Physics 20x | Class Structure |
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Motivation | Every course has a distinct structure. Students that embrace the structure and engage with the curriculum following the suggested path tend to perform better and are much happier. Research shows that routine is the heavy lifter of success. This course hopes to provide a clear path and steady cadence to help you establish a routine. The topics are organized by pedagogical boundaries and grouped by lectures. Each lecture, with its associated pre, post, and challenge homework, will constitute a learning cycle. Each week we go through two (occasionally three) learning cycles. Summary | Each week there are two to three lectures spread over three class periods, one lab, and one recitation. Each lecture has associated pre-lecture study (including pre-lecture videos) and homework questions, an in-class lecture, a post-lecture homework, and a summative handwritten challenge homework. These represent 4 of the 5 stages of a learning cycle (described in detail below) that each lecture event is scaffolded around. The last stage is the assessment stage. This is split into quizbits and the final exam. The first is weekly quizbits which will be completed during recitation. The final exam is a cumulative assessment completed during finals week. One of the most important results from Physics Education Research is that students learn better when they are actively engaged with guided peer learning. We hope the cornerstone of our curriculum is excellent in-person support where you can perform much of your your learning cycle along side other humans. Learning Assistant Homework Help Hours (LAHHH) and the WormHole are both great places to look for support, both in the form of TA/LAs and in groups of classmates to work with. Remember, it is okay to not know how to solve a problem the first time you see it. Learning happens in the struggle, and rarely from a place of comfort. Be sure to take advantage of your classmates knowledge as well as LAs and TAs. We are all here to help you avoid becoming an island! |
Standard Week
Each week will look roughly the same. Everyone's time constraints are different so the below timeline is merely a suggestion. That said, falling behind in this class has shown to be very detrimental to success. Physics constantly builds off prior knowledge and getting behind can snowball into a beast that is tough to tackle. Your progression doesn't have to be in this exact cadence, but you do need to keep up on a bi-weekly basis. Only being able to work once a week is probably not an option.
Weekend before | Do pre-lecture assignment for Monday's class
Monday | Participate in 1st lecture | Work on challenge homework | Optional: attend LAHHH
Tuesday | Finish challenge homework from previous week | Do pre-lecture assignment for Wednesday's class
Wednesday | Participate in 2nd lecture | Do 1st post-lecture homework
Thursday | Do pre-lecture assignment for Friday's class (if Friday is a unique lecture template) | Optional: attend LAHHH
Friday | Participate in 3rd lecture | Do post-lecture homework
Weekend after | Work on challenge homework
In short, during the first half of the week you do the stuff associated with the first lecture. During the second half, you do the stuff associated with the second lecture. Your lab and recitation will each happen at some point during the week. Make sure to complete the pre-lab before you attend lab. This will help your group complete the lab more quickly than if you are the only one who doesn't read the lab prior! Challenge homework is due on Tuesdays the following week, giving you a little extra time to work on it and get some help.
Five Stages of Learning
To engage properly with a study progression it's important to know the point of each stage. Below is a breakdown of the activities and goals of each stage of a learning cycle that center around a lecture event.
Familiarize Stage | Pre-lecture
This is a chance to become familiar with some of the words, equations, and ideas used when analyzing a new physical system. This is a largely fact building and organizing stage. It is relatively low on Bloom's taxonomy, meaning it is not intended to trigger a high mental load. It is also all a traditional lecture typically can deliver. This isn't to say that it is not important, on the contrary, it cannot be skipped. We feel (and research confirms) that with videos and the internet there is no reason for this pushing-information-one-direction stage of learning to occur in the classroom. Students commonly express doing this type of studying after attending a traditional lecture. You will essentially be front loading this fact building/organization stage. That way, when you have an expert there to guide you, we can make efficient use of our time and actually do physics. There are an effectively unlimited number of study resources organized for you on the BoxSand menu to the right. There is a pre-lecture learning guide that includes videos, reading, and pre-lecture homework on the calendar. For more information about the homework, check out the dedicated homework page on the syllabus.
Activity | Pre-lecture study by watching videos, reading, interacting with simulations on BoxSand
Activity | Pre-lecture homework questions on Canvas Quizzing.
Foundation Stage | Lecture
The best way to learn problem solving and critical thinking in physics is to analyze systems, with peers, in real-time. Experts should be available to field questions from the group and to resolve each analysis before moving onto the next. It is called Guided Peer Learning and has been tremendously successful in this OSU physics course. You will attend three lectures each week. This is considered the Foundational Stage of learning because we have built everything in a learning cycle around this stage. The problems are considered foundational and address almost every learning objective. They are low to mid-high on Bloom's taxonomy, with the occasional big idea. The pre and post lecture questions are largely chosen with an associated lecture question in mind. The questions studied are mostly entry-level and should leave you with the ability to analyze fundamental and straightforward applications of the current topic. You can use your understanding of the physics during the lecture as a way to measure your progress in the topic. You can then use this to adjust your subsequent studying. This is called formative assessment. Many questions on an exam will be at this level. You can find the lecture templates on the course calendar.
Activity | 50 minute lecture on campus
Practice Stage | Post-lecture
After a Guided Peer Learning event, where an expert helps you form a foundation of knowledge and skill, it's important to follow up with practice. The post-lecture homework is the main place for skill building practice. These questions will be at every level of Bloom's Taxonomy, with the majority in the mid to mid-high range. Working in groups is strongly encouraged. Find study members or ask questions on the support pages. If you need more practice there is always a supplemental set of questions for practice in the BoxSand menu to the right, under the Fundamentals section of each topic. Post-lecture homework is your primary formative assessment as the level of difficulty is near most of the exams and the feedback is instant. You can find links to the post-lecture homework on the course calendar.
Activity | Post-lecture homework questions on Canvas Quizzing
Mastery Stage | Challenge
The mastery stage of learning is intended as a place to push the boundaries of our problem solving and critical thinking while using the context of the current topic. After becoming proficient in analyzing systems where there are one or two ideas, challenge homework often requires synthesis of a greater number of ideas and concepts. The experience should be metacognitive as you'll have to look at the big picture and see how all the pieces fit together. The hope is you can use this as a synthesis exercise with a relatively low stakes summative assessment. The questions are quite challenging and very high on Blooms taxonomy. Some are above the scope or level of difficulty appropriate for a timed exam. Don't let your ability to not solve challenge homework problems without reaching out for help deter your resolve to succeed in physics. They are designed to get students asking questions and working together. These questions are also to be written by hand and graded by a human with partial credit given. For more information check out the homework page on the syllabus. You can find the challenge homework problems on the course calendar.
Activity | Handwritten homework assignment
Assessment Stage | Midterms and Final Exam
The final stage of a learning cycle is the formative and summative assessment of what knowledge you possess. This will be split into two midterms and a final exam.
You will have a small quiz each week during recitation (see course calendar for exceptions). These quizzes will not impact your course grade, but will give you practice and feedback on exam-level questions. Each quiz will emphasize content covered the previous week (but may contain older content). Use these opportunities to improve your exam performance before it counts!
There will be two midterms in this course. The will be held on Wednesday evenings in weeks 4 and 7. All exams in the course will build on each other and will be cumulative.
The final exam will be cumulative, covering all content covered in the course. To learn more, including what is allowed at exams and where to take them, visit the exams page on the syllabus.
Activity | Two Midterms
Activity | Final Exam