DONE

Ok, everybody got their final exam in. Your score is viewable in your My Grades page.

Grades out by Thursday, latest.
Hopefully sooner ←if nobody bugs me about it!

FINAL EXAM now running

I set up the final exam to run a little longer for you, 170 minutes, which is just the same as the in-class students taking a final exam on campus.

Webcourses errors Thursday

There were bunches of hiccups in the Webcourses server Thursday afternoon that affected the exam performance for some of you. I am asking the site administrators how-what-when-why. I will let you know what I learn. Stay tuned.

Optics mini-quiz ready to roll

Students, there is now an optics mini-quiz for the Einstein Learning Module. It covers concepts and sketching from chapter 17.

In case you are wondering and worrying, our entire module is now just chapter 17, on account of my lecture sections could not catch up to you guys. They are not even to chapter 21!!! You all are way ahead.

So your exam on Thursday is going to be chapter 17 only, and a bit smaller than usual: probably

1. 12 multiple choice questions, 3 points each;
2. One or two brain-burner matching questions to generate another 14 points between them.
3. Total pointage = 50, as needed for the syllabus.

Go try that mini-quiz and be ready to think visually!

Sketching podcast

Today's lecture on campus was highly appropriate to you Albert Einstein learning module. It is all about sketching in exercises 1, 2 and 3 of Ch. 17. I set up its visual podcast this afternoon. It has all the sketches from my lecture embedded in the visual track. You will find it on the lectures side of the Uvision website.

Also, I have set up links to the four large scan files, 700 x 540 pixels. Click on each image below to open out the large size file.

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Enjoy!

Concept guide for LIGHT is now available.

The first of three concept guides, "Light," is now available in the Albert Einstein learning module.

GO FOR IT!!

What's ahead

Main grade-related events from here on out are:

1. Midterm 3, over the concepts in the Albert Einstein learning module
2. Final exam, Dec. 8th (noon-11:55 PM).

The main concept guide for the Albert Einstein learning module is due for activation on Saturday.

Ocean currents, Visbeck essay = graded now

OK, I just finished grading up the last few dozen postings in the "Ocean currents, Visbeck essay" discussion, a one point bonus assignment from the first week to-do list. A number of you have been buzzing me in course mail about it, so now it is finished up. YAY!

Next objective: grade up the Universal Leonardo-North Korea mini-case study!!

Biographical blurb file

The Albert Einstein learning module includes some biographical reading, because relativity theory and quantum theory developed around Albert Einstein as one of the central figures. In our Webcourses learning module, I just inserted a biographical blurb file with links to readings about three strategic scientists who had interesting lives:

1. Albert Einstein
2. Louis de Broglie
3. Thomas Young

The most interesting part of the theory of relativity is light, and all three of these scientists contributed enormously to our understanding of light.

Case 1; Einstein Module

There is an important announcement about our writing assignments, inside Webcourses.

Also, I will release the 3rd learning module, the Albert Einstein Learning Module, on Saturday at noon. It covers only three chapters:

17. Light
10. Einstein's Relativity
24. Modern Atom

so there is not an enormous rush.

You can start reading in chapter 17. I specifically like the "Physics On Your Own" blurb on p. 341, with two pencils and a small mirror. You can try this out. And if you have another small mirror or two, you can make your own retro-reflector like the Apollo astronauts placed on the moon, which is diagrammed on p. 344.

Exam 2 scores are UP; day off.

Today is our day off after midterm exam 2. Your midterm exam 2 scores are now released and ready to view in your My Grades page in Webcourses.

See you over the weekend. I will release new learning module, plus there will be an announcement about the long-suffering writing assignments.

GO FOR LAUNCH

Exam 2 is now GO FOR LAUNCH!!!

Be ready for 30 minute delay on exam, maybe.

Our start time for the second midterm is 12:05 PM today, but due to some outside factors, it might not open until 12:30 PM or so, maybe 30 minutes late. So be ready to wait a bit.

I hope to go at the normal time, though, 12:05 PM.

Meningitis alert from UCF Health Services

Recent alert from UCF Health Services concerning meningitis alert

Submitted for: UCF Health Services Subject: Meningitis Alert The Orange County Public Health Department (OCPHD) has informed UCF Health Services officials that a senior in the UCF Nursing program -- who lives in a house off campus with family members -- has a confirmed diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis, a type of bacterial meningitis. On behalf of the entire UCF community, our strongest hopes for a complete recovery go out to the student. OCPHD already has identified and contacted the closest contacts considered at risk, all of whom have received the antibiotic CIPRO. UCF Health Services staff has been working closely with OCPHD health officials to assist them in identifying those individuals who may have had exposure to the illness. The student is a senior in the UCF Nursing program, and Nursing students in the student’s classes (Adult Health on Mondays and Mental Health on Wednesdays) were informed of the situation Friday evening and advised to receive the antibiotic at UCF Health Services if they felt they were in close enough contact to be high risk. Exposure that imparts risk for transmission involves close contact with an infected individual. Close contact is defined as persons who shared a household with the student or had direct contact with oral secretions (kissing, sharing a drink, sharing food from the same plate, sharing a cigarette or being coughed on from very close proximity). Those persons who have had close exposure within the past seven days benefit from the use of preventative antibiotics. Classic symptoms of meningitis include high fever, confusion and neck stiffness. Those symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take one to two days. Other symptoms may include headache, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to lights and seizures. Persons with such symptoms should seek prompt medical attention. Previous vaccination for meningitis does not necessarily protect persons from acquiring this illness (because the vaccine is not 100 percent effective in protecting against the various strains of bacterial meningitis). Vaccination would not be the appropriate intervention for those persons who have had close contact. Anyone who has not had close contact and desires vaccination, or anyone who has other questions or concerns regarding meningococcal meningitis, can call the UCF Health Center during normal hours of operation at 407-823-2701. UCF Health Services Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information on UCF Health Services, go to www.hs.ucf.edu.

More mini-quizzes, chapters 21 and 22.

  There are two new mini-quizzes for the Michael Faraday Learning Module, one for chapter 21 concepts and one for chapter 22 concepts.

I will also be publishing some new podcasts for exercises in the module chapters. When I do so, I will announce it here first.

Remember, the Michael Faraday Learning Module covers concepts about electromagnetism and its effects from Chapters 11-13 and 20-22, and these will be the topics on midterm exam 2.

Troubles with Internet Exploder

If you use Internet Explorer to access Webcourses, take a look at this alert.

Notice this afternoon from UCF Course Development and Web Services, regarding Webcourses login

Dear Faculty, Yesterday morning, CDWS began to receive reports that Internet Explorer users attempting to log in to Webcourses@UCF via myUCF were receiving an error. The problem was escalated to our server admins and reported to Blackboard, but we do not have a solution yet. Until we have a fix, please use a browser other than Internet Explorer to access Webcourses@UCF via myUCF, or log into Webcourses@UCF directly using your NID at http://webcourses.ucf.edu Thank you for your patience while we resolve this issue,

Enigma machines/hurricane damage

I will be starting to activate a variety of Enigma machines for you all to use as study tools. They are like sideways Jeopardy games that help you work through calculations in a step by step manner.

Right now, I have activated an Enigma machine called "Rooftop troubles" that will help you understand the Bernoulli Principle and why hurricanes can suck roofs off into the sky like child's play. It reinforces concepts in chapters 11 and 12. Look for the Enigma icon in Webcourses, on the home page.

Two mini-quizzes

I just activated two mini-quizzes, for those of you working on chapters 12 and 13. I will activate another pair tonight or early Monday, completing the set of mini-quizzes for the Michael Faraday module.

Michael Faraday Learning Module is ready to go.

I just set up our second main learning module, the Michael Faraday Learning Module, which covers topics from electromagnetism and molecules. You will find the icon in the upper left of the course content home page. There are two mini-quizzes ready today and, of course, the concept guides.

I have included a special new mini-concept guide on waves, covering a slice of chapter 15.

This learning module has the advantage that you can move around in it almost at random, instead of the strict sequence of the Sir Isaac Newton Learning Module. So you can study for a few days in chapter 20 on the electric field, then skip over to chapter 12 to look over the states of matter - solid, liquid and gas - and then back to chapter 20.

There will be some new visual podcasts, so keep an eye on the Uvision site.

Try to work through the mini-concept guide on waves before launching into chapter 22.

You are now GO for launch!

Mini-quizzes off the air

Just so you know, I always take the mini-quizzes off line during the midterm time window. This is by design.

Exam 1 is now ready to go.

Students, the midterm exam 1 is now ready. Look on the course content home page and you will see a little document icon with a teeny clock in the left lower corner. That is the exam. You will be able to start at 12:05 PM, and your deadline is 11:55 PM.

I will probably release your scores when I get up Friday morning, first thing. This is normal, and it allows me to double check problems. So do not worry that the score does not show up in your My Grades page right away like the mini-quizzes.

I will try to get on AIM this afternoon and tonight for last minute queries from you.

By the way, I highly recommend that for safety, you do not operate any other browser windows or AIM during the test, or it could screw up your browser and you'd be sunk. This goes double for those of you on a Windows computer; they can be really touchy. So talk to me on course mail or AIM before the test but not during the test.

Have a good exam!!!!

Midterm exam 1 tomorrow, 12:05 PM til 11:55 PM.

Tomorrow is midterm examination 1. I see you guys are working really hard. That is good.

Your exam in Webcourses will be 50 questions, one point per question. They will be multiple choice, true/false with maybe a matching or scrambled sentence question or so in there. There will be a few basic calculations, maybe one or two brain-burner calculations, but mostly it will be concepts questions. It will look a lot like the mini-quizzes for the chapters.

You will have 60 minutes. Once you start, 60 minutes later, you have to be done.

Availability is from 12:05 PM lunchtime until 11:55 PM. So block out one hour in your schedule for the exam.

You can take it from anywhere, but make sure that your internet connection is rock solid and that your computer is super reliable. If your gear flakes out on you in the middle of the exam, you are going to be high and dry. I can do nothing about your computer, and UCF tells us instructors not to troubleshoot your internet service. Instead, UCF expects you to be responsible for that. So be semi-paranoid about your computer.

Take the exam early as possible. Sometimes students who wait until 10 PM will have troubles - no one is sure why, but most exam troubles occur later in the evening.

Study hard. Be ready to read carefully and to think!

Podcast update

I just published some more exercise podcasts at Uvision. There are exercises up to and including chapter 6, even numbered exercises. I will be creating a few strategic podcasts for exercises in chapter 7 and 8.

There is also a lecture on projectile motion and gravitation on the lecture side of Uvision.

Podcasting of lectures and exercise helps

I have set up a visual podcasting site for my lecture classes that you online students might find helpful. It is called Uvision.

Uvision

Take a look at it, subscribe to the two visual podcasts (lectures and exercises) with iTunes, and see how you like it. There are basic instructions for new users on the welcome page.

A few parts of the lecture podcasts might not make sense to you, like mentions of CPS, but the main part: yes, it ought to help you learn. Give it a shot.

e-chapters look nice

Some of you are working with e-chapters instead of the hardcover textbook. I just bought the Chapter 5 e-chapter, $3.99, and it downloads nicely.

However, it is a "sealed" PDF file, so it requires a special viewer that integrates with Acrobat Reader. I am on a Macintosh Powerbook, Tiger 10.4.10, Adobe Reader 8.10, and it took me a few minutes to figure out I needed a special viewer. But I downloaded the special "Sealed Media" viewer and it now lets Adobe Reader handle the e-chapter just fine. You have to sign-in to the e-chapter, with a username and password.

To work through this process, there is an eChapters FAQ that explains the special viewer. Look at FAQ #6. They also have instructions for you if you have a Windows computer.

The chapter 5 e-chapter looks righteous. Good substitute for the actual textbook.

Grading and patience

Please be patient with the grading process for mini-case study questions. It takes time. I have over 300 questions to read!!! They will be getting graded, a few dozen at a time, but not instantaneously, like the chapter mini-quizzes. So the fewer course mail messages about when will my questions be graded? - the sooner they WILL be graded!

In the meantime, concentrate on the learning module, using the three concept guides to guide your way.

e-chapters work nicely, according to ...

According to one of the students in our section, the e-chapters work fairly nicely:

About Thomson online ordering

Yes, purchasing the e-chapters is fairly straightforward. I do think it's easier to print out each e-chapter for studying vs. trying to read the the whole chapter on your computer, though. Overall it's a great alternative to have if you're having problems acquiring the text book in a timely manner. - J.

There you have it. The Thomson online ordering link is in the home page.

Course mail only

Please remember to contact me only with course mail in Webcourses. I do not respond to conventional email.

Two new mini-quizzes UP

I just activated mini-quizzes for chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 is the big one about gravitation.

TurnItIn bonus UP; mini-case study in process.

I just put up the bonus point for registering at TurnItIn.com, and you can see it in your My Grades page.

Also, I am in the process of grading mini-case study questions, and everyone who has posted their two questions as of 8 AM Saturday has a score. This is just me getting a head start. Those who post later on will be graded later; deadline is still Tuesday, Sept. 4, 11:55 PM.

Grades so far: mostly 6 points, a few 5s and 4s. I also inserted a comment area about your mini-case study questions, like if I really like it or if it had some problems. Not everybody got a comment though, if the question looked good.

I will also start grading the Oceans/Visbeck question today.

Continue digging in on the Sir Isaac Newton Learning Module, especially the study activities listed in the concept guides.

Mini-case study is ready to go.

The mini-case study is now up and available to start working on. It involves some reading on an excellent web site about Leonardo da Vinci and an article in Nature about the North Korea nuclear test last fall.

Due date is Sept. 4, next Tuesday, at 11:55 PM. You will post your writing inside the Discussions area. Click on the man-carrying-pencil icon on our homepage inside Webcourses for full instructions.

Sign-in method via my.ucf.edu portal

In case you encounter weird password troubles at the standard Webcourses sign-in page,

http://webcourses.ucf.edu

you can also try the My.UCF.edu portal. They have a new sign-in feature that will show all your online course areas, whether in the old WebCT or the new Webcourses.

Instructions for New! Online Course Tools Tab.

The modification to your portal page is kind of weird - you deactivate some stuff in order to activate the new tab. But it seems to work. Here is what the new "Online Course Tools" tab looks like on my portal page,


(dark grey tab by fountain)

Mini-quizzes for each chapter

There are some new mini-quizzes since yesterday: one for each of chapters 2, 3 and 4, and more will be released soon, so that you have one for each chapter in the Sir Isaac Newton Learning Module.

So click on the home page's little Sir Isaac Newton icon, and you will see all the mini-quizzes plus the rest of the study materials in the learning module.

Sir Isaac Newton Learning Module is now UP

The first learning module for the semester, the Sir Isaac Newton
Learning Module, is now UP on the homepage in Webcourses. Click on
its icon to see a bunch of study activities to work on, and keep you
eye on it over the next few weeks, as I add new stuff in to work on.

Password help to Webcourses

There are two help links if you have password troubles when trying to enter Webcourses.ucf.edu.

1. Login Help
2. Login and Password information

Both of these links are on the Webcourses sign-in page.

First week to-do list

You can now click in to the PSC1121-0W62 area of Webcourses. Your objectives until Sunday evening are the following:

1. Work on the "First Week To-Do List" which is a small learning module, linked on the home page.
2. Get your textbooks.
3. STUDY AHEAD: Skim and eyeball the diagrams and figures in
   1. chapter 5 (gravitation),
   2. chapter 15 (waves), and
   3. chapter 20 (electromagnetism).

Final exam, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007

Our final examination will be on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007, between noon and 11:55 PM. Make sure to clear your schedule to have that day free for your exam. You will need a two-hour block of time for the final exam.

Day 1

I will probably open our Webcourses area for you on Wednesday.

Until then, you can do these things:

1. Read the announcements on Blogspot. Our announcements for fall semester PSC1121-0W62 are at

http://online1121.blogspot.com/


2. Purchase the two required textbooks. I have them listed at the above Blogspot. I suggest buying them online; I have not asked the UCF bookstore to supply your textbooks this semester.


3. Do not buy anything other than the textbook and problem solving manual. WebCT Access codes are not required and we will not use them. ThomsonNOW access codes are not required and we will not use them. There are no clickers required and we will not use any of them.

4. If you already have the textbook, you can start skimming and looking over diagrams and figures in chapters 5, 11 and 20.


On Wednesday, after lunch, there will be a list of things to do for the first few days before we launch into the first main learning module.

Wednesday, I will also have the midterm exam schedule and grading scale up, inside Webcourses.

Required textbooks

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

1. Authors: Kirkpatrick and Francis
   Title: Physics: A World View
   ISBN: 049501088X
   Edition:6


2. Authors: Kirkpatrick and Francis
   Title: Problem Solving for Physics: A World View
   ISBN: 0495010936
   Edition:6