Process and Inquiry Physics 412
Fall 2014
Schedule Number: 22628
COURSE INFORMATION
Class Days: Tuesday and Thursday
Class Times: 1400 - 1515
Class Location: GMCS 214
Professor: Fred Goldberg
Contact Information: 594-6609
fgoldberg@mail.sdsu.edu>
Office Hours Days: Tuesday and Thursday
Office Hours Times (and by appointment):
15:45 – 16:45
Office Hours Location: 6475 Alvarado Road,
Suite 128 (Directions posted in Course
Documents section of Bb)
Course Overview
Course Catalog Description: Investigation of processes of inquiry and rational thinking skills
characteristic of physics, focusing on energy transformations, heat transfer and thermodynamics, force
and motion, electricity and magnetism, and waves.
The purpose of the Physics 412 course is to help you develop an understanding of the core ideas of
physical science and crosscutting concepts, as reflected in the Next Generation Science Standards
(NGSS), as well as the ability to engage in the science and engineering practices that are embedded in
the NGSS. These new Standards have been adopted in California and will be implemented in K-12
schools in the next few years. Further, in addition to learning the core ideas and science and engineering
practices yourself, you will have the opportunity of connecting these ideas and practices to the learning
and teaching of elementary children.
The General Education Learning Outcomes pertinent to this course, including the essential capacities
and general education natural science goals are listed at the end of the syllabus.
The course is divided into four modules and 7 units.
Module: Magnetism and Static Electricity
Unit M: Developing a Model for Magnetism
Unit SE: Developing a Model for Static Electricity
Module: Interactions and Energy
Unit EM: Energy-based Model for Interactions
Module: Interactions and Forces
Unit FM: Force-based Model for Interactions
Unit CF: Combinations of Forces
Module: Waves, Sound and Light
Unit WS: Mechanical Waves and Sound
Unit L: Electromagnetic Waves and Light
The three ‘core ideas’ in physics and the NGSS that we will focus on are the Law of the Conservation of
Energy (mainly Unit EM), Newton’s Laws (mainly Units FM and CF) and wave motion (Units WS and L).
We will also focus on engaging you in important practices of science, including performing experiments,
collecting and analyzing data, proposing, testing and revising models (mainly Units M and SE) and
evaluating explanations. The knowledge and skills you will learn and practice in this course should help
you become more effective teachers of science.
Outcomes: After successfully finishing this course:
1. You will be able to develop, make predictions from, test and revise models to explain scientific
phenomena, specifically models to account for phenomena involving magnetism and static
electricity. In developing these models, you will be able to apply the law of magnetic poles, the
law of electric charges and the law of conservation of charge. [Assessment via in-class questions,
homework, a quiz and part of the final exam.]
2. You will be able to draw and analyze energy models of interactions to describe the flow of
energy through a system of two or more interacting objects, both qualitatively and
quantitatively. In carrying out a quantitative analysis of an energy model, you will apply the
concept of energy efficiency and the law of conservation of energy to calculate various values of
energy. [Assessment via in-class questions, homework, a quiz and part of the final exam.]
3. You will be able to draw and interpret speed-time graphs representing the motion of objects.
[Assessment via in-class questions, homework, a quiz and part of the final exam.]
4. You will be able to apply the force model of interactions (known as Newtons’ Laws of Motion) to
describe and explain the motion of objects subject to one or more forces acting on it, and solve
problems involving the application of the force model. [Assessment via in-class questions,
homework, a quiz and part of the final exam.]
5. You will be able to compare the energy model and force model approaches to explaining the
motion behavior of objects subject to various types of interactions. [Assessment via in-class
questions, homework, a quiz and part of the final exam.]
6. You will be able to use a wave model to describe, explain and make predictions about the
properties of mechanical and electromagnetic waves. You will be able to apply a light ray model
to describe and explain various light-related phenomena involving the straight-line motion,
reflection and refraction of light. . [Assessment via in-class questions, homework, a quiz and part
of the final exam.]
7. After learning specific core ideas and practices of the Next Generation Science Standards, you
will be able to make explicit connections between your own learning of those core ideas and
scientific and engineering practices, and the teaching and learning of elementary school
children. The opportunities may involve reading about the NGSS, watching and analyzing
classroom videos of elementary children engaged in science and engineering practices,
interviewing and teaching small groups of children and describing and analyzing those
experiences. [Assessment via in-class questions and homework.]
Enrollment Information


Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.A.,
Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning.
Adding/Dropping Procedures: Since the class tends to have full enrollment, a registered student
must come to class at least once during the first two class periods to maintain enrollment,
otherwise the student may be dropped from the course to allow another student to enroll.
Beyond that, normal University drop/add procedures will be followed.
Course Materials
The required course materials are available (only) at the SDSU Bookstore under the Physics 412 course
and my name, and consist of a set of worksheets that you will complete during class. The ‘text’ is called
“Physics and Everyday Thinking (NextGenPETLC) Fall 2014” and the authors are Fred Goldberg, Steve
Robinson, Edward Price, Danielle Boyd Harlow, Julie Andrew and Michael McKean. The set of materials
are three-hole punched and shrink-wrapped. You should also obtain a three-ring binder and plan on
bringing one unit’s worth of materials to class each day. You will be expected to bring the first lesson of
Unit M to class on the first day. All homework (called extension activities) and movies shown during
class are available on the NextGenPET(LC) Student Resources website. Other materials and homework
quizzes (discussed below) will be available on Blackboard.
We will use a classroom response system (aka clickers) in our course. Clickers are small handheld
devices used to foster interaction, active learning, and quick feedback for faculty and students. You have
two options, and either will work for this course.
One option is to use the >clicker2, either obtaining it from the bookstore or using one you purchased in
a previous semester. The second option is to go to the bookstore and purchase a subscription for
i>clickerGO. This is an app that can be downloaded and used on an iPhone, Android smart phone, iPAD
or tablet. In that case you do not need to purchase a separate clicker device. Whichever option you
choose, you will be expected to use it each day in class to respond to multiple choice questions.
To receive participation credit in the course you will need to either register your i>clicker2 remote or set
up your i>clickerGO account prior to the first day of class on August 26.
i>clicker2 or i>clickerGO remote registration:
You can register in any SDSU course by going to Tools => i>clicker Remote Registration and then entering
your 8-character remote clicker ID, which is on the back of the remote, or your 12-character web>clicker
ID, which you obtain when you purchase a subscription at the Bookstore. Successful registration on Bb
generates a registration date and a success message. Once registered, your i>clicker2 or i>clickerGO can
be used in all classes that require it and should not need to be re-registered again. If you have more
questions about i>clicker2 remote registration, visit http://clicker.sdsu.edu. If you are using i>clickerGO
you need to use your registration number to setup your account on your iPhone, iPAD or android device.
Course Structure and Conduct
This course will include days that will be mainly lecture-discussion, including watching videos of
experiments, and days where you will mainly be engaged in performing simple experiments with group
members at your desktops. On all days you will work through the student workbook materials with
member of your group, guided by the instructor. As mentioned above, the use of clickers will be an
important component of the course. Assignments and additional course materials will be available
either on Blackboard or on the
NextGenPET
Student
Resources website
at
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/crmse/nextgenpet/
Each class period is 75 minutes in duration. At the beginning of the semester you will be assigned to a
group of four students, and you will be expected to sit and work together during class. To make the
process efficient, your group will be assigned seats as well, and different group members will be asked
to take on some specific management responsibilities. The instructor may call on your team at any time
to share answers to questions with the whole class. During the semester we will change groups and/or
reassign seating of groups within the classroom.
Each lesson that is mainly lecture-discussion (no hands-on experiments) lasts approximately 35 minutes,
so we should complete about two per class period (on average). Each lesson that involves hands-on
activities (mainly in UM, USE and UL) lasts approximately 75 minutes. In either case, each lesson consists
of three sections with different aims.
Purpose and Key Question(s)
This provides a short introduction describing the aims of the lesson and how it ties in to the topic. It also
poses the key question(s) for the lesson.
Predictions, Observations and Making Sense
This is the main section of the lesson. Here is where you will record your answers to questions in the
lesson sheets (including some questions that you respond to with your clicker), record data and describe
your observations from either hands-on experiments or videos of experiments or computer simulations,
summarize your interpretations of why you think certain things happen, and take notes from class
discussions. Copies of all the movies shown during class are available on the NextGenPET Student
Resources website at http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/crmse/nextgenpet/.
Summarizing Questions
In the last part of a lesson you will answer questions that draw on the ideas developed during the
lesson, including some that may be clicker questions.
Your grade in the course will be determined by your scores on class participation, homework activities,
special assignments, quizzes and the final exam. Each is discussed below.
PARTICIPATION POINTS
As mentioned above you are expected to bring your clicker or device using i>clickerGO to class each day
and participate by answering the clicker questions. Starting on the first day of class, August 26, you will
receive 2 participation points for using your i>clicker2 or i>clickerGO during class, up to a maximum of
26 points. So, even though there will be as many as 29 days where you should use your clickers during
the semester, you will only receive credit for up to 26 days. This way you can miss up to 3 days of clicker
use without any penalty—which should take care of absences, clickers not working, coming to class
without your clicker, etc. To receive your 2-point participation credit for a given day you must respond
to at least 50% of the clicker questions asked that day. Clicker questions will not be graded; you receive
your credit just for participating. To be fair to all students, if you did not use your i>clicker2 or
i>clickerGO during class, either because you forgot to bring it or you did not attend class, then your
participation score will be 0 for that day—even if you are physically present in class. There are no
exceptions to this policy! If you do not attend class and someone else uses your clicker on your behalf,
then that is academic dishonesty. If that happens you will lose all participation points for the semester
(i.e., you will receive 0 total participation points).
STRUCTURE OF THE EXTENSION (HOMEWORK) ACTIVITIES
There will be extension activities (homework) associated with most lessons, and each will be available on
the NextGenPET(LC) Student Resources website. Each extension activity on the website (labeled, for
example, UM Ext A) will guide you through some material to read, perhaps some movies to view, and a
series of questions to answer. You will receive feedback on your answers, but your answers will not be
graded. After you work through the extension activity you then need to take a quiz. The quiz will be
available in the Assignments section of Bb (labeled, for example, UM Ext A Quiz). In the quiz document
you will be asked a few questions (usually between 2 and 5) relevant to the content of the extension
activity, and your answers will be graded and reported to the instructor via the Blackboard grade book.
When answering the quiz questions you should keep the extension activity document open in a separate
window in case you wish to go back and review something you had learned. The maximum credit you
can receive for correctly answering the quiz questions is 5 points, assuming you answer all questions
correctly. To receive credit for the extension activity quizzes, you must complete all the extensions and
quizzes assigned in class before the beginning of the following class period. So, if is an extension
activity is assigned on a Tuesday, you must complete the quiz before 2:00 PM the following Thursday. If
it is assigned on a Thursday, you must complete the quiz before 2:00 PM the following Tuesday. After
2:00 PM, you will no longer have access to the extension activity quizzes. You can still read through the
extension activity document on the student resources site, but cannot submit your answers to the quiz
questions and cannot receive any credit. We anticipate that there will be approximately 28-32 online
Extension activities and quizzes of this type during the semester. Since each is worth 5 points, the total
Extension activity score for the semester could vary from 130 points to 160 points. To have a set
number we will assume the total points for extension activities will be 150 (based on 30 activities). If
there are fewer or more extension activities than 30, we will still normalize the total to 150.
Important: You will receive four hours of credit for this class, even though it meets for 150 minutes per
week, which is typical for a three credit hour course. Consequently, we assume that you will be doing a
significant amount of work outside of class, either working on the Extension activities mentioned above
or the special assignments described in the next section.
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS
During the semester you will be assigned a few activities, where you will apply what you have been
learning in class to the learning and teaching of elementary aged children. Such an assignment might
involve interviewing a child on what ideas he or she has about a particular topic. Another assignment
might involve helping a child or small group of children learn a particular idea or engaging them in a
particular practice of science or engineering. You might work on these assignments individually, or with
your group, or a combination of the two. Instructions for these special assignments will be distributed
during the semester far in advance of when they would be due. You will receive a grade for each of
these special assignments, and the total for the semester will be normalized to 50 points.
QUIZZES AND FINAL EXAM:
During the semester there will be four quizzes. Each quiz will consist of 10-20 multiple-choice questions
and will be worth 50 points. On days when you take a quiz, we will start the class by doing the quiz, and
you will have up to 35 minutes to complete it. Following the quiz, we will generally work through one
lesson, including clicker questions. The graded course quizzes will not be returned to you in class. I will
keep them in my office and you are welcome to come look at your quiz and to discuss it with me during
office hours or other times that we mutually agree on. There will be no make-up course quizzes,
regardless of how legitimate your excuse may be. To compensate for no make-up quizzes, at the end of
the semester I will drop your lowest course quiz grade (which would be zero if you missed a quiz) from
your total course points. The final exam will consist of about 30-40 multiple-choice questions, and will
be worth 100 points. It will cover the material from the entire semester. For each quiz and the final
exam you will need to bring a #2 pencil and the appropriate test form for recording your answers-ParSCORETM Form No. F-289-PAR-L. It is 4 ¼” x 11” and has red lettering on a white background.
Course Assessment and Grading
POINT ALLOCATIONS FOR COURSE COMPONENTS AND TENTATIVE DATES:
Course component
Point value
Tentative Dates
Quiz 1 (Units M and SE)
50 points
September 30
Quiz 2 (Unit EM)
50 points
October 21
Quiz 3 (Units FM and CF)
50 points
November 13
Quiz 4 (Units WS and L)
50 points
December 9
Final Exam (covering all units)
100 points
December 16
Participation (2 point/day for up to 26 days credit
beginning on August 26, 2014)
52 points
Online Extension Activities, normalized to…
150 points
Before next class period
Special Assignments, normalized to…
50 points
Must be completed on time
502 points
Total points (with lowest quiz grade dropped) =
TENTATIVE GRADING SCALE:
Usual cut-off for a
given grade
92 % A
90% A-
88 % B+
82 % B
80 % B-
78 % C+
72 % C
70 % C-
60 % D
Other Course Policies
SYLLABUS STATEMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your
responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt
of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note
that accommodations are not retroactive, and that I cannot provide accommodations based upon
disability until I have received an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your
cooperation is appreciated.
GENERAL EDUCATION LEARNING OUTCOMES
Phys 412 counts as a general education Explorations course for liberal studies students. Below are brief
descriptions of how the course meets the appropriate Essential Capacities and specific Goals for science
courses.
Essential Capacities
1. Construct, analyze, and communicate arguments
Most of your class and homework time will be spent analyzing various situations involving physical
phenomena in order to make predictions, collect data and draw conclusions, and develop, test and
revise models. You will also be sharing some of your ideas with other group members and other
students in the class, as well as listening to and critiquing their ideas. You will also practice constructing
your own explanations and evaluating the explanations of other students during extended homework
assignments. In science, the process of argumentation involves making claims about physical
phenomena or some experimental conclusion, then using evidence and logical reasoning to support
those claims. You will be engaged in these argumentation practices both during class and for
homework.
2. Apply theoretical models to the real world
In this class you will develop several models that will help you make sense of phenomena; for example,
models that account for the relationship between forces and motion and models that can explain
phenomena involving magnetism, static electricity, light and color. In most cases you will start with
initial models that explain a limited set of phenomena and then as you explore additional phenomena
you will revise your models accordingly.
3. Illustrate relevance of concepts across boundaries
In science, laws and theories usually have validity across a very wide range of contexts, both in space
and time—and that is one reason why they are so useful in helping us understand the physical world. In
this course you will learn about, or participate in developing, several models, theories and laws, and will
be able to apply them in a wide variety of contexts, including both macroscopic (directly observable) and
microscopic (not directly observable).
Goals for GE Courses in the Natural Sciences
Goal 1: Explain basic concepts and theories of the natural sciences.
This course will focus on helping you understand and explain phenomena using the law of conservation
of energy and Newton’s laws. As part of this endeavor you will apply these laws and theories and
develop models to help explain phenomena involving motion and changes in motion, forces, electric
circuits, heat phenomena, light and color, magnetism and static electricity.
Goal 2: Use logic and scientific methods to analyze the natural world and solve problems.
You will spend class time observing movies of natural phenomena, carrying out experiments with simple
materials and running computer simulations, and then will use that evidence, along with logical
reasoning, to explain and make sense of the phenomena. You will also use logical reasoning to apply
ideas developed in class to make predictions about new situations. Finally, you will construct your own
explanations of physical phenomena and evaluate the explanations written by other students.
Goal 3: Argue from multiple perspectives about issues in natural science that have personal and global
relevance.
Using the ideas developed during class and homework, you will be able to explain and make predictions
about everyday phenomena; e.g., simple household electric circuits, color effects, changes in the motion
of objects, attractions between statically charged objects, magnetic effects, etc.
Goal 4: Use technology in laboratory and field situations to connect concepts and theories with realworld phenomena.
Even though the course is taught in a large room setting, you will carry out hands-on experiments to
explore various situations, as well as observe movies of some demonstrations and laboratory
experiments. You will work with computer simulations, mainly as part of homework to model various
real-world phenomena and to help construct models that can explain that phenomena.