PHYS
211/212 FAQ/Announcements
Announcements
8/19/08 - the website, listserv and syllabus are nominally ready.
FAQ
Exams
Please be sure to bring your student ID with you to take an exam. You will need to know you ID number for the test and the proctor will ask to see your ID before you are allowed to take the exam.
Cell phones and other electronic devices (PDA's, etc.) are not allowed to be used during the course of an exam.
If you arrive late to take an exam you will not be admitted after the first person to finish leaves.
Grading
All grading in this course is peer grading. Grading is done by a panel of students who have taken this class from me in the past. We do not return quizzes or exams to you but you are always welcome to stop by my office and have a look at them (as long as you do so in a timely manner). Your scores are recorded by codename in a spreadsheet that we update weekly. We can olny accept codenames written on a quiz or exam (or one that you give to me personally). Some restrictions apply to codenames: 10 lowercase alphanumeric characters or less, nothing that could identify you (no variations of your name, student number, etc.), and nothing obscene. If you have any questions concerning grading matters email the grading staff at my email address (hackmart@physics.isu.edu). Be sure to include "Attention Graders" in the subject line of your email.
When you submit a paper it goes to graders who will check your sources and use various web searching tools to scan your text. All of this occurs before I see your paper. If your paper consists of a series of "cut and pastes" from other sources it will probably come up in the screening process. If you have correctly quoted and/or cited material in an appropriate manner your paper will pass the screening process (you probably won't earn very many points with this approach but you will not be guilty of plagiarism). If not, I will be calling you in to discuss your work.
Plagiarism/Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism in PHYS211/212 historically has run the gamut from accidental and relatively minor to deliberate and egregious. Although serious instances of plagiarism/academic dishonesty are relatively rare in this course you should be aware that I still take the issue seriously. If you submit work represented as your own and it is determined that you have plagiarized another source or sources I will, at minimum, award zero to significantly less than maximum points for your effort. If I determine an intent to deceive on your part (egregious plagiarism or cheating) I will recommend to the chair of the Physics Department that you be dismissed from the course with a failing grade.
When you submit a paper it goes to graders who will check your sources and use various web searching tools to scan your text. All of this occurs before I see your paper. If your paper consists of a series of "cut and pastes" from other sources it will probably come up in the screening process. If you have correctly quoted and/or cited material in an appropriate manner your paper will pass the screening process (you probably won't earn very many points with this approach but you will not be guilty of plagiarism). If not, I will be calling you in to discuss your work.
My volume of email runs between 80 - 100 per day. Because of the high volume of mail I get, and the concomitant potential for importing viruses, all of my mail is screened before I see it. If you want to be sure that your email gets past screening please be sure to preface the subject line with "PHYS 21x-0x" followed by the subject of your email, e.g., "PHYS 211-01, Attention Graders"
My official email address is hackmart@physics.isu.edu. If you send an email to me, receive a response from a different address, and want to reply to that response please do so to the above address.
I will frequently email information concerning exams, deadline reminders, etc., to the class. If you would like to be on the mailing list for the class you may subscribe here.
Decorum
Please turn off your cell phones before class or set the ringer to an inaudible setting.
If you arrive late for class please be seated in the back of the room and cause as little disturbance as possible.
Please do not carry on side conversations in class during lecture.
Please be courteous to your colleagues.
If you are consistently or seriously in breach of any of the above you will be sanctioned in accordance with ISU's disruptive student policy.