• Math Problem Set #5 Solutions
  • Compare these solutions to what is in your Math PSN.
  • Make notes, corrections, or complete problems using a different color ink directly in your PSN.
  • This (along with looking over lecture notes) will serve as excellent preparation for the Math Quiz.

There are several adjustments to the Week 7 schedule, to accommodate the Wed. Nov. 8 Seminar.

• Monday November 6:
  • 9:00 – 10:30 Math Quiz + Lecture
  • 10:30 – 10:45 Break
  • 10:45 – 11:45 Physics Lecture (even though we announced in week 6 that it was double math lecture, it is actually math quiz + lecture followed by physics lecture)
  • 11:45 – 12:15 All Program Check-in
  • 12:15 – 1:30 Lunch Break
    • 12:30 – 1:30 Student-chosen Mini-Lessons or Individualized Instruction
  • 1:30 – 3:00 Chemistry Lecture
• Tuesday November 7:
  • 8:00 – 8:30 Physics Quiz in Physics Lab || Math Lecture in Chemistry Lab
  • 8:30 – 12:00 Physics Lab & Lecture || Chem Lab & Workshop
  • 12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Break
  • 1:00 – 1:30 Physics Quiz in Physics Lab || Math Lecture in Chemistry Lab
  • 1:30 – 5:00 Physics Lab & Lecture || Chem Lab & Workshop
• Wednesday November 8:
  • 9:00 – 11:15 Seminar
  • 11:15 – 11:30 Break
  • 11:30 – 1:00 Math Lab
• Thursday November 9:
  • 9:00 – 11:00 Chemistry Quiz and Lecture
  • 11:00 – 12:00 Lunch Break
    • Student-chosen Mini-Lessons or Individualized Instruction
  • 12:00 – 1:00 Physics Workshop
  • 1:00 – 2:00 Math Workshop
• Friday November 10: Campus closed for Veteran’s Day. Should we arrange special extra tutoring on Saturday and Sunday? Let us know.

• Chemistry: McMurray & Fay 6.4 – 6.7
• Math: Stewart 3.5 – 3.7
  • Math Reading Responses due via WebAssign 6pm Sun. Nov. 5
• Physics: Wolfson 9.1 – 9.3; 9.4 – 9.6
  • Physics Reading Response due via MasteringPhysics 8pm Sun. Nov. 5
• Seminar Reading for Wed. Nov. 8

Our third seminar will be from 9 – 11am on Wednesday November 8. Schedule changes due to this are noted in your Replacement Reading Schedule.

The readings for the seminar focus on issues of representation in physics, this time with emphasis on race:

• Why Race Matters in Physics Class
• An Open Letter to SCOTUS from Professional Physicists (also, link including timeline and list of signers)

We will hand out paper copies of these articles and book chapters in class Monday so that you can mark those with your annotations and questions, and have them available during Seminar (without people using electronic devices during the discussion).

Pre-Seminar Writing Assignment. Beyond reading the two pieces, we would like for you to respond in writing to the following prompts. Please keep all the prompts in mind as you are completing the reading.

• Please type up your responses and bring them with you, along with the two reading handouts, to Seminar.
• Your typed responses will serve as your Seminar Entrance Ticket.
• Faculty will collect these at the end of Seminar and check for evidence of attempting to complete.

These readings are responses to comments made during an oral argument before the Supreme Court that revolved around the educational benefits of racial and ethnic diversity (Fisher v. University of Texas, 2015).  Discussions about identity and difference are often hard, and discussions about race are particularly so. Given the larger political context and particularly our local campus context, we understand that discussing the content of these readings will be challenging, and differentially challenging for each of you. The readings themselves offer some theoretical frameworks and tools to help us have these conversations better.

1. Consider particularly the discussion of racial anxiety. Based on your understanding from the law review article discussion of racial anxiety, try to write down up to 3 specific guidelines for your interactions in Seminar that could be adopted to manage the challenges created by racial anxiety.
2.  In past seminars, we discussed impostor syndrome and mindset theory, as well as gender and class issues in STEM classrooms. Which of the issues addressed in this week’s Seminar readings can be thought of more broadly in terms of creating an inclusive STEM classroom, and which seem particularly related to race and ethnicity? 

The law review article lays out four specific considerations regarding the benefits of diversity in the STEM classroom. In answering each of the following you may draw on either that article or the letter from physicists (or both). For each, your typed response should quote, paraphrase, or summarize the element of the assigned reading, indicate article and page, and describe why you chose it.

3. Identify at least one specific element of the discussion of the role of diversity in innovation and problem-solving that you found particularly striking or surprising. Why?
4. Identify at least one specific element of the discussion of implicit bias that you found particularly striking or surprising. Why?
5. Identify at least one specific element of the discussion of racial anxiety that you found particularly striking or surprising. Why?
6. Identify at least one specific element of the discussion of stereotype threat that you found particularly striking or surprising. Why?

• In case you missed our Academic Planning and Statement Workshop I on week 6 Wed. Nov. 1, here is the handout.
• For your convenience: Pre-Workshop Writing Assignment.
• I neglected to assign a formal due date for completion. If you can, treat it like you would a Math Lab (since we used the Math Lab slot for the workshop) and try to save it to your Cubbie by 5pm Thu. Nov. 2.

Complete All Problems in your Math Problem Set Notebook. Bold underline problems also due via WebAssign by 6pm on Fri. Nov. 3.

• 3.2: 3, 5, 8, 21, 27, 33, 45, 51, 52
• 3.3: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 18, 29, 35, 37
• 3.4: 7, 9, 13, 21, 22, 31, 73, 75, 76, 85, 94

• You can find detailed guidelines for Math Exam 1 Problem-solving section Revisions here.
• (edited 10/29 to add) Based on review of exams, a Meta-cognitive Reflection component to Exam Revisions has been added.
• Math Exam 1 Revisions are due 9am Mon. Nov. 6.

In Week 6, we have a number of events connected to Academic Planning & Statement work. The event on Monday October 30 involves a schedule re-arrangement but not any more class time. The Friday events are optional as this is not a regular class meeting day for us, but they are highly recommended. Unless otherwise indicated below, the rest of our weekly schedule is as usual.

• Mon. Oct. 30, 12:15 – 1:15pm: REU Panel.
  • No Math Quiz this morning.
  • 9:00 – 10:00am Math Lecture
  • 10:15 – 11:15am Physics Lecture
  • 11:15am – 12:15pm Lunch Break. Optional: Review Math Exam MC section.
  • 12:15 – 1:15 REU Panel with students who did summer research at Cal State – Fresno (knot theory), Berkeley (plasma physics), WSU (atmospheric physics)
  • 1:30 – 3:00pm Chemistry Lecture
• Wed. Nov. 1, 11:30am – 1:00pm: Academic Planning & Statement Workshop I
  • Pre-Workshop Writing Assignment to be completed before Workshop.
  • We’ll do this instead of Math Lab this week.
  • We’ll do this in conjunction with students from the upper division physical chemistry (and physics) program Atoms, Molecules, and Reactions (AMR).
• Fri. Nov. 3, 11:30am – 1:00pm in Lab I 054A: Potluck lunch with Evergreen Science Alumni Panel, hosted by AMR. Optional, but recommended.
• Fri. Nov. 3, 1:00 – 3:30pm in Purce Hall Lecture Hall 2: Evergreen Science Alumni Panel Presentations and Discussions. Optional, but recommended.

• Some students found that the time during the Math Exam 1 Revision Workshop was not enough to go over the multiple choice section, or once they got back their response sheet, wanted to look over the questions again.
• I will make the questions available during the break on Mon. Oct. 30 from 11 – noon.
• Note: The correct response to Question 16 is c. If you marked c and it wasn’t counted as correct, please show me your response sheet and I can update your score.

• At the end of the Week 5 Seminar, we discussed using checklists as a way to track attendance and work to this point in the quarter, to identify gaps, and to make plans to address them.
• In case you missed class that day or have misplaced the handout, here is the Fall Quarter Assignments & Assessments Account and Program Activities Log.