Last Edited: August 20, 2016
Physics 10 – Introduction to Physics – Course Code 42908
Fall 2016
College of Alameda
Course Description: Introduction to Physics. Elementary study of major topics of physics: motion, forces, energy,
momentum, rotation, oscillation, sound, electromagnetics, light, quantum physics, atoms, nuclei,
and relativity. 4 units. (AA/AS area 1; CSU area B1, B3; IGETC area 5)
Prerequisites: Math 201 (elementary algebra) and Math 202 (geometry)
Learning Outcomes:
1. Using written language, students explain and discuss the physics concepts listed in the course content, and apply
them to everyday phenomena and interdisciplinary examples.
2. Students apply simple formulas to calculate measurable quantities that describe the physical environment
related to the concepts of physics.
3. Students explain and discuss physical principles underlying classroom demonstrations.
Instructor: Andrew Park
E-mail: bpark@peralta.edu (also available at a@bkpark.com)
Office Hours: (tentatively) Monday and Wednesday 2 – 3, and Tuesday 3 – 4 in Room 100, Peralta Science Annex,
860 Atlantic Ave., or by appointment
Course website:
 General course material (announcements, slides, etc.) is on Moodle at http://eperalta.org/fall2016;
 Textbook-related material is available on Connect at http://connect.mheducation.com
Course material: Most course material is available on Connect.
 Register online at: https://connect.mheducation.com/class/coa-phys10fa2016
o Use the 14-day courtesy access. When you are sure you will not drop this class,
you can pay online for access to the website through the end of semester. The
cost is about $45 for the semester and this covers all the material you need for
the class (other than the optional printed version of textbook).
 Textbook: You have access to the E-book version of The Physics of Everyday Phenomena
by Griffith and Brosing on Connect. You can also additionally purchase loose-leaf printed
version of the book through the website.
 Homework: All homework is posted on Connect at http://connect.mheducation.com.
 Lecture Videos/Slides: Lecture videos will be posted on Connect. Lecture slides will be posted on Connect and
Moodle.
Exams: There will be three midterm exams (Exams 1, 2, and 3) and one cumulative final exam. Because this is an online
class, following exam options will be available.
 OPTION A: Proctored, in-person exams in Room 100, Peralta Science Annex. For times and format, see “Exam
Policies” section of the syllabus.
 OPTION B: All-online option for exams available new this semester, to be taken in the same week as Option A.
 Differences between Option A and Option B: Option A is most similar to in-person exams in a traditional class
(closed book, limited notes allowed). Option B is an open-book exam (for security reasons), and the Option B
exam questions are written with this in mind.
 Choosing between Option A and Option B: If you can take in-person exam in Alameda, take Option A (alternate
times are available). A student who would do well in Option A exam should also do well in Option B exam, but if
you have not taken open-book exams in the past, you may be surprised.
(pg 1 of 5)
Last Edited: August 20, 2016
Course Policy
Registration: After the last day to register for classes (Sept. 3), you must be registered in the class in order for you to
receive credit. No students will be added after this date.
Attendance: This is an online class and no class attendance is required. There will be, however, participation
opportunities throughout the semester, for which you will be given credit.
Academic Integrity: Everything you turn in must be your own work. If you use sources other than the textbook, please
clearly cite it and give credit where it is due. Please refer to pg. 237-246 of College of Alameda 2015-2017
catalog for the college policy on academic dishonesty and possible disciplinary measures.
Tutoring: Physics tutors are usually available in Tutorial Center in the Math Lab on the 2nd floor of the LRC. Register for
the free COA course, Learning Resources LRNRE 501, 24 hours in advance of using any tutoring services.
Physics tutoring is also available at MESA center in Room 125.
Disability: Students who may need accommodation for their disabilities are encouraged to notify the instructor early in
the semester so that reasonable accommodations may be implemented. For example, if you have a learning
disability such as ADHD, you may be eligible for extended exam time. Please contact Disabled Students Programs
and Services at 510-748-2328.
HOMEWORK POLICIES
There are two types of homework available on Connect: LearnSmart (LS) and Exercises. You are required to finish the
LearnSmart module for the chapter before you can attempt the exercises for the chapter.
 LearnSmart: This is a great way to find out what you know and check that you are learning as you read the
textbook. Each question is related to a section of the textbook and the module will guide you through the
process. If you feel you know enough physics already, feel free to try answering questions first, but don’t be shy
about having to go back to the “Read” mode in the LearnSmart module.
 Exercises: Try out questions involving numerical calculations or other multiple-choice questions to check your
understanding of concepts—especially those that will be emphasized on the exams!
These assignments due as posted on Connect (also shown in schedule attached below). In general, LearnSmart module is
due about half a week before the related Exercises. With each homework assignment on Connect, check out the grading
policy for each assignment. Most assignments allow late and multiple submissions (with a small penalty in percentage
for late and multiple submissions).
Q&A FORUM POLICIES
There will be two (2) Q&A forums before each midterm exam, and one (1) Q&A forum between Exam 3 and Final Exam.
Following is the format for each Q&A forum, to be completed on Moodle:
 Video: Each Q&A forum covers a single topic and there will be at least one video for you to watch. It may be a
video recording of a physics demonstration, or a short, relevant YouTube clip.
 Questions: There will be about 3 to 5 questions posed by the instructor that relates to the video you just
watched. There might be additional videos to watch for some of the questions. Read the questions and think
about which questions you would like to answer.
 Answers: Please post to Q&A forum with answers to at least 2 questions posed by the instructor. Your answers
will be graded by the instructor for appropriateness and, when relevant, correctness. Your answer does not
need to be long, but it needs to address the actual question (correctly, when relevant).
 Comments: After you post your answer, you will be able to see answers posted by other students. Feel free to
comment on their answers by replying (please be courteous!). You are not graded on comments so don’t feel
obliged to comment.
 Due Dates: Q&A Forum responses are due as noted in schedule below. I will also remind you a few days before
when it is due. Q&A Forum will be locked after due date, and no late responses will be accepted.
(pg 2 of 5)
Last Edited: August 20, 2016
EXAM POLICIES
OPTION A Exams
Proctored exams are given in Room 100, Peralta Science Annex, 860 Atlantic Ave. at following times:
 Exam 1: Thursday, Sept. 15, 8 – 10 a.m., or Friday, Sept. 16, 2 – 4 p.m., or other times by appointment
 Exam 2: Thursday, Oct. 20, 8 – 10 a.m., or Friday, Oct. 21, 2 – 4 p.m., or other times by appointment
 Exam 3: Wednesday, Nov. 23, 8 – 10 a.m., or earlier in the week by appointment.
 Final Exam: Thursday, Dec. 15, 8 – 10 a.m., or Friday, Dec. 16, 2 – 4 p.m., or other times by appointment
Contact the instructor by email to arrange for “other times.” Arrangement for exam outside of exam week can be made
only in rare circumstances by instructor’s permission only. Most reasonable arrangements during the exam week will be
accommodated.
 Proctoring in your city/town: Only for students living too far away to reasonably travel to Alameda for in-person
exam, you can arrange for an authorized person (usually a teacher at your school or an instructor at your local
community college) to proctor the exam. Please contact the instructor as soon as possible to make the
arrangement; it usually takes a week for the arrangement to be set up the first time.
 Notes during Exam: You have an option of bringing your own letter-size, single-side only, formula sheet for
Option A exams. If you do not have your own formula sheet, one will be provided for you.
 Allowed/Prohibited Items:
o Allowed: calculators without communication capability, paper-bound foreign language dictionaries,
writing instruments (pencil and pen), and a water bottle.
o Prohibited: communication devices of any kind (cell phones, pagers, etc.), electronic devices other than
a calculator, English-to-English dictionaries or any other books including the textbook.
OPTION B Exams
All-online option for exams is also available. Different rules apply for online exams, so please read carefully:
 Exam 1: online, during week of Sept. 16; contact instructor for start time and exam access information.
 Exam 2: online, during week of Oct. 21; contact instructor for start time and exam access information.
 Exam 3: online, during week of Nov. 23; contact instructor for start time and exam access information.
 Final Exam: online, during the finals week; contact instructor to schedule a 2-hour online video-conferencing
appointment for the final exam.
Exam Format:
 Exams 1, 2, and 3: 2-hour exam to be taken online. At the start of 2-hour period, the student will show a photo
ID to the instructor through video conferencing (Skype, Google Hangout, etc.), and instructor will give access
information for the exam. Option B Exams 1, 2, and 3 are open book.
 Final Exam: During a 2-hour video conference with the instructor, the instructor will ask questions relating to
about 5 to 10 physical situations, in order to test the student’s understanding of physical concepts. No notes are
allowed, although the student can ask the instructor for information they have not memorized.
 What is “open book”?: This means you are allowed to use the textbook (either printed or the E-book version on
Connect) during the exam. This also means that I expect you to use the textbook—so I won’t bother asking
simple questions whose answer can be easily found in the textbook. Instead, I will be asking questions that test
your understanding of concepts covered in the textbook, for example, by asking you to analyze a new situation
using physical principles you learned in the chapters covered. Some students mistakenly think they don’t need
to study for an open book test. You need to study just as much for an open book test. You might need to study
differently (focus more on understanding, less on memorization).
Contact the instructor if you are interested in Option B. I will make Option-B-specific review problems available to you,
so that you can make a decision on whether you should try to make Option A exam instead. All students are presumed
to have chosen Option A, unless they contact the instructor before the exam week.
(pg 3 of 5)
Last Edited: August 20, 2016
Physics 10 Grading Policy
Course Grade Breakdown: Course grades are broken down as follows:
 Homework (30%): LearnSmart modules and Exercises posted on Connect
 Participation (10%): 7 Q&A forums and other make-up participation opportunities as announced
 Exams (60%): midterm exams and cumulative final exam
o Three midterm exams are all together worth 40%.
o Cumulative final exam is worth 20%.
Grading Rubric: A holistic grading scale is used for grading forum responses and essay questions on exam.
 100% (5/5 on a 5-point problem/part): Excellent understanding. The student clearly understands underlying
concepts; one or two minor reasoning mistakes can appear on a “5” solution, if they don’t lead to larger
conceptual errors.
 80% (4/5): Good understanding. The student understands the main concepts and problem-solving approaches
but is missing one major concept, or made one major mistake that may involve conceptual misunderstanding.
 60% (3/5): Fair understanding. The student remembers some basic concepts but needs to include and integrate
several additional major concepts in their reasoning.
 40% (2/5): Poor understanding. The student mentions some laws and principles from memory that may be
relevant but shows little understanding of how they are relevant.
 20% (1/5): No understanding. The student writes down something that may be relevant.
 0% (0/5): Blank answers.
Course Grade Scale: Following is the course grade scale.
 A: 85 – 100%
 B: 70 – 85%
 C: 50 – 70%
 D or F: below 50%
(pg 4 of 5)
Last Edited: August 20, 2016
Physics 10 Schedule, Fall 2016
MONDAY
Aug 22
TUESDAY
Aug 23
WEDNESDAY
Aug 24
THURSDAY
Aug 25
FRIDAY
Aug 26
Sep 1
Ch.1&2 LS due
Sep 2
Ch.3&4 LS due
Sep 9
SATURDAY
Aug 27
1
17
Classes begin
Aug 29
Aug 30
Aug 31
Sep 6
Ch. 1 Ex due
Sep 7
Sep 8
LABOR DAY
Sep 12
Sep 13
Ch. 2&3 Ex due
Sep 14
Q&A Forum #1
Sep 15
Ch.5 LS due
Sep 16
Ch. 4 Ex due
Sep 19
Q&A Forum #2
Sep 20
Ch. 5 Ex due
Sep 21
Exam 1 (Alternate)
Sep 22
Exam 1
Sep 23
Sep 29
Ch. 6&7 LS due
Sep 30
2
Sep 5
3
Sep 3
Sep 4: Last day to
add/drop w/o W;
Sep 10
Last day to file P/NP
15
Sep 17
4
14
Sep 24
5
13
Sep 26
Sep 27
Sep 28
Oct 4
Ch. 6 Ex due
Oct 5
Oct 6
Ch. 8 LS due
Oct 7
Oct 11
Ch. 7&8 Ex due
Oct 12
Q&A Forum #3
Oct 13
Ch. 9&10 LS due
Oct 14
Oct 18
Ch. 9 Ex due
Oct 19
Oct 20
Ch. 11 LS due
Oct 21
Oct 1
6
12
Oct 3
Oct 8
7
11
Oct 10
Oct 15
8
10
Oct 17
9
Oct 22
Last day to file AA
Oct 24
Q&A Forum #4
Oct 25
Ch. 10&11 due
Oct 26
Exam 2 (Alternate)
Oct 27
Exam 2
Oct 28
Nov 3
Ch. 12 LS due
Nov 4
9
Oct 29
10
8
Oct 31
Nov 1
Nov 2
Nov 8
Ch. 12 Ex due
Nov 9
Nov 10
Nov 15
Ch. 13&14 Ex due
Nov 16
Q&A Forum #5
Nov 17
Nov 5
11
7
Nov 7
12
Nov 14
13
Ch. 13&14 LS due
Nov 11
VETERAN'S DAY
Ch. 15&16 LS due
Nov 18
Nov 12
6
Nov 19
Last day to drop
Nov 21
Nov 22
Ch. 15&16 Ex due
Nov 23
Nov 28
Ch. 17 Ex due
Nov 29
Exam 3
Nov 30
Q&A Forum #6
Nov 24
Ch. 17 LS due
Nov 25
5
Nov 26
14
4
Dec 1
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Dec 2
Dec 3
15
3
Dec 5
Dec 6
Dec 7
Dec 8
Ch. 18&19 LS due
Dec 9
Dec 13
Ch. 18&19 Ex due
Dec 14
Q&A Forum #7
Dec 15
Ch. 20&21 LS due
Dec 16
Ch. 20&21 Ex due
Final Exam (Alt.)
Final Exam
Dec 10
16
17
16
2
Dec 12
FINALS WEEK
(pg 5 of 5)
Dec 17
1