Last major learning module is now UP.

Your week 15 learning module is now UP in Webcourses. It is the last major learning module for the semester. Post your questions about it in the Discussions area.

Next week, I think I will put together a mini-review quiz to get you back into the flow of all the topics from Exams 1, 2 and 3. Remember: the final exam covers EVERYTHING this semester!!!!!

Week 14 learning module is UP.

Students, there is a new learning module for this week. It includes a link to the visual podcast site, which has a few new podcasts and some digital video newly re-linked.

One more ch. 21 podcast, concerning circuits.

YAY. Another chapter 21 podcast, for Exercise 18, p. 445, which is about circuits. You can also use the podcast to tackle exercise 17, 19 and 20, which are very similar to exercise 18.

Plus, the podcast ends with an open-ended brain-burner that we can talk about in Webcourses discussions.

New podcast plus two digital videos

The Uvision visual podcast site has a new podcast about batteries and currents, based on two conceptual questions from chapter 21.

Also, I have got the links re-established for two digital videos on static electric field behaviors.

1. Static cling shows the electric field, even field lines, for a toy balloon. This to the concept of induced attraction and field lines in chapter 20.
2. Electromagnetic interaction is a digital video of the polarization demonstration shown in Fig. 20-5.

This week's learning module

The learning module for this week is now up in Webcourses. Lots to do.

Total semester points now up to date.

The "Total semester points" row in your My Grades page is now up to date: best two of three midterms + writing points plus whatever bonus points you have. That is 80 + 20 regular points possible plus whatever bonus points you have snagged. Almost everybody has at least a bonus point or so.

So... we have 100 regular points on the books. This means your total semester points today gives you the percentage level of your semester work as you go into the final. The semester grades will not be final until we actually take the final exam, but going into the final here is how your grades work out:

1. If you have 90 or more points, you are carrying an A average into the final.
2. If you have 75 points or more, that is a B average, going into the final.
3. 60 points or more, and you have a C average going into the final exam.
4. A passing grade, D average, going into the final is 50 points or more.
5. Fewer than 50 points now means you have a failing grade going into the final.

Don't get too confident or lackadaisical -- that final exam is 80 big points and it's going to be rugged, if for no other reason than it being cumulative, every topic since September.

So continue to bear down and study like crazy. Finish strong, and take home your absolute best performance.

90%

I see that 90 percent of you have taken all three midterms. Excellent. This means that you will have the luxury of dropping the lowest midterm exam score of the three and keeping the best two scores.

Exam 3 scores UP.

I just released your scores for Exam 3.

I will be working on the grades for a while, setting up the best two of three midterm exams and "dropping" the lowest of the three. So don't be surprised if grades disappear for a few minutes and then re-appear. THis is how it looks when I am uploading and downloading Excel files of grades etc. Don't worry.

Exam 3 is ready to go.

Your Exam 3 is ready to go as of 12:05 PM today.

There are 35 items, 40 points. Finish by 11:59 PM tonight!

Six new podcasts

I just re-activated six podcasts on chapter 13 topics for you. Visit the new podcast page and click around.

Tomorrow I will make one or two new podcasts for chapter 15 exercises.

Mini-module

We have a new learning module ready for this week. It is a mini-module, covering a selection of wave concepts we need for studying electromagnetism. So the concept guide is a bit shorter, but I made the mini-quiz a bit larger than usual, just to give you some extra workouts.

Also, I will be podcasting exercises 16 and 20 in chapter 15, p. 312. Keep an eye on Announcements, when I am ready to publish them.

Learning module for thermal concepts is UP

The learning module for this week is now UP in Webcourses.

Comments:

1. The mini-quiz has a brain-burner combo that walks you through a tough question about mixing two liquids.
2. I re-posted links to the grading scheme and the semester schedule, so that you can double check everything.