Prof. John Harton
Office: D203 Physics
(970)491-6372
John.Harton@ColoState.edu
Welcome to PH245 Introduction to Electronics, Fall
2005
Class meetings
Monday
and Wednesday classroom sessions,
Thursday lab sessions in
Physics 211, one of two sections:
Part
of our strategy is that the Monday and Wednesday classroom periods help prepare
for Thursday lab.
Learning
I
expect you to spend at least three hours outside of class preparing for each
hour spent in class, and I arrange lecture time with this in mind. If you do not prepare in advance of lectures
you will fall behind. Most of your learning will occur outside of class. You must bring your questions to class, and
for that to work you need to know what you dont know before arriving at class
on Monday and Wednesday.
You
must keep up with the reading and homework, hence we have:
Homework due with related a quiz frequently see daily
schedule for dates.
Lab
periods are for working with the equipment, not for first-time reading of the
lab manual, so we have a:
Lab preparation quiz in class most Wednesdays.
You
need to know how you are doing with the big picture, so we have:
Two midterm exams in class (September 28 and November
14)
Final exam (December 14,
All
three exams draw upon all material covered to that point in the semester.
You
will challenge yourself with a Lab Project of your own design. More on the Project
below. The Project due date is December 8th.
Rules for exams: You may bring a calculator, and two 8-by-11 inch pages
of whatever formulas or reminders you want to bring. But these pages must be of
your own making: handwritten or off your computer; no photocopying. And you may
not share these note sheets; each person must make their own sheet, since you
do learn when you summarize and compile the important information.
(inserted
Required books
(1)
Text book: Principles of Electronic Instrumentation
by Diefenderfer and Holton (3rd Ed.)
(2)
Lab manual produced here at CSU by B. Jones: Elements of Modern Electronics for Physical Scientists.
Web site: http://www.physics.colostate.edu/users/harton/ph245Fall2005/
Most
information about the class will be on the web.
How your grade will be calculated
There
are 1000 class points available, and
you need to earn a certain number to achieve each letter grade. This is an
absolute grading scale; there is no curve applied, so you always know where you
stand.
871-1000 = A
851-870 = A-
831-850 = B+
721-830 = B
701-720 = B-
681-700 = C+
571-680 = C
551-570 = C-
401-550 = D
0-400 = F
Points available
Final
exam = 250 class points
Midterm
#1 = 150 class points
Midterm
#2 = 150 class points
Lab
reports total (*) = 150 class points
Homework
total (*) =
75 class points
Homework
quizzes total (*) = 75 class points
Lab
prep quizzes total (*) = 50 class points
Lab
project = 100 class points
Total
= 1000
Items
marked (*) are calculated using your average for that category as a fraction of
the total points available. For example, for the lab reports you can earn up to
150 class points.
(Your
class points from lab reports) = 150 * (Your Lab Report points earned / Lab
report points available).
So
if you get 90% of the lab report points you will earn 150*0.90 = 135 class
points from lab reports.
Individual
Lab reports will be graded on a scale of 0-100.
Each
homework problem will be graded on a scale of 0-10.
Each
homework quiz will be graded on a scale of 0-20.
And
the Lab Prep quizzes will each be graded on a scale of 0-10.
Another
example. Suppose we have 9 homework
quizzes, and your grades are 12, 18, 16, 19, 8, 18, 10, 15, 17. That totals 133 homework quiz points. And the total number of homework quiz points
available would be 9*20 = 180. So, the number of class points you would earn
from the homework quizzes would be
75*(133/180) = 55.42 class
points.
If
you have any questions on grading please let me know as soon as possible.
The Lab Project will occupy you in the last few weeks of lab, but you
should start thinking about it around the middle of the semester. You will design and build a circuit to do
something. Do what? Well, that is up to you. You will demonstrate your circuit to me
and/or the TA and provide a few-page write-up explaining the design and use of
your circuit. I will be very happy to
look over a draft of your circuit and the write up a week or so before it is
due (but not after that). You must
demonstrate the circuit and turn in the write-up on or before
Routine due dates
·
Lab Prep quiz on
most Wednesdays (see Daily Schedule for exceptions).
·
Homework due
frequently, and there is always a Homework Quiz with Homework set (see Daily
Schedule on the website for assigned problems and due dates)
·
Lab Reports are
always due at the start of class on the Monday after the Lab.
Summary of dates for large portions of your grade
Midterm I September
28 in class
Midterm II November
14 in class
Project Due
on or before December 8th at the end of your Lab Period
Final Exam December
14th, at
Exceptions to Due dates
In
general, there can be no exceptions to due dates. Late work is not accepted, and a zero grade
will be entered. If you are ill, I will
need to see a note from your doctor to excuse late work.
Posted Homework solutions
If
you are the first to point out a mistake in the posted homework solutions you
will receive double credit on that homework set. I am a terrible speller, so spelling mistakes
do not count only physics or calculation mistakes get the extra credit.
Office Hours
My
office is always open please drop by anytime.
If you would like to set up a regular meeting, we can do that. It is also helpful if you can telephone or
send me an email to set up a time to talk.
I appreciate the feedback that I get from talking with students outside
of class, so please come by frequently!
John
Harton
D203
Physics
970-491-6372