Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Bonus question, exam 3

Write up a good question to contribute to Exam 3, and see if you can earn that bonus point, under the usual conditions.

Bonus points are very handy, so do not be caught nappin' now in the last week of the semester.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Last learning module UP.

As you perfect your naval strategy for defeating space aliens, you must apply the physical facts of water as it exists on our planet.

Leaning module J will help you accomplish that expertise.

GO! GO! GO!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Now it gets interesting: Learning module I

The next-to-last learning module is now ready, learning module I. It has some extra reading on Linus Pauling, a very interesting guy who won two Nobel prizes.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Learning module H is running.

You can now look into Learning Module H.

GO! GO! GO!

Mini-quiz subtotal

I am working on a new row in your My Grades page on Webcourses. It will show the subtotal of your mini-quiz pointage, so it'll be a multiple of 4. It is not cooperating right now, but I hope to get it squared away shortly.

With this number you can easily estimate your pointage total for the semester.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Learning module goes active at 10:01 PM tonight.

For you night owls, I have set up Learning Module G to go active at 10:01 PM tonight. Now that we have the basic concepts of waves, energy and interaction, we can dip down into the quantum world of photons and electrons, nuclei and atoms. Lots of study and thinking required.

Exam 2 is running now.

Just as Ryan "Rhino" Anderson brings such high dangerness from downtown, so you also must now go hit Exam 2: Time for you to launch a 40 pointer.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Another shot at bonus pointage.

Bonus point opportunity:

Post a question for a midterm or final exam.

In this case, you create a question for our Exam 2 on Thursday, based on your notes, readings or other materials.

Here are the rules:

  1. Create a multiple choice question with four or five options.
  2. Indicate the correct option with an * asterisk.
  3. In the Subject box, type in a short phrase that decries your question.
  4. Below your question's options, skip a few lines and type in the page in the textbook where another student can study up on the correct concept.
  5. Dr. Brueckner will comment or maybe ask you to revise the question.
  6. Only if your question is good enough to use on the exam, you will earn one bonus point.
  7. Take a look at the example question on wavelength.

The bonus questions can make a nifty study guide, too.

GO! GO! GO!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Last module for Exam 2.

You can now tackle learning module F on electricity. It is the last module for Exam 2.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Learning module D is up.

You can now start working on heat concepts for learning module D. We have three more learning modules coming up. Refer to the syllabus.

Your Exam 1 score

You should now be able to view your Exam 1 score, on your My Grades page in Webcourses.

Don't forget, this was a 40 point test with 2 bonus points. So your percentage is your score/40. However, Webcourses is not smart enough to distinguish the subtleties of bonus points, so to Webcourses, it still looks like a 42 point exam. Make sure that YOU remember the true way to look at your score, thereby outsmarting Webcourses. :D

Exam 1 results

I normally do not give out letter grades on exams, only for semester grades, but if I did give letter grades, the average on Exam 1 would be about C-, a little low. (I usually like the average to be about a C.)

Here is the histogram:

There are a lot of C's, as usual, but too many F grades relative to A grades.

So I took a look at the amount of study time that the A students and the F students logged in Webcourses for the first week (last week) and for this week up to 10 AM Friday, just before the exam. Here are the relative proportions of study time.

Can you see a difference between A and F groups? What does that tell you about modifying your own study methods?

Friday, July 6, 2012

Exam 1 is running.

Students are now taking Exam 1. Webcourses is GO for Exam 1. Get in there as soon as you can and get the exam squared away.

Exam 1 today

Your first midterm exam is today, available at 10:05 AM, must finish before 11:59 PM. You will have 60 minutes to complete it.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Bonus points opportunity, next 18 hours

Bonus point opportunity:

Every semester, I initiate a study activity for bonus points: post a question for a midterm or final exam.

In this case, you create a question for out Exam 1 tomorrow (Friday), based on your notes, readings or other materials.

Here are the rules:

  1. Create a multiple choice question with four or five options.
  2. Indicate the correct option with an * asterisk.
  3. In the Subject box, type in a short phrase that decries your question.
  4. Below your question's options, skip a few lines and type in the page in the textbook where another student can study up on the correct concept.
  5. Dr. Brueckner will comment or maybe ask you to revise the question.
  6. Only if your question is good enough to use on the exam, you will earn one bonus point.
  7. Take a look at the example question on friction and work.

The bonus questions can make a nifty study guide, too.

GO! GO! GO!

Exam 1 tomorrow

You have a one-hour exam tomorrow covering modules A, B and C.
  1. 40 points
  2. About 40 questions -- sometimes a few less than 40 if I use some 2-point questions.
  3. One hour to complete it, about the same as a regular lecture section has on a midterm exam.
  4. Available at 10:05 AM, must be submitted by 11:59 PM, so find a one hour block of time that
    1. fits your schedule and
    2. starts after 10:05 AM and ends before 11:59 PM
  5. Make sure your computer is working like a champion, and
  6. also make sure that, wherever you are, the internet services is solid,
  7. because if your computer or ISP flakes out on you, your exam is complete and utter TOAST, nothing I can do to help you. So be paranoid about your computer and ISP.
  8. All the mini-quizzes go off the air at 9:30 AM until midnight.
  9. Grades usually will be released on Saturday morning, first thing.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Mini-quiz B on the books, now, too.

You now have pointage set from taking mini-quiz B.
For those of you who have not taken it yet,
  1. you can still take it for study purposes, but
  2. because it is now past the deadline, you cannot get points from it for your semester grade.
Your "N/A" will compute as a zero in the semester grade total.

For some of you, this is the second mini-quiz deadline you have missed.  If your plan is to receive an F for the semester, this is definitely one way to go.  But if you plan to pass and graduate, get in and follow the syllabus schedule carefully.