Please check http://www.trentu.ca/timetable/ to confirm times and locations.
Type: Lab Section PHYS-2091H-A-F01
Day: Wednesday
Time: 11:00 to 13:50
Location: SC 305 and SC 317
To be announced.
Academic Administrative Assistant: Colleen Berrigan
This is an in-person, hands-on, lab course designed to meet the needs of future elementary school teachers. We meet for a three-hour session each class. We cover selected topics taken from, or related to, the Ontario Curriculum for grades 1-8 where basic concepts are often misunderstood. Primary topics will include simple circuit and circuit elements, static electricity, forces, pulleys, levers, and gears. Students will work with their classmates to investigate physical systems, develop their own models to explain how they work, and refine those models through guided activities and group and classroom discussions.
Course activities have been developed to address several learning outcomes. By the end of the course a successful student should:
A $20 printing and lab resources fee is due by the second class. Make cheques payable to Trent University Department of Physics and Astronomy. You may eTransfer the fee to the instructor at jbeda@trentu.ca. Use your student number as the "secret code" and be sure to indicate your Trent email address. If you need a receipt for the fee, include a note with your payment with your name and Trent email address.
(Provided in class upon payment of fee)
Title: Powerful Ideas in Physical Science
Author: American Association of Physics Teachers
Course activities include: weekly in-person, hands-on lab exercises done in small groups; worksheets to develop and record new knowledge; weekly homework assignments to provide practice using newly explored ideas and skills; weekly personal journal entries exploring ideas about science, education and society; two short written assignments/projects on topics relevant to the course; a mid-course quiz covering topics investigated in the first four labs of the course; and a comprehensive final exam covering all details of the course. See myLearningSystem/Blackboard for detailed lab, assignment, quiz, and exam information.
In order to maximize student engagement in all aspects of the course, while remaining consistent with Trent's Undergraduate Calendar, the detailed weightings of the aspects of the course grades will be decided by the entire class after the start of the course. As required, the class decision will be posted in a revised syllabus when it has been finalized. The following is approximately what previous classes have decided upon:
| Type of activity | Approximate Weighting (in previous classes) |
Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Labs (drop lowest score) | 33.16 % | - in class, that day |
| Homework (drop lowest score) | 12.56 % | - in class, next class |
| Journals + Participation | 7.00 % + 2.50 % | - in class, that day |
| Assignments (two) | 19.97 % | - approx weeks 4/5 & 10/11 |
| Quiz | 11.13 % | - approx week 6-7 |
| Final Exam | 13.69 % | - April exam period |
| Total | 100.00 % | - end of course |
The final date for withdrawal from Winter term courses is Monday, March 15, in Week 09. By this time students should have completed at least five out of eight Lab and Homework assignments, making up about 28% of all graded material, in addition to one of the two written assignments, making up about another 10% of all graded material. Thus, students should have about 38% of their graded material completed and returned to them as of this date, well in excess of the required 25% of material.
See the online calendar tool of myLearningSystem/Blackboard for up-to-date scheduling information. The general schedule we will follow, subject to modifications as the class progresses, will be:
| Week number | Date | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Week 01 | 01/13 | Introductory exercises Start Lab E1 - What is it? |
| Week 02 | 01/20 | Finish Lab E1 - What is it? Start Lab E2 - Obstacleness and Oomph |
| Week 03 | 01/27 | Finish Lab E2 - Obstacleness and Oomph Assignment 1 Initial Due Date |
| Week 04 | 02/03 | Start Lab E3 - Electric Charges and Electric Currents Assignment 1 Peer Editing Due Date |
| Week 05 | 02/10 | Lab E4 - Capacitors in a Circuit Assignment 1 Final Due Date |
| Spring Reading Week | 02/15 - 02/19 | Spring Reading Week |
| Week 06 | 02/24 | Lab E5 - Parallel Circuits |
| Week 07 | 03/03 | Review Start Lab Ma1 - Pulleys |
| Week 08 | 03/10 | Quiz Finish Lab Ma1 - Pulleys |
| Week 09 | 03/17 | Lab Ma2 - Levers Assignment 2 Initial Due Date |
| Week 10 | 03/24 | Start Lab Ma3 - Gears Assignment 2 Peer Editing Due Date |
| Week 11 | 03/31 | Finish Lab Ma3 - Gears Assignment 2 Final Due Date |
| Week 12 | 04/07 | Finish any lab activities Student Led Review |
| Final Exam | Exam period - April 12-23 | Final Exam return of all graded materials |
Online resources are available including audio/video files, review exercises, class discussion forums, course calendar, and online assignment submissions. Access to this system is required for some aspects of the course. Links to myLearningSystem/Blackboard and other material are available at http://www.trentu.ca/academic/physics/jbeda/PHYS209x/
Assignments/Essays/Paper must be submitted electronically to the SafeAssign drop box in LearningSystem/Blackboard. SafeAssign uses plagiarism-checking software. Further information about SafeAssign will be provided on the class myLearningSystem/Blackboard site.
Departmental policy requires that a minimum of 35% must be obtained on the quiz and final exam components to pass this course. If not, a course grade of 45% is the maximum that can be assigned.
Due to the nature of the course activities, group work, and equipment and space limitations, there are no simple ways to make up for missed in-class activities - attendance at and participation in all classes is required to complete the course material.
Assignments are submitted the initial time for peer editing, returned by the peer editor to the author the next class and then submitted a final time the following class for grading by the instructor. Late initial submissions may not be accepted since a peer editor may not be available and thus the author may lose the opportunity to do peer editing of someone else’s work and thus the marks for that portion of the assignment (15% of the assignment total). Late or non return of the author’s paper by the peer editor will result in the peer editor being penalized 200% of the grade for the editing portion of the assignment (2 x 15% = 30% of the assignment total). A penalty of 20% per day may be applied to a late Final Submission of the assignment.
A penalty of 20% per day may be applied to a late submission of any other graded component of the course.
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from failure on an assignment to expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself – unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity website to learn more: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a disability and documentation from a regulated health care practitioner and feels that they may need accommodations to succeed in a course, the student should contact the Student Accessibility Services Office (SAS) at the respective campus as soon as possible.
Students in this class should be aware that classroom activities (lecture, seminars, labs, etc.) may be recorded for teaching and learning purposes. Any students with concerns about being recorded in a classroom context should speak with their professor. If a student shares or distributes course content in any way that breaches copyright legislation, privacy legislation, and/or this policy, the student will be subject to disciplinary actions under the Student Charter of Rights and Responsibilities or the relevant Academic Integrity Policy, at a minimum, and may be subject to legal consequences that are outside of the responsibility of the university. More details on sharing of course content are described in the policy found here: https://www.trentu.ca/artsci/sites/trentu.ca.artsci/files/documents/Policy%20on%20Sharing%20and%20Distribution%20of%20Course%20Content%202020-08-14.pdf