Please see the main course website for logistics and timeline.
Text: We will use prepared videos and online reading. We will also use a textbook: Physics of Societal Issues: Calculations on National Security, Environment, and Energy, 2nd edition, David Hafemeister, Springer 2014, available at the book store. And guess what? it’s copyrighted for public use!, So you can buy it at the bookstore, or download it for free here. The author, DH, is a Cal Poly emeritus physics professor. He taught his last class with me at age 81, PHYS-310, in 2015.
Grading: You will be graded based on watching the videos, weekly assessments, three self-interventions, and a group project to be presented during finals exam time. Your final grade will be roughly half your assessment scores, and half your project score. You are expected to responsibly watch videos and do the self-interventions (count as video watching) in order to stay up with the class and participate fully… and is required for a good grade in the class (explained below). The class is not competitive and I would like to see everyone earn an “A”. However, I expect that the final distribution will be “A-” or “B+” centered.
Assessments: We’ll have weekly assessments every Monday starting week 3. I’ll drop the lowest two assessment grades, so missing or bombing up to two assessments will not affect your grade. Assessment questions will be cumulative, covering all previous material, but likely more heavily weighted toward the most recent homework assignment.
Homework: We’ll have weekly homework assignments due Friday. Solutions will be posted after the HW is collected. Homework will be graded and recorded, but not counted toward your final grade. Your motivation for doing homework should be to learn the material, build community and group working skills with others in the class, and to prepare you for compelling discussions at social events. You may hand in your problem set as a group. You can either staple all your papers together (in which case only one will be looked at) or hand in a single problem set as a group with everyone’s name on it. I will not collect late homework as I’ve found I often lose them. However, you can turn in late homework in the envelope outside my door.
Grading: homework and assessment are graded A,B,C,D,F. The most basic step is to first outline the concept being used. You will need to explain your reasoning to get any credit at all. To receive an “A”, you will need to reflect on your answer to verify that it makes sense.
Projects: You will research an energy problem and solution with a group of 3-4 students. These are open ended “service learning” projects whereby you engage with an outside community or “client”. Thus quantitative project goals are not possible. You will independently research and learn about your project area. You will professionally communicate with your community and/or other student groups in this class or the appropriate technology class, or research students. You will build a professional website and make a professional presentation at the end of the class. You will gain some real world information and teach us some interesting things we don’t know already. You will make recommendations as to how the project should continue or not continue. You may “succeed” or “fail”. A valiant failure with reflection will receive high acclaim. You will have some feedback along the way from your websites and our discussions as to how you’re doing. The bar for the projects is very middle. Rather than strive for excellence, we strive for “goodness”. I will inquire into your group to verify that your participation was supportive and helpful… that you did your part in the group.
Videos: Most of the initial information for the class is introduced via videos that you watch via PlayPosit. If you don’t watch the videos, your grade will be reduced by the amount described below in “videos”.
Videos, Preparing for Class: It is imperative that we come to class prepared. Please watch the videos by following the links on the class timeline (not to the PlayPosit website as I may not have the videos displayed on PlayPosit) before class and do any reading and exercises before class starts. Please watch the videos on time for every class until the end of the video and answer all the questions. You are graded for answering video questions not on getting them right. If you watch 90% of the videos on time, then you will receive full credit. If you miss a video, you should still watch it to learn the material, and you will receive half credit for watching it late. Your final grade will be lowered by twice the % of the videos that you watch less than 90%. So if you watch 75% of the videos, your grade will be docked (90% – 75%)*2 = 0.3, or about the difference between an “A” and an “A-“. If you watch none of the videos, it will lower an “A” to about a “C”.
In order to get credit for the videos, you will have to get a subscription to PlayPosit, which is free. You will be prompted for a password when you click on a video link for the first time. Please make up a password that you will remember, because retrieving them is hard.
Formula Sheets:
I will not provide you with a formula sheet for the exams. You are welcome to build your own formula sheet provided it has no more than 200 characters and no drawings. I recommend that you start a formula sheet now and add formulas as they appear in the videos, and dropping old ones you don’t need anymore.