"There are more things in Heaven and Earth,

Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy."

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act I, scene 5.

Read this entire page and know that you are expected to understand all of the prior conditions

and requirements stated below before you move on to the form page.

 

DO NOT SKIP OVER ALL OR PART OF THIS PAGE.

What is Physics? Physics is considered to be the most basic of the natural sciences. It deals with the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions as well as the nature of atoms and the build-up of molecules and condensed matter. It tries to give unified descriptions of the behavior of matter as well as of radiation, covering as many types of phenomena as possible. In some of its applications, it comes close to the classical areas of chemistry, and in others there is a clear connection to the phenomena traditionally studied by astronomers. Although chemistry and astronomy are clearly independent scientific disciplines, both use physics as a basis in the treatment of their respective problem areas, concepts and tools. To distinguish what is physics and chemistry in certain overlapping areas is often difficult. Present trends are even pointing toward a closer approach of some areas of physics and microbiology.

 

So what is the BIG difference between this hybrid course and the regular on-campus class? Well, labs are the same, but class is quite different. It boils down to this. In the hybrid physics course, you will need to read and prepare before the weekly class - which is more of a problem-solving meeting than an old-fashion lecture. This means you will have to read the text and practice problems on your own or with fellow classmates through the forum before you come to class. You will be guided in detail on the Weekly Activities page on the course web site. In so doing, you will be able to understand and learn how to apply physics.

There will be one class on-campus a week and also one on-campus lab a week - usually on the same day. Rest of the work is guided from the course web site through the Internet. Attendance to the weekly on-campus class is required. The on-campus lab is also mandatory each week. For the specific dates and times for the on-campus meetings, check the MTC "Search for Classes" page for PHY 221.

This is the first of a sequence of transferable courses - PHY 221 & PHY 222. The course includes a calculus-based treatment of the following topics:

• Units, measurements, and notations

• Scalars and vectors

• Kinematics and dynamics in both one and two dimensions

• Newton's laws of motion

• Circular motion

• Gravitation and orbital mechanics

• Work, power, and energy

• Impulse and momentum

• Elastic and inelastic collisions

• Static equilibrium

• Related topics of current interest are included in the course.

There is a weekly lab that goes along with this course, making this a 4.0 credit course. The prerequisite is MAT 140 - Calculus I.

 

This course is not on WebCT nor Desire 2 Learn. The main course web site and support sites like this orientation are all coded, developed, and maintained by me on the college's servers. If there are problems with any web pages or links, just e-mail me and I'll fix it.

 

This is not a self-paced course, nor is it easier than the on-campus course - for some it is harder. To be successful in this internet course you must be a self-motivated, hard worker, and follow all the guidelines outlined herein. This course is very similar to the version taught on campus.

It is your responsibility to set up and maintain your computer, ISP, and browser to readily access all parts of this course. If your computer is inoperable in any way, you must fix it and/or find an alternative. You will need considerable computer skills to complete this course.

 

You must have nearly daily access to a computer with an Internet connection with a personal email account. (Do not use someone else's email account and be wary of free accounts like hotmail or yahoo. Many say they never have problems with these or similar free-based accounts, but problems always seem to arise.)

 

To easily explain how to check and/or change your Java, JavaScript, cache, and several other computer settings, go to the Computer How To's.

A discussion forum is a web site where you may post questions, answers, and comments. The one for our class is called the Big G. This forum is very important mode of communication between students for PHY 221. You will be expected ask and answer questions of fellow students each week on the forum. Any important announcements from the professor will be posted there as well; you should check in to the forum roughly every other day.

 

Please post an acceptable, astronomy-related entry or respond to someone else's post 3 days out of that same 7-day week. Doing this means you are not only properly participating in this course, but makes you eligible to receive extra credit when it is offered.

 

If you have a question of the professor, then use the email form on the website - the forum is basically for student-to-student conversations.

The lab is dealt with the same as all other PHY 221 labs. It will be held weekly on-campus and generally taught by another instructor. In this course, labs do not necessarily reproduce what is done in class. Each lab comes with a detailed introduction that may present new material, so you will need to prepare for each lab beforehand. There are no make-up labs, so don't miss lab.

 

- You will need this text and other materials. Work from the text will be assigned often throughout the term - starting the first week. -

You will need access to a computer at least 3 days out of the week, and a personal, reliable e-mail account.

Since most of the work for this course is done at home or elsewhere, participation becomes the standard for attendance. Active participation on weekly the class forum "Big G", submissions of any assignments, going to labs, and taking the exams are considered in determining attendance.

 

If 5 absences are earned, you must drop or be withdrawn from the class with a "W" or "WF". Here is how attendance is measured in this internet course. You must

• take all class quizzes and the final exam (missed quiz is an absence)

• submit all labs (missed lab is an absence).

• attend each weekly con-campus class meeting.

During inclement weather if there is a question about whether the college is closed, please check WIS TV, the MTC web site (www.midlandstech.edu) and/or call the school (803-738-8324) for information. If the College closing or reopening time falls during a scheduled class meeting and leaves at least 30 minutes of class time available the class will meet. For example, if the College delays opening until 10:00 am lecture classes that normally meet at 8:00 am will not meet. Classes that normally meet from 9:35 am until 11:00 am WILL meet at 10 am (since there are more than 30 minutes left in the scheduled class period). Labs that meet from 8:00 am until 10:50 am WILL meet. If the college closes at 8:00 pm, 6:00 pm lecture classes would meet for their regular time, but 7:35 pm classes would NOT meet since there are fewer than 30 minutes remaining in the class.

 

Withdrawal:  If you want to drop from the course, don't expect someone to do if for you. Do it yourself. Missed exams, labs, and other assignments will count as zeroes - which may result in an "F" unless you officially drop the course yourself.

 

I have developed this course web site and its many support web sites over the last decade. In fact this was the first MTC science internet/hybrid course. I love physics and astronomy and thus have spent considerable efforts to develop many useful tools and techniques within this site to help teach you and also lead you toward learning the foundations of physics.

 

I know not many, if any, of you want to be a physicist - I am an experimental atomic physicist actually; however, I take my position seriously in helping you learn enough about physics that you are better educated and more well-informed that most of the people in the world on knowing about the workings of the universe.

 

As for me as a person, well you will learn more about that from our web site and our interactions. I look forward to meeting and/or communicating with you.

There are two types of tests in this course: quizzes and the Final Exam. There will 6 or so quizzes given throughout the term. The quiz format may be multiple choice, identification, definitions, short answers, essay, problem-solving and/or a mixture of these formats. I will not be any more precise at this time, because the emphasis will be on learning the concepts and nature of physics - not on the nature of testing. The quizzes and the final exam are all designed for you to take at-home on specific testing dates. If you miss one quiz or do poorly on one, then the final exam grade will be duplicated to replace it If you miss more than one quiz, then the grade will be zero on those.

This entire orientation, coupled with the web site's FAQ, constitute the heart of the syllabus; however, a concise document is prepared and set for you to download from the course web site once you successfully complete this orientation. However, here are a few highlights that you might like to know now:

 

Drop/Add

If you complete this orientation form and start the class, you may only drop it for another class (perhaps an on-campus physics section) during the Drop/Add period during the first week. After that, you may not move from one physics section to another.

Prerequisites

College-level calculus (MAT 140).

Course Grading

Grading Scale:	A 100-90 B 89-80 C 79-70 D 69-60 F 59-0
Grading:	60% Quizzes 15% Final Exam 25% Lab

The final exam counts the same as a class exam - and may also replace a low or missed class exam.

Email will be our 2^nd most important form of on-line communication in this course other than our forum - Big G. If you don't use the online email form to contact me but instead use your own emailer, please make sure to always put PHY 221 in the subject heading along with your name and email topic. By doing that, my filtering system is sure to catch your email and bring it to the top of my list. This is important because I receive about 45 to 75 e-mails a day associated with my internet astronomy and physics courses, both my on-campus physics courses and hybrid physics courses, and of course, my professional correspondences.

 

IMPORTANT: You will be receiving email from your professor from both of these email servers: midlandstech.edu and sc.rr.com, so set your email client to accept both. If you have email set for only those who fill out a request, you must do that yourself - I have too many students to fill out such forms.

Make sure you include the course and section number in the subject

heading to ensure your email does not get trashed as potential spam.

If you have more questions about the course, feel free to ask them on the class forum once you get this orientation completed or in class. Also check out and read the FAQs on the site which may answer many of those questions. So having read all of the above, you are now ready to complete the online orientation form.

 

If you complete the form on the next page correctly, you will receive within 24 hours the needed URL for the course website and the required username and password to enter.