Voting points in My Grades.

The points on your semester grade from voting are now in the lines "Voted Leonardo" and "Voted Younger Dryas" with either 2 points each or N/A if you have not taken the two selector quizzes yet. You have until Monday, March 3, 10 PM for this task, after which: zero.

In case you are curious, the Voted Leonardo score is computed this way:

based upon your "Leonardo selector" score toward the bottom of the My Grades page.

So, by this formula, if you earned 104 points on the Leonardo selector quiz, then I tell Webcourses to multiply 2×104 and then divide by 104. The 104s cancel out numerically, and you get your two points. Kind of goofy, but this is how you defeat Webcourses and make it do what you want!

The "Voted Younger Dryas" points are computed the same way, and all of it automatically, as soon as you submit your quiz!

Voting for questions (2 points × 2)

Votes are coming in through the question selector quizzes, and each quiz earns two points on the writing assignment. Folks are voting for the Joseph Burnett - Jonathan Esquivel - Stephanie Hohl question, Rachel Autrey's questions, and all the other questions on Universal Leonardo and Younger Dryas.

The best questions, determined in this vote, will be the topics we write about in the remainder of the writing assignment, so...

Everybody get in there and vote!

New writing assignment tasks are UP, due March 3.

I just activated two new quizzes:

• Universal Leonardo question selector (2 points)
• Younger Dryas - comet impact question selector (2 points)

You are to complete these by March 3, next Monday night, 10 PM. Look for them in Assessments or in the Writing module page (see image below).

There is also an updated overview, "Writing assignments: two tracks (UPDATED)," item 1.1 in the Writing module page (see image below). Take alook over that overview page, especially if you are behind.

WARNING Many of you have not activate a Connotea library, as required. You can no longer get points for doing so, but you still need to do it. The warning is that if you do not get your library up and certified by Ashton, you risk all the rest of the points on the assignment, roughly 40 out of the 50 points. Disaster. So look over the page for the Connotea catch-up task, item 4.3 in the Writing module (see image below).

Chapter 8 mini-quiz is ready now. GO FOR IT

The angular momentum chapter mini-quiz -- chapter 8 -- is now ready to go. Time to lock in and dominate! GO GO GO

Next midterm faster

I know several of you have alerted me to how much you had to rush rush rush on midterm exam 1. My lecture students handle 50 questions in 60 minutes or so, but on the midterm they took on Thursday (21st), several dozen worked right up to the buzzer, just about.

So I will keep your alerts in mind for the next midterm and final. There are things I can do to make it a bit more sleek, time-wise, and still keep to the 50-question, 60-minute format and still keep the challenge level up to my standards. I hope the modifications will let you work rapidly and well, but with a bit less time pressure.

Remember: my exams are meant to be tough to ace yet tough to flunk.

• For the student who studies like a house on fire, doing extra study and talking with me and with Ashton in discussions etc., it will be a challenge to get 50/50, yet...
• for the good and faithful student who works the ordinary amount each week with reading, mini-quiz work etc., it will be tough to flunk, cuz they'll have the basics squared away.

Connotea points, 99

I just uploaded Connotea points for half the class, plus a short comment about your Connotea library. Most look fine, but some need work before they are acceptable.

If you got 99 on your "Connotea works?" score, that means your library needs to be fixed, and the comment line will direct you how. Most need SFX to be activated.

1. Click to the Writing Assignment module via the icon of a man running with a pencil.
2. Open the Writing Assignment: two tracks page.
3. Select the bookmarking startup move b, "Join the Connotea social bookmarking site."
4. Re-do items D and E in the startup assignment box. They will allow you to get SFX set up and working, which will make the DOI method useful to you and your group.

A few of you got comments on cleaning up your bookmark - edit for author, page and volume number etc. Just hit the Edit link next to that bookmark.

If you have not gotten registered, get that done or you will be unable to get any points on the writing assignment; see step 3 above. Your link now is past the deadline, so you won't even get partial credit, but without a Connotea library, you will risk zero/50 on the entire assignment in which you cannot participate.

Some of you have email trouble from Connotea - stay with it and coordinate with Ashton and Dr. B. We will get it whipped into shape!

Writing assignments: next moves

The "startup moves" are now over, with Leonardo/Younger Dryas questions and Connotea links graded and posted or about to be posted.

Next moves will be to decide on the best questions from the dozens of questions in the Leonardo/Younger Dryas discussion. I am still debating about how we will vote, a quiz or a survey or something else -- so stay tuned.

Once we have the best questions figured out, we will form groups and then work on first drafts - so that might be next week. But first: which are the best questions? :)

Partial credit for tardy questions; Connotea points

All Leonardo/Younger Dryas questions are now graded, with the last few being either 1 or 2 points, partial credit for being tardy. Anyone posting a question after today gets zero points.

You can still look over other student's questions and my replies and discuss anything.

I will be posting up Connotea points later today.

"Concept guide 2: Photons, electromagnetic waves and energy" is now up

The new concept guide is now up. Look for the laser beam icon on the home page, which links to the concept guide for the learning module on photons, electromagnetic waves and energy.

I suggest that you hit the concept guide's exercises HARD as you study week by week, and in this way, you can be really solid and ready for midterm exam 2 on Thursday, April 3.

Concept guide 2 = almost ready

Your next concept guide, Concept guide 2: Photons, electromagnetic waves and energy, will be coming out today maybe around lunchtime or so. I am adding last few details on chapter 15 concepts.

Tardy posts and mail messages

About half the class has done their discussion postings. Good.

Tardy posts will get one point knocked off, and after 11:59 PM, Tuesday, the discussion area will be locked: not even tardy posts will be possible. Same deadline for Connotea messages to Ashton, our TA.

Writing assignments - some good questions so far

I am grading the Younger Dryas and Leonardo questions as they come in on the Discussion board. Some of them are quite good.

The rest of youse, get that task done by tonight, please!!

OK, go look at your Midterm 1 attempt

Click on the Assessments icon, and find your Midterm 1 attempt. It will list the score on each question plus a short blurb on each question:

1. Either a description of the concept or calculation, or
2. a reference to an exercises in a mini-quiz or in the textbook.
3. The entire drop table for Planet Z is also in there!

You will not have the actual questions verbatim, but you WILL have the basic specs for each question. This will help you study efficiently for the final exam.

Midterm Exam 1 "on the books"

I will be releasing your scores etc. a little bit later this morning. I have to insert some comments on a few questions, so that you will know the topic etc. for each question, along with the score.

In the meantime, get to work on the Connotea task (due Saturday noon) and question generation tasks (due Sunday evening) in Writing Assignments.

Writing assignment now released

Writing assignments module is now released and ready to work on. There are several tasks to do by Saturday noon and Sunday evening. Look for the running man icon on our Webcourses home page.

P.S. The next big learning module, for midterm exam 2, will be released on Monday.

Midterm Exam 1 now running

Midterm exam 1 today
Now running

1. 50 points
2. 47 questions (one of them for 4 points)
3. 60 minutes
4. Block out an hour between lunch and midnight!
5. Make sure to take the Battlefield version prep test before taking the midterm itself, because...
6. Your computer must work flawlessly, and if it flakes out in the middle of the exam, you are sunk.
7. All mini-quizzes are now off the air.

Get ready

Get ready for midterm 1.

Be loaded for bear.

Expect the unexpected.

Mini-quizzes back open for business tonight

Your mini-quiz study tools for chapters 2-5 are back open for business now. Time to double check and review.

ALSO: Make sure to review the materials mentioned in the concept guide!

Tomorrow's midterm will cover chapters 2-6, with fifty items and one point per item. Note: if I use a matching question, the way Webcourses handles them, it will be one question for 2 or 3 points, so the test might only have 47 questions. Either way, you will be making 50 decisions, one point per decision.

Study your brains out!!!!!

Writing assignments will kick in this week

Be on the alert. I am working on the writing assignments, and I should have the startup tasks ready this week - maybe even by Thursday. The deadlines will be Saturday noon for one task and Sunday evening for the other task.. details to follow.

Chapter 5 bonus points UP

Your bonus points for the chapter 5 mini-quiz, if you earned them, are now up in your My Grades page. Every point adds up, so study like a maniac for the midterm.

Chapter 6 mini-quiz is UP

The chapter 6 mini-quiz is now up, with some momentum exercises and questions. It is due on Wednesday night, prior to the noon Thursday midterm. Look in the Galileo module.

Don't forget to eyeball the other new study files in the Galileo module. This is your first midterm with me, so expect the unexpected.

Some Flash files, pretty slick

I just activated some nice Flash simulation files, inside our learning module, Galileo and the laws of motion. Click on item 3.7, "Flash files for study" and you can try them out. They work nicely.

Also, there are some new blurb files about chapter 4 and chapter 5 exercises and concepts, in the same place, the Galileo learning module.

Battlefield version of a prep test

To prepare for midterm 1

I just activated "Battlefield version prep test" in Webcourses, so that you can get your web browser and computer checked out for the midterm. It is just a random set of questions from chapter mini-quizzes you've already seen, and it is not part of your semester grade.

However: If your computer fails in the middle of an exam, there is nothing I can do for you. You just take a zero or partial score, whatever is on the books...and most likely your grade will tank or even drop to F.

So take this short test. It is meant to test your computer and internet service for midterm exam 1. Take it between 10 and 11 at night for the ultimate acid test. The test is loaded with graphics, symbols etc.

If your computer flakes out on you in the middle of the exam, you are toast. So be ultra-paranoid about having a solid computer situation.

Mini-quizzes, round 2

Side note: next week I will re-open the chapter mini-quizzes for chapters 2-5, so that you can double check your study before the midterm exam on Thursday. The chapter 6 miniquiz will be running until Wednesday evening, so it will still be fresh in your mind.

Remember: you should make the concept guide your priority. When I write the exam, I have my eye on the concept guide and everything in it. Mini-quizzes are helpful, but they are secondary in importance.

Chapter 4 bonus points UP

I have updated the gradebook with the bonus point for everybody who got to work on the Ch. 4 mini-quiz by Monday evening. Also, the running subtotal is updated.

New podcast site

I just set up a podcast site on the Physics server.

http://physics.ucf.edu/~brueckner/spring

It has one homework-related podcast to view, and one digital movie on a topic from Chapter 8. You can view them in your web browser if you have already got iTunes on your computer. I have tried out Safari, Camino and Firefox on my Mac Powerbook; you ought to try Firefox or Internet Exploder on your Windows machine.

Also, you can subscribe to the podcasts easily, and this will automatically load each podcast into iTunes.

iTunes is the best way to view the podcasts.

After I hear some feedback, I will post a bunch more HW podcasts.

Ch. 5 mini-quiz is ready, as is a new exercise file.

The chapter 5 mini-quiz on gravitation is now available for you. It is due on Friday next week, back on the regular schedule.

Also, I created a new blurb file on the "Working it out" exercise on p. 81.

A few new files to scope out

There are a few new files for extra study. One file is a blurb on the phases of Venus that Galileo first observed with his telescope. Anther file is an elaboration of exercise 11 on p. 73, which is a good chapter 4 exercise. The third file is a set of bonus questions from the first midterm exam in my lecture section, which was yesterday.

The files are linked in the Galileo learning module page, part 3. Have a look at them and enjoy.

Ch. 3 bonus points UP; bonus points subtotal

After toggling the Ch. 4 mini-quiz to become visible for all you guys, I also went and updated the ch. 3 bonus point file. In addition, I set up the bonus points subtotal to rack up all your bonus points to date: from first week tasks and from mini-quiz activity. I will keep that subtotal rolling for the rest of the semester.

By the way, if you have any bonus points, your grade now is A+ for the semester...since there's been no regular points-earning activity yet, so everybody with even one point is at 100%. Excellent!

Chapter 4 mini-quiz extended!

Whoops, I forgot to make the chapter 4 mini-quiz visible!! Our TA, Ashton Dacus, just now alerted me. So I have made it "visible" to you all and extended the deadline to Monday evening.

GO FOR IT!