quiz. Still, just as a reminder:
  • Unless the text of the problem explicitly asks for sig figs, assume that the default precision WW requires to accept a numerical answer as correct is to be within a relative tolerance of 0.005, or 0.5% of the value. Typically, this translates into about four sig figs.
  • Do not round off at intermediate steps. For example, \( (4/3)/2 = 1.333333.../2 = 0.6666666... \approx 0.667\). On the other hand, if you truncate early, \( (4/3)/2 \approx 1.33/2 = 0.665\). The latter is wrong and you will lose marks.
  • Read and re-read the entire question before answering even the first part, there may be a hint or a condition at the end of the text.
  • Unless the answer is textual ("No solution", or a number expressed as text to match the number of sig.figs, which is going to be rare) always try to enter formulas/expressions instead of numbers, i.e. (4/3)/2 instead of 0.667, or atan(7.8/5.4)*180/pi instead of 55.3, or (1/122)*100 instead of 0.820.
  • As before, your start/end times will depend on the last digit of your student number.
• Preparing for weekly quiz No.3.
  • Read the cover text (on the right-hand side of the opening screen) in its entirety. Read each question in its entirety before answering even the first part.
  • The opening page is the only place where you see how many attempts you have for each question. During the test, hints are disabled, no matter what the text of the problem says.
  • Unless the text of the problem explicitly asks for sig figs, assume that the WW tolerance (i.e. precision required to accept a numerical answer as correct) is ±0.5% of the value.
  • As always, your start/end times will depend on the last digit of your student number.
• Starting with the next Weekly Quiz, some questions will be explicitly devoted to the entire material covered in the course to date, a form of review questions. In preparation for this, use the reading week to look back, reflect, and clarify how various topics relate to each other.

  Happy Thanksgiving, and a productive reading week!

• We are slightly behind in the lectures, and the remaining topics (inclined plane, friction, tension) will be completed on Monday, October 19. If you are having difficulties with some of the problems toward the end of the current homework set, you may want to hold off until after that lecture.
• Weekly Quiz #8:well done, class!
  
• Weekly Quiz#8: not as fantastic as the previous quiz :-), but pretty good for only one attempt available! Note that students who got partial credit in multi-step problems like #12 did not get counted as "correct" in this summary plot, so the scores are actually a bit better than this plot shows. This bodes well for the upcoming final exam. Well done!
  
• Reminder: weekly tests run as "gateway quiz" and not as "homework" on WeBWorK. The rules are (esp. the highlighted section):

  You have 50 minutes to complete this quiz. This week we are again using the gateway quiz format of the weekly test. Unlike homework assignments and some previous weekly tests, where each problem was graded separately when you pressed "Check Answers", this quiz will be graded all at once, and only at the end of the test, when you press "Submit Answers", which is a new button that replaces the "Check Answers" one. Be sure that all answer fields are completed, test that what you entered into them was what you intended by pressing "Preview" button - you can press "Preview" an unlimited number of times - and only then press "Submit Answers", once. Treat pressing "Submit Answers" button as if you were handing in the exam, be sure all your answers are in place.

  Note that in quiz mode hints are not available, no matter what it says in the text of the problem: if the problem has hints, they are only turned on during regular homework.

  Unless specifically stated in the problem, assume that the desired numerical answers are required to be determined to within 0.5% of the true value. This is automatically satisfied if you enter expressions/formulas instead of purely numerical results.

  Arguments of trigonometric functions must be specified in radians, and the inverse trigonometric functions return angle values in radians. Use π rad = 180° to convert as required, to get π value, enter pi.

• PHYS 1P91/2P20 are in the Brock News!
• For help with Physics, use our Help Desk. To just hang out with your classmates, and maybe discuss homework problems and life in general, remember the (unmoderated) Physics1 Study Room (the passcode had been emailed to everyone).

  On the other hand, if you are feeling stressed out by a combination of heavier than expected workload, made worse by the social isolation of the ongoing pandemic, or if you need help with other issues, please remember that there are resources available to all students through the Student Wellness and Accessibility Centre. Your tuition dollars paid for these services, so make use of them.

• I have been notified that the WeBWorK server was not accessible last night, 2:15-7:00 a.m. No data was lost or affected. According to our IT system manager:

  We know why this happened and are looking into how to prevent it in the future.

  You should have been asleep at that time, so this does not warrant an extension to the homework due date.
• Monday, December 7. The last lecture of the term is going to be an interactive session, not a stream. Follow this link. The link will be available without a pass code a few minutes before the lecture time. Please mute your microphone until you want to speak, or the background and keyboard noises from dozens of people will overwhelm the audio.
• Because of the typos detected during the quiz (thank you, sharp-eyed students) on Q6 and Q7a, I will score this quiz out of 11, not out of 15. Students who scored higher than 11 will effectively receive a grade above 100%. (Don't let it go to your head!) This will not show up in WeBWorK, but will be adjusted in my marking spreadsheet.
• The formula sheet will be revised and expanded with all relevant information before the final. Be sure to download and print out an updated version before the exam.
• The final exam in this course is on December 17, 19:00-22:00 EST.

  The exam will consist of three distinct steps:

  • 1. The exam itself: a WeBWorK-based online "gateway quiz", based on problems similar to those of the weekly homework and weekly tests. There will only be a single "Submit".

    A short pre-Final Exam "homework" will contain instructions, reminders, and a pledge of academic integrity; this must be completed before the timed Final Exam itself begins, which contains only the problems. The pre-Final Exam homework does not count towards the duration of the exam itself, you get a full 120mins from the moment you start, but you must complete this first. It will open for you atthe usual staggered start time, soon after 19:00.

    Students are expected to do their work in a neat and organized fashion on blank sheets of paper, and only the formula sheet and a calculator are permitted. All formulas not on the formula sheet must be derived. Every sheet of paper used must have the student's name written clearly across the top, with pages numbered, with each problem on its own page or a section of a page, clearly identified. Multiple-choice qualitative questions do not require work pages.

  • 2. Immediately after the completion of the exam, students will scan, convert into a PDF, and submit the entire set of their exam work notes. The first page of the document must contain an image of a photo ID (passports, driver licenses, Brock ID cards are all acceptable; students may cover/blank out all information except name and photograph). The single PDF document must be submitted through Sakai no later than 22:30, 30mins after the completion of the exam. Instructions on how to create a single PDF document in the appropriate format must be followed and no alternate formats will be accepted. Students should ensure and test that they have the technical capability of following the above instructions on the day of the exam.

    By submitting their work notes, students are declaring that the work is their own and was done without the aid of unauthorized materials. Students should consult “Academic Misconduct” section in the Undergraduate Calendar to view a description of prohibited actions, and the procedures and penalties. The University takes academic misconduct extremely seriously and will follow its strict procedures to the letter in all cases.

  • 3. A random selection of anonymized student IDs will receive an email requiring them to complete a brief one-on-one interview via a videolink, to establish the authenticity of their work. Upon receiving the email, the student so selected must sign up for an interview (expected to last about 15mins) through the sign-up mechanism that will be made available through Sakai. Multiple interview sessions will run in parallel over Dec 18-23 time period, and it is the responsibility of the student to sign up for and attend one of the sessions. During the interview, the student will be asked to explain some of the work submitted in Step 2. Failure to adequately explain how a submitted solution was developed will result in an academic misconduct investigation.
  Failure to complete all three steps will result in an incomplete final exam in the course.

  Please monitor your email. The Friday batch of invitations to register for an interview will go out shortly after the exam ends.

  Students who do not receive an email requesting an interview by Dec 22 are not required to complete Step 3.

  Students may request (in writing, in advance of the exam) that an Ombudsperson be present during their oral part of the final exam.

  Students registered with the Students Accessibility Services will continue to receive the extended-time accommodations for the final exam. Other accommodations must be discussed with the SAS case managers and will be addressed individually.

• Intermittent power outages continue in Thorold. HydroOne reports crew on the ground, and promise to stabilize the power soon. You have 120mins from the start of the exam, and you can delay the start a bit, because you have a full 180-min time window. If problems persist until 8pm, I will extend the time interval for all.
• End time for the exam has been extended until 23:00, so the latest you can start your 120-min exam is 21:00 (9pm). Hopefully everyone's power is stable by then.
• The power is back on at 20:08 throughout Thorold. The extended time should be sufficient for everyone.

Taking lecture notes longhand ensures that important cognitive encoding takes place. This is particularly important in a conceptual course like Physics. See here for more details; and a ScienceDirect link to the source of the [Canadian!] data.

The following are the only exceptions to the policy of no electronic devices:

• a registered learning disability that requires the use of a laptop (requires a note from the Student Accessibility Services, delivered to the instructor in person);
• an electronic paper device, laid flat on the desk and used to make hand-written notes electronically, must be in airline mode;
• volunteer firefighters or medical professionals on-call are allowed network-active devices on silent (requires a letter from the employer, delivered to the instructor in-person).

• PHYS 1P91 students are required to purchase a take-home laboratory device, called iOLab, available through the Campus Store. If you are purchaing through the Campus Store, Brock Physics accessory kit should be included automatically (it costs a symbolic $0.01, since it has been paid for from the course fees). If you obtained an iOLab from another source, contact the Senior Lab Demonstrator to arrange for pickup/delivery of your accessory kit. The same iOLab device will be used in PHYS 1P92, PHYS 1P94 and PHYS 2P20 this year.
• The recommended data analysis software is iOLab online, and you can read about some other options here. The lab reports will be submitted online through Sakai, where other lab-related materials are provided, such as lab report templates and instructional videos on how to use iOLab devices.
• Labs begin in the second week of classes (starting Monday, Sept.14). Links to the individual lab sections will be posted on Sakai by the end of the day on Friday, Sept.11, and you will receive an email alerting you to that.
• Lab reports are submitted through Sakai and are automatically (the student does not have to do anything) processed through turnitin.com. As a result, late submissions are not accepted and late labs receive zero grades. Remember, there is never a penalty for an early submission.
• You must complete all labs to receive a grade in PHYS 1P91.