Models of Motion – 2014-15

(6:30 pm) Thank you for your patience. Lab/Seminar group assignments can be found here.

(5:11 pm) Hello Motioneers! It has turned out to be a little complex to split into Group A and Group B, so the list is a little delayed. We’ll get it up as soon as we can. Sorry for the wait.

On Tuesday September 30, Pre-Seminar groups meet in the Library building for Library Research Workshops to support your Seminar Paper research and writing. You will meet in one of the computer classrooms in the Academic Computing Center in the Library building, next to the Library. If you’re not sure where the classroom is, go to the Help Desk at the Academic Computing Center in the Library building and they will be able to help you. Please make sure to arrive early.

• Group B meets from 9 – 10 am in Library 2619
• Group A meets from 3 – 4 pm in Library 2617

• Our Course ID is MPCHOWDARY94574
• An access code card should have come bundled with your textbook if bought using the ISBN provided. If you just bought the textbook, you will need to purchase access when registering (requires a credit card).
• Detailed instructions (including videos) here

Below are the Week 1 Reading Assignments. Bring the texts with you as described for each day.

• By Monday September 29, do your best to read Strang’s Calculus, Sections 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 from Chapter 0. If you don’t have the second edition of Strang, here is the assigned excerpt from Chapter 0 – Highlights of Calculus. Please don’t panic! This is a dense reading assignment, and we ask you to do your best with it. In some sense, this is a summary preview of what we’ll be doing over the next two quarters in calculus, and we’ll revisit all this material at a more supportive pace. Bring this reading with you on Monday.
• By Tuesday September 30, do your best to read Simonyi’s A Cultural History of Physics, Foreward, Preface, and Chapter 0 – Introduction. Again, please don’t panic! This is also a dense reading assignment, and we’ll base our first seminar on this reading. We ask you to look it over by Tuesday so that we’ll have some common points of reference for the pre-seminar sessions that day. Bring this reading with you on Tuesday. If you haven’t been able to obtain this book yet, you can read the relevant sections via a free preview selection. You must obtain your own copy of the text by the end of Week 1.
• By Wednesday October 1, read:
  • Mazur’s Principles and Practices of Physics: To the Student (p. v)  and Chapter 1 – Foundations in both the Principles text and the Practices text. SKIP Section 1.7, Worked Problem 1.5, and Guided Problem 1.6. If you haven’t been able to obtain these books yet, you can download the relevant chapters here and here (note these are large files), made available through the generosity of the publisher. You must obtain your own copy of the text by the end of Week 1 – note that you will need access to MasteringPhysics in order to submit the associated physics homework assignment due Saturday.
  • Strang’s Calculus section 1.1 and review Monday’s calculus reading 0.1, 0.2, 0.3.
  • Bring the 2 physics texts (both Principles and Practice) and the calculus text to class.
• By Thursday October 2, review the seminar reading for the week. Bring the seminar text, the calculus text, and the physics Practice text with you to class.

• You can find updated information about our fall quarter textbooks here.
• All the books are currently at the Evergreen bookstore. If they run out, make sure you let an employee know so that more can be ordered.

Our mandatory first class meeting begins promptly at 9:00 am Monday September 29 in Lecture Hall 2. Registered students who are not present at that time and have not contacted us in advance will be dropped to make room for wait-listed students who are present.

As part of the Student Survey, students could ask questions about the program or about Evergreen. Here are your questions along with some responses.

Fall Quarter Textbooks updated to include information about physics textbook.

• You can access the Student Survey here or using the link in the navigation bar above.
• Please answer these questions to help us get to know you better.
• You can’t easily save your responses in the on-line form, so compose your responses in a separate file, then copy and paste into the appropriate space on this form; please use simple formatting.
• Make sure to save a copy of your responses which will serve as good source material for Self-Evaluations and Academic Statements.