First week tasks

First week of classes is always dicey, people adding, people dropping and everybody nervous. So I always keep the task list fairly simple for the first week.

1. Get textbook.
2. Skim chapter 24, which is our target for the end of the semester. We will take a first glance at it this week, then come back to it by semester's end.
3. Check your understanding of Ch. 24 by taking the "Oceans 1" mini-quiz.
4. Try out the online journal access to read the Nature journal's news article about the Floridan aquifer system. It requires your 22103... library card number from your ID card, and your PID.
5. Double check the syllabus, with its exam schedule.

Time to GO! GO! GO!

Welcome to spring PSC1121 online!

Welcome to the PSC1121 online section for Spring of 2011.

For the first few days, we can start with

1. Some easy study in chapter 2 of the required textbook, Kirkpatrick & Francis, Physics: A Conceptual Overview Look for the red apple icon in the Weekly Learning Modules folder, in Webcourses.
2. Memorize the examination schedule, which is fixed. All three midterm examinations and the final examination are mandatory.
3. Click in to the iTunes U area and view some of the podcasts in your iTunes application.

The Webcourses website has a spec sheet of how you will earn your semester grade, exam schedule etc.

Summer B students

Your first day of Summer B session begins tomorrow, June 28. We will have some basic activities to do for the first day or so, then fire up "on all cylinders" by Wednesday.

Here is a list of things to do for first day of Summer B:

1. Bookmark this Announcements page. I use it frequently for announcing additions, changes, study suggestions etc. If you have a question for me, look here first for the answer.
2. Exam dates to memorize:

   July 8, 12:05 - 11:59 PM

   July 15, 12:05 - 11:59 PM

   July 22, 12:05 - 11:59 PM

   July 29, 12:05 - 11:59 PM

   Final Exam: August 6, 12:05 - 11:59 PM

   Four Thursdays and a Friday for the final exam. Exams are 60 minutes, available in the twelve hour windows on this list. Clear your schedule for those time slots. We have no room for error during summer.
3. By lunch time Monday, log in to Webcourses, where all our work will be. You can use the myUCF portal or the Webcourses "back door" which I prefer.
4. Get your UCF library card "activated" so that you can study the online journal articles from Nature and Science we will use to support the textbook readings.
5. Get your textbook squared away asap.
   1. 7th edition of Kirkpatrick & Francis, Physics: A Conceptual World View, and
   2. Problem Solving for Physics: A World View
   Both are required texts.
   Buyer beware: Amazon, eBay etc. can be too slow for summer B, but the publisher's website, Cengage Brain, is fast and has several modes for buying, renting or downloading eChapters. They ship very quickly.
6. I will have a mini-assignment on Tuesday morning for you, just to give you something to work on before the drop/add deadline.

First week is always come and go, start and stop, drop and add, and fussing with the registrar. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, expect to see the main components roll out for the first big week of work prior to exam 1.

Welcome aboard.

Get your library card ready for off-campus access NOW.

We will be reading scientific articles in online journals for spring semester, using the UCF library's proxy server. It works nicely but ONLY IF your library card is activated.

That being the case, it behooves you to get it activated. You can do so online, through the online journal access page. Follow the directions there for activation. Do it soon, because it takes some time for the library workers to get it done, and we will need to read articles during the first week of classes.

You can try out your library card by logging on to read this article about Saturn from Nature. Some sweet images of unusual rings!

First day of classes

Here is an alternate method for getting into Webcourses:
Log directly in to Webcourses, not using the UCF Portal

You can always use the MyUCF portal, but I find it propitious to use this alternate entry. Much faster, more reliable.

There is a "First Week To-Do List" in Webcourses, with a small set of study-related activities and a one Elvis-related task for 1 bonus point.

Note: due to delays in Webcourses administration, I did not get a chance to build up the Webcourse before this morning, so I will be putting in parts of the full syllabus and other activities today and Thursday.

Gulf stream questions are graded now, too.

OK, I just went in and graded up the last dozen or so postings, so now all the Fist Week To-Do List tasks are graded.

If you posted a scientific question there related to the Hopkin reading, you got one bonus point. Everyone else loses out.

First day of classes

Head over to Webcourses now for the "First Week To-Do List" of easy online tasks for the first week, due by Friday night, and with a few bonus points. The main physics learning modules will be released on Monday, Jan. 14. You can start reading ahead and scanning diagrams on your own in chapters 2-8, if you like.

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!!

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.

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).