Reading: You will get the most out of lectures if you’ve already introduced yourself to the subjects and identified any points of confusion by reading the corresponding chapters in advance. You will be expected to have done so. In fact, to encourage you to read and even take a first pass at the homework before class (so you know what you’re already prepared for and what you want to ask questions about), you can get bonus on many of the homework problems if you get them correct before class – more about that below.
Laboratory Experiences: 17% of your grade. Each week there will be a laboratory experience. Because this course qualifies as a lab course, independent of your grade, you are required to complete the labs to get credit for the course. The labs will allow you hands-on experience with some of the concepts addressed in the course. It is also intended to help you develop basic laboratory skills. Prior to coming to lab you should have read the lab hand-out, read the associated passages in the text, and answered any questions in the handout marked “Pre-Lab”. The completed hand-out should be turned in by the end of the laboratory period. Note: you will often need your calculator in lab.
Homework: 20% of your grade. The homework is due each Friday by 4pm; I’m more than happy to chat with you and help you out, all week until Friday at 4pm. Those not marked in the schedule (last page of the syllabus) with a superscript “W” are to be handed in each Friday; no need to type them, but please make sure they’re legible. Those questions that are marked with the superscript “W” are to be submitted online via WebAssign instead. The virtue of WebAssign is that it instantly tells you if you’ve gotten the answer wrong (so you know to have another go, check with a classmate, or ask me for help) and lets you try again. As mentioned above, to encourage you to read and start thinking about the homework before class, any correct answers submitted to WebAssign before the associated class day will receive bonus points. Once homework is collected, the complete solutions will be posted so, obviously, no late homework will be accepted.
WebAssign technicalities. Test this immediately: To log onto WebAssign, go to www.webassign.net. Your username is your Redlands email ID (generally firstname_lastname), your institution is Redlands, your initial password (which you’ll want to change) is simply phys107. If that doesn’t work for you, email me and I’ll fix whatever’s broken. You’ll get about a week of free access; after that you’ll need to pay to subscribe. Note: I’ve coded each question in WebAssign so that the exact numbers will be different for each of student; so friends can give useful pointers on how to get the answer, but everyone’s right answer will be different.
In-Class Clicker questions: 1% of your grade + 1% bonus. Many lecture days, there will be short in-class “clicker” questions; for each, you get a point for simply trying and a bonus point for actually getting it right. The intent is to give you a little practice with ideas and tools just introduced and to let us know what folks are and aren’t understanding.
Leading Class: 10% of your grade. This is an opportunity for you to learn more about a particular subject in acoustics and to share that with the class. You and two partners will have roughly half a class period to teach your classmates about your topic; you should focus on how the acoustical properties and concepts covered in the course relate to it. Just as with the classes that I lead, you will select readings, from or text or another source, and one or two assignments for your classmates. For resources and ideas, I suggest you peruse our library’s ML 380_ _ section on the 3rd floor. I’ll help you to prepare, select readings, etc. Two of your classmates and I will review your presentation. You, in turn, will review the presentations of two other classmates. 2% of your total course grade will be based on your peers’ reviews of your presentation, 2% on the quality of your reviews of your peers’ presentations, and 6% on my review of your presentation.
Exams: 52% (15% first in-class, 15% second in-class, 22% final) of your grade. There will be two in-class exams and a comprehensive final exam. All exams will be closed book, closed notes; equations sheets will be provided.
Cheating: Dishonesty seriously undermines the academic pursuit; therefore, it is my philosophy that the punishment for cheating should not simply erase its 'beneficial' effects, but be enough of a deterrent that the 'benefit' of cheating not be worth the risk. For example, I prefer to fail from the course a student who has cheated on an exam. According to the University Academic Honesty Policy, all instances of dishonesty are recorded by the Registrars office.
Grade: If at anytime you are interested in reviewing your standing in the course, feel free to give me a call, send me an e-mail, or drop by my office.
Labs 17%
Homework 20% (and bonus for early)In-class Clicker 1% (and 1% bonus for correct)
Exams 52 % (15% first in-class, 15% second in-class, 22% final)
Presentations 10% (6% my review, 1% × 2 student reviews, 2% your reviews)
Final
Grade Assignments:
Final grades will be assigned according to the following:
93 ⅓
≤ A
(4.0) ≤
100%
90
≤ A- (3.7)
< 93 ⅓
86 ⅔
≤
B+ (3.3)
< 90
83 ⅓
≤ B (3.0) <
86 ⅔
80
≤ B-
(2.7) <
83 ⅓
76 ⅔
≤
C+ (2.3)
< 80
73
⅓
≤ C
(2.0) < 76
⅔
70
≤ C- (1.7) < 73
⅓
66
⅔
≤ D+
(1.3) < 70
63
⅓
≤ D
(1.0) < 66
⅔
60
≤
D- (0.7) <
63 ⅓
0
≤
F (0.0)
< 60