Message Archive - Ph 121, Spring 2008
(1) Welcome to Physics 121! Expect to work hard and to succeed! (4/18/2008)
(2) If you discover an error in any of the materials posted in the links on this webpage (except those items over which your instructor has no
control) please be the first to inform your instructor by email (cgchristensen@byu.edu) and earn a bonus quiz/homework point. Such
points will be accumulated under Quiz #0. (4/22/2008)
(3) FYI: The instructions I have given to the graders for scoring your work can be found by clicking here. (5/2/2008)
(4) A number of you have asked if it is possible to make the sample problems we do in lecture generally available. Hereafter that will be
the case. To access the sample problems associated with a particular lecture, go to the Course Schedule and click on the date. (It will
take awhile to make a large number of such problems available as each must be scanned and a link created.) As of the time this
message was posted, the available problems included only those associated with the lectures of Wednesday, May 7, and Friday, May 9.
(5/7/2008)
(5) When you go to the testing center to take your first unit test be sure to take (1) an exam cover with any handwritten additions you may
have made, (2) several blank sheets of paper, (3) a pencil, (4) a hand held calculator (no laptops). (5/9/2008)
(6) Please read the mini-essay "The Lazy Physicist." (5/12/2008)
(7) It has come to my attention that the room number given (prior to now) in the syllabus for the Tutorial Lab (N361) was incorrect. It should
have been N304. N361 is used for Ph 121 during Fall and Winter Semester, but during Spring and Summer Terms, because of smaller
enrollments, the labs for Ph 105, 106, 121, 123 and 220 are combined in N304. I apologize to any of you who have had difficulty locating
the tutorial lab because of this error. (5/20/2008)
(8) Earn up to 10 bonus homework points! You can do so by submitting directly to Dr. C one suitable conceptual, i.e., not involving a
calculation, multiple choice question for the final exam. You must also supply the answer to your question. The question may be based
on any material covered during the term. The deadline for submission of a question is 12 pm on Friday, June 13. You will be scored by
Dr. C's subjective evaluation of the suitability of your question for use on the test. Originality will be highly valued. A bonus for
submitting a good question is that you could possibly encounter your own question when you take the final. (6/7/2008)
(9) You can earn 5 additional homework points by submitting a teacher evaluation. I would be especially appreciative of your comments
which specify what you have liked and what you have not liked about the course. In order for me to know you did the evaluation you
must release your name when you do so. I will not be able to determine which responses are yours. I will only know that you
responded. (6/7/2008)
(10) Strategy for a better test performance. (6/7/2008)
(11) Please submit your exam cover with Unit Test #3. It will be returned to you before the final, even if your exam is not yet graded. (6/7/2008)
(12) If you used the physics tutorial lab this term, you are invited to rate those tutors who assisted you. To do so, please visit the rating form
and tutor photos at Physics Tutors. (6/7/2008)
(13) Please click here to see a copy of the Final Examination Instructions. Then there will be no surprises awaiting you at the Testing Center.
Since the exam will be machine graded, It is especially important that you understand how to code your answers. If you have any
questions regarding coding or any other instructions, please ask your instructor. (6/13/2008)
(14) Those of you who submitted possible final exam questions will eventually find your extra-credit points posted as "Homework Assignment
#24" when you visit your score listing. Note that the "maximum possible score" for this assignment has been set to one. At the same
time the maximum possible score for assignment #1 has been reduced by one. This insures that assignment #24 will both show up when
you visit the score site and also count as extra credit. (6/16/2008)
(15) There was one bad question on the final exam. The correct answer was not available as a choice. I have therefore given most of you
two extra points. Eight of you did not receive extra points as you had already earned two points for giving the wrong answer which had
been indicated to be correct on the key. (6/23/2008)
(16) Extra-credit points for submitting a course evaluation have been posted to your record as Homework #25. Other extra credit points,
except those for submitting possible final exam questions (see #14 above), have been posted as Homework #26. Note that the "maximum
possible score" for assignments #25 and #26 has been set to one. At the same time the maximum possible score for assignment #1 was
reduced by two more points. This insures that assignments #25 and #26 both show up when you visit the score site and also count as
extra credit. (6/23/2008)
(17) The grades have now been calculated. Get your grade and percentage score from the Score and Current Grade box above, then
click here to see your class rank and how your overall score and grade compare with those of other class members. If you ask me for a
letter of recommendation for a job or graduate program application, this is part of the information I will pass on to your potential
employer or graduate school. (6/23/2008)