PHYS-121-05, TR 4:10 PM - 6:00 PM, 53-202, or actually wherever you are.

See the winter 2020 121 class - with all material, exams, etc.

Pete Schwartz, (Office: Baker Science, 180-608) Cal Poly Physics, Pete's Webpage, directory of all classes, my Research
Email: pschwart@calpoly.edu, 756-1220, My office is at 180-608, the new science building, room 608
Office hours: MTRF 2:00 PM, W 11:00 AM, Via Zoom
Our Virtual Learning Center is up and running: https://calpoly.zoom.us/j/911658758.

The syllabus explains the class policies including how your final grade is determined.

Teaching "flipped", "parallel", with an open-online text. Please see video explaining our unique way of learning physics here (or here if you are not a student). I've been doing this for several years, you can see how my student evaluations initially went down and then back up again when I started to better market and explain why this method is good. My comprehensive evaluations are posted on each class website (link to directory above) for you to read if you like.

In May of 2017, I published about our learning method in The Physics Teacher. You can see that a different publication also lends support to several aspects of our learning method:

Active learning better engages the brain;
asking questions (like in our videos) is an effective way to learn;
learning concepts in parallel allows us to revisit concepts over a longer period of time, improving understanding and memory.

I wrote a short Text/Work book for the class. It has about a tenth the amount of text as standard textbooks. It's short, so I expect everyone to print it out, read each section before we address the topic in class, and write all over it. This guide is short enough to read, so please make a commitment to do that!

Physics Department Learning Center Hours... these tutors are available most of the day every day, free of charge. However, I think it's more effective to do group work with other students in the class and visit office hours, but please know that the learning center is a resource for you.

Group project: see the first project description, the Second Project Description.

Homework (Problem Sets): PS#1, PS#1_Solutions, PS#2, Hints for PS#2, Solutions for PS#2, PS#3, PS#3_hints, PS#3_Solutions, PS#4, PS#4 hints, PS#4_Solutions, PS#5, PS#5_Hints, PS#5_Solutions, PS#6, PS#6_Solutions, PS#7, PS#7_Hints, PS#7_Solutions, PS#8, PS#8_solutions, PS#9, PS#9_Solutions

Assessments: Asmnt #1_Solutions, Asmnt #3_Solutions

Student Communication: May 26, 1:30 PM

On Pete and Cheating

To see the week's assignments, please click on the number of the week at left on the table below.

Wk 1	Getting to know each other and the learning method, Introduction to four "lenses"
Wk 2	How to set up a problem, getting used to using lenses
Wk 3	Vectors and video analysis
Wk 4	Springs, Potential Energy Graphs, Vector Review, Changing Reference Frames
Wk 5	Elastic Collisions, friction
Wk 6	Rotational Motion
Wk 7	Angular Momentum, Statics, Gravity, Centripetal Acceleration
Wk 8	Loop the loop, Components
Wk 9	Trig., kinematic formulas, precession
Finals	Wednesday June 10, 7:10pm – 10:00pm, as per Cal Poly's Schedule

Auxiliary Website

As I try to improve the class, I am keeping Notes to Self

PHYS-121-05-2204 - College Physics I