Introduction : Contained below are some of my philosophies and/or policies on various subjects related to your work in the courses that I teach. Not all the sections apply to your particular class. At times this might sound a little like a "rant" - that may be an area that I'm very frustrated with, and thus I'm trying to communicate that "warning" to you! I welcome any comments and/or requests for clarification. In all the things I have for policies .. there is an obvious "spirit of the policy" - I ask that you respect that, and not waste energy trying to evade it.
Copying Homeworks or "Solution Manual Solutions" : I believe that for Homework assignments to have any benefit for you, you should work on them yourselves to every extent possible. Ways to ensure that you will not understand the material covered in homework assignments are : copying from someone else, or copying from a solution manual. You may think that you "know" how to do the problem after seeing the solution, but I firmly do not believe that - unless you take that "knowledge" and go solve some other problems again - that would prove that you learned it. A solution is a series of steps that should logically follow from the last - it's no wonder it is easy to "understand" a problem when you look at the solution. The thing is, you have to come up with those steps on your own for the tests. The only practice you have is to try out problems that are similar to things we cover in class ... the "suggested problems". I firmly believe that we only learn difficult concepts through hard work and puzzling out the answer. There is no easy way out - if you think you have one, trust me, you don't. You may think you get a short term gain from copying someone else's work (assuming they actually have it correct .. it is sometimes amusing to see a whole bunch of identical solutions .. all wrong .. obviously someone picked the wrong person to copy from!). But in the long run, that person is not there to do your work for you on your test, or in your career. Then you have to rely on your own brainpower. My suggestion is to train your brain now!
Computer -based resources [Physlets]: I try to incorporate as many "Physlets" into the courses I teach. There are usually some sort of question or problem associated with the computer demonstrations illustrated in the physics-applets. It may be possible to figure out the values for some of the answers by looking at the code ... but you won't know any of the physics that way! The tests will not have that opportunity (to see code), thus if you depend on "knowing the answer to try to find the answer" - you will be out of luck on the tests .. your problem, not mine. If you follow my guidelines for learning with the physics-applets, you will find it a rich and rewarding experience.
Doing homework at the last minute : In order to not encourage any bad study habits, I no longer answer homework-related questions within 24 hours of the due time for the homework assignment. You should be able to plan out the assignments in advance .. don't expect to sit down and try to knock off the assignment in the time it takes to read the problem!
Solution Manuals : I do not endorse the use of any student solution manuals - I do not believe they are used the correct way. If you studied how a solution was solved, and then used those tools to do other solutions, you might get benefits, but most people just look at the solutions and think they know how to do similar problems (see the comments above). When I assign homeworks, I will usually assign odd-numbered problems (so that you have an answer in the back of the textbook), but I will NOT assign problems that are in the solutions manual. I'm sick of seeing the solutions copied line by line (and sometimes incorrectly??) - why should you get credit for someone else's work? Why should I reward the fact that you didn't struggle to work out the problems yourself? Since I firmly believe that the struggle to solve the problem is educationally beneficial, it is illogical to reward the copying of solutions.
Reading the homework problem : The first time you might read a particular problem, it might not make immediate sense. I guess that's time to give up and ask someone else how to do it ..... NO! Read it again! Look in the chapter for that material and see if there are similar problems ... then read it again .. and again. I do not assign impossible problems, but I'm not going to assign 1+1=? problems either! Struggle at the problem - it's good for you! (Yes, I'm being "flip" here .. but I do believe that .. through struggle we gain - without struggle we get lazy!)
Homework problems predict test questions? Not necessarily, and probably not. With homework problems we have "all the time in the world" - so I can ask more challenging questions, and maybe questions that make you dig a little on your own in the chapter to see something we didn't cover in class. Completely reasonable in my estimation. What we do in class is a better prediction of what will be on the test - since I helping us focus on the more important issues. (We can work on some of the harder problems while we have the time .. then we can "test" the slightly easier problems when we don't have as much time!)
Getting homework (as in turned-in homework) help from other tutors/instructors other than me? I ask you to be honest with the tutor/instructor and let them know if it is a problem for a turn-in assignment - that way they are only allowed to give you hints and not help you with a more complete solution.
What does "C.M." mean? When I grade your work, occasionally, you might see "c.m." listed next to a calculation .. this means (my shorthand) "Correct Method" - you have done that part correctly, but the numbers you are using might be bad (say, from a previous step).
Past exams - General: You may find previous exams on your course web page (or information on how to obtain them). They are just that - previous exams. Other than the topics of the problems (which you know anyway), I doubt there is any correlation between those problems and the ones you will find in the current term. (If we are studying projectile motion .. yes, both tests might have a projectile motion problem .. but wouldn't you expect that?) If you want to look at the tests and TRY the problems as extra problems .. they would be of benefit to you. By "try the problems" I mean work them out .. don't just look at the solutions and think you understand how to do that type of problem .. you may know how to do that problem, but not that type! How dumb would I be to put that exact problem on a future test .. I'm the one posting them on the web!
Past exams - questions : I sometimes get asked "Will this kind of problem be on the test" (pointing to a particular old question) or "Did we study this material?" (pointing to a previous question). I usually will answer those questions, but I have to admit, I'm a little discouraged by the question. I wonder why it seems difficult to identify a problem in that way. If it looks like nothing we have done .. isn't it possible that we haven't done it! Assuming that you are "current" in your studying, it seems to me that it should be quite clear if a particular problem falls into the current area of study or not. Maybe that is just me, but I have to admit, I'm troubled by those types of questions. [That was clearly a rant!!]
Questions in Class: There may be times when some of the material appears confusing. Assuming you have kept up with the reading, and have struggled to understand some issue, and still have problems, you have the perfect right (and you should exercise your right!) to ask questions in class or in tuturing sessions. If you haven't studied, haven't tried anything on your own, it seems to me that it is somewhat unfair for you to take class time to ask questions without doing any work yourself. I'll answer either situation, I'm not judging the factors behind the questions, but I encourage you to be in the former group, not the latter group. As for asking questions in class ... ASK QUESTIONS IN CLASS!!! If you ever see me "jump on someone" when they ask a question - tell me, and I'll be as shocked as you ... I make every attempt to answer any question non-judgementally and professionally.
Stupid Questions? You might think that someone just asked a "stupid question" - let's give them the benefit of the doubt and consider the fact that they might really not know the answer, after having struggled with it. That's the way I try to approach questions - I'll answer any and all that are asked. But, if you don't ask it, I can't answer it. If I try to illicit questions and I get no response .. what should I do ... go back over the material again "in case" someone hasn't asked a question? If I did that, we might be able to get out of Chapter 1 by the 10th week of the term! If I have no questions, I'm going to go on ... but, I would much rather answer a question than raise new topics, but I have to know the question!
"I don't know what to ask." I sometimes hear this statement. People think they are so lost that they don't know how to ask a question. First, don't get in that situation - the material is fast-paced, but it should be relatively straightforward, and a building process - stay on top of the material to avoid that situation. Second, go back to the last thing that you really understood and start forward again .. the first thing you get to that you are unsure of .. ask that!! If you are far behind, it would be more considerate to ask questions outside of class rather than in class .. but if it is close to the topic at hand - ask them in class!!! Just ask anything in the general area of the topic that is confusing you!
Office Hours/ other times : I have several hours posted in the AAC each term. I am definitely available during those times for any and all physics questions (that includes other class sections also). Those are not the only times I'm available. There are always "holes" in the schedule where I don't have class or meetings or labs or meal times .. when I will be in my office. I welcome "drop in" questions. You can also email questions if you want (this is great for "I'm not comfortable asking a question in class" situations). Shoot a flaming arrow at my door with a message tied to it .. just find a way to ask questions!
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