Grading

Faculty legislation requires that all submitted assignments, exams, and quizzes require your signature below a statement that states your compliance with the Wheaton Honor Code. In this course, violations of the Honor Code will not be tolerated.

In the past, I have found plagiarism to be a particular problem in classes with take-home exams or writing assignments. Please consult the website that describes this Honor Code violation in detail. Materials submitted in this course that are deemed to be plagiaristic will receive a score of zero. Additional violations will result in a grade of "F" for the course. If you have any doubts about what you are writing and whether or not it constitutes plagiarism, please feel free to consult me or your T.A. before you turn in that work. A first offense will be not be graded. A second offense will result in a zero for that assignment. A third offense will result in an "F" for the entire course. Remember: If in doubt, check it out --with me BEFORE you turn it in.

Your grade will be comprised of a combination of gateway exams, homeworks, and a course project (one of two possible projects under planning). Points are distributed over these evaluation forms as follows:

Gateway exams will be given as open-book, open-note take-home exams. You are encouraged to work with classmates on these exams, and/or to discuss them with me as you work on them. Final submissions of the exam, however, should be in your own words. You are on your honor to complete all assignments in the course in compliance with the Wheaton Honor Code.

A guide to taking these and other take-home exams can be found here. Exams are due by 11:00am in class on the date indicated on the syllabus, unless otherwise indicated by the instructor in class. Late exams will not be accepted--NO EXCEPTIONS. Absolutely no make-ups will be given. If you know in advance that you will be unable to attend class on the day that an exam is due, PLEASE let me know. Other arrangements can be made.

Exam answers should be typed and double-spaced, with adequate margins for comments. Drawings or diagrams, when necessary, need not be word-processed. At all times, you should show your work (partial credit might be possible for good thinking albeit faulty math!)

Exam questions will cover material from the text, from any additional required reading or guest lectures, from lab exercises and other class activities, from films and videotapes seen in class, and from lecture material. There will be some lecture material that will not be available in the text, and similarly, I will not review all of the text material in class. None-the-less you will be held responsible for all information presented, no matter what the format. Please note that there is no final exam in this course.

Course Project

To complete this service learning project, you will be required to meet with your student teams regularly, to give them informal lessons on Newton’s Laws of Motion and other “physics of energy” topics that will assist them completing their part of the audit, and with designing, building, and testing prototypes. Wheaton will provide materials when possible, and you will serve as team coaches. You’ll be asked to keep a design journal along with your middle school students. You will also be asked to document the process of energy lesson plans, prototype design and construction, and learning that takes place over the semester. This documentation should be put together with other materials you generate into a final portfolio that will be presented in class at the end of the semester. You’ll here more about this project in the next few weeks.

Minimally, we will meet with our NMS students weekly during the first hour of our lab meeting, 2-3pm on Thursdays. If the parents of the students agree, we will also meet our NMS teams occassionally on Friday mornings from 7:30-8:30am. Check your schedule and the syllabus schedule now, and note these meeting times and dates in your datebook or calendar.

You may also submit copies of news articles that you hear on the radio, read in the newspaper, or see on-line, accompanied by a short essay in which you relate what you have been learning in this course to the news article you submit. Extra credit can raise your grade no more than a third of a grade step: for example, from a “B” to a “B+,” but not from a “B” to an “A-” or an “A.”

The following criteria will be used to grade more subjective assignments:

I. "A" Work: work of consistently high standard, showing distinction in such qualities as organization, accuracy, originality, understanding, insight.

II. "B" Work: Work that is decidedly above average. "B" grades generally imply that the student: a) exceeds average requirements, b) is usually alert and active in class discussions and gives evidence of some critical attitude and good judgment, c) exercises noticeable care in preparing assignments, and gives evidence of doing some independent reading, d) is eager to learn and willing to profit from direction and criticism, e) has some ability to transfer the general principles of the course to other situations.

III. "C" Work: Work that fulfills essential requirements in quality and quantity, and meets the acceptable minimum standard for satisfactory progress at Wheaton College. A "C" grade of some kind implies that the student: a) performs the required assignments regularly from day to day, b). is attentive during class and gives adequate answers, c). is usually careful, neat, and accurate in all work, d) masters the facts of general significance, e). uses at least occasionally material from preceding sources, when appropriate, but needs additional assistance.

IV. "D" Work: Work that falls below the minimum standard acceptable for satisfactory progress at Wheaton College.

V. "F" Work: Work that is unsatisfactory.

The instructor reserves the right to grade on a curve if the class distribution requires it.

• READ EVERY DAY (Even if it is only for ten minutes!) If you do this for every course and every day--at the end of the week, you'll have read over an hour's worth of material for each class!
• TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU READ.
• THINK ABOUT THE QUESTIONS AT THE END OF TEXT CHAPTERS. THINK OF SOME ANSWERS TO THEM IN YOUR HEAD. YOU MAY SEE SOME OF THEM AS QUIZ OR ESSAY QUESTIONS. (HINT HINT!!)
• TURN IN YOUR WORK ON TIME!
• ACTIVELY INTEGRATE THE MATERIAL YOU READ WITH OTHER MATERIAL THAT MIGHT BE RELEVANT (I.E, OTHER AREAS OR IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY, BIOLOGY, OR OTHER DISCIPLINES).
• BE AN ACTIVE CLASS PARTICIPANT.
• MAKE ME WORK FOR YOU--IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, STOP ME AND ASK FOR CLARIFICATION.
• COME TO CLASS EVERY DAY! BE SURE THAT YOU DON'T MISS ANY QUIZZES OR TAKE HOME EXAMS! (If you have to miss class be sure to call me at school or at home as soon as you can.)
• DO THE EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS
• RELAX AND ENJOY THE COURSE! DON'T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT GRADES. TO BORROW A PHRASE FROM ANOTHER PROFESSOR HERE AT WHEATON, A STUDENT WHO IS WORRYING ABOUT GRADES IN A CLASS INSTEAD OF ABOUT WHAT HE OR SHE IS LEARNING IS LIKE A PERSON AT A GOURMET RESTAURANT WORRYING TOO MUCH ABOUT TABLE MANNERS. YOU CAN MISS A REALLY GOOD MEAL THAT WAY.