Interesting rocket test on YouTube

Today the Space X had a nifty flight test for one of its rockets. It went quite well.

Compared to early US space program launches, which were not so excellent.

Physics is important.

Traffic signal

The average on the traffic signal problem is 8/15. The most frequent score was actually 15/15; many students crushed this problem, about 1/8th of class.

But many students had absolutely no idea how to attack this most basic problem, which brought the average down significantly. That is inexcusable since the traffic signal problem is a virtual copy of a problem we studied in lecture on Sept. 18, the bird on a wire, and on the midterm exam, the Spider-Man problem.

All iClicker data in

All the iCLicker scores are now IN. Good.

Now the big task: grading problems.

More clicking data

I just uploaded iCLicker 2 scores for another set of students.

Still about ⅓ of class to process.

Decimal point nonsense

Again the promised software upgrade has mangled the decimal point on your answers to the fourth iClicker question. (The other question answers were whole numbers or alphanumeric.) The answer for the fourth question was "-1.7" and many of you sent that. However the software recorded that as "-1.=" which looks heinous.

However, I did several practice sessions today at home and figured out the correct answer and all the incorrect answers. I have uploaded exactly what my system recorded; now you know how to interpret it. So all the garbled data has been graded by me accurately.

Some of you got partial credit for leaving off the negative sign on the fourth question.

I am uploading a few sets of iClicker data right now. More tomorrow.

Scantrons

I am placing the scantron scores now. Avg. 39/50, not too bad. So that is the first 50 points worth on the final; another 70 points to get scored on iClicker 2 and problems.

I am working on the iClicker 2 data this afternoon.

Final exam in MAP260

I partially misprinted the final exam location in the original syllabus in August. The true location is MAP260, our regular lecture hall.

Final Examination Thursday afternoon.
1:00 PM in MAP260 our regular lecture hall
not in BA119 as was incorrectly printed in the syllabus, now revised.
Be ready to get seated rapidly asap.

Off the air

I am going off the air til about noon tomorrow, working on the final exam like some kind of subhumanoid maniac from another planet.

SO.... Do not expect to get Webcourses responses from me until then.

More HW 11 papers

I just finished grading beaucoups homework 11 papers, and I will post the scores. Look for your PDF in course mail tomorrow early.

Get ready for a challenging final exam.

Closing bonus point question discussion tonight.

Tonight I will be closing the Discussions area set up for creating questions and earning bonus points. I will lock it at 10 PM. After that, you will be able to study it but not post.

Final exam specs

Here are the basic specs for our final exam:

1. Cumulative
2. 120 points
3. Thursday, Dec. 6, 1:00 PM sharp. No one will be admitted after we begin the exam.
4. Bring raspberry-colored UCF scantron, your iClicker 2, non-graphing calculator, pencil and eraser. Areas for scratch work will be included in the exam handout.

Make sure to be absolutely ready at 1 PM sharp. We have 260 or so students, and we have to get everyone smoothly through this three-hour gate without mayhem.

Brain burners for the final exam

I have just figured out a great brain burner for the final exam. Should be crushproof. YESSSS!

Fig. 1. Crushproof floating disaster ball.

Amburgey-Maguire

HW 11 papers (PDF) for Amburgey through Maguire are now posted and in your course mail inbox in Webcourses.

HW 11 solution is UP.

For those of you who want to view the solution PDF of Homework 11, you can now grab it from the Homework folder on Webcourses.

Grading going OK, but...

Grading HW 11 is going slowly, and the reason is I have a nasty sinus infection. It is really laying me low, feeling vague etc. But I am going to keep working on it. I am now in the process of uploading the first half of the homeworks.

Grading HW 11 today

I will be grading Homework 11 today. When I finish and post all the scores in Webcourses, I will course mail each student on the list a PDF of the graded paper, so that you can study with it and get ready to crush the final.

Extra office hours on Wednesday

We will have office hours on Wednesday:

1. regular time, 11 AM - noon, and
2. extended office hours, 2 - 4 PM.

Location, PS158 in the Physical Sciences Building.

Class participation scores are UP.

You can now view the class participation pointage you earned, out of 20 points possible.

Plus, I calculated the class participation bonus, based on correct answers performance. A few students nabbed those bonus points. Good.

Structure of the final exam

You can review the structure of the final exam. I have set a PDF file in the home page for this.

Bonus points opportunity: create a multiple choice question

For those of you who want to try to earn a bonus point before the final exam, you can create a multiple choice question. Do this in the Discussions area "Create a bonus points question for the final examination" in Webcourses.

Here are the rules:

Post a question that you create, based on your lecture notes, readings, homework or other materials.

1. Create a multiple choice question with four or five options.
2. Indicate the correct option with an * asterisk.
3. In the Subject box, type in a short phrase that describes your question.
4. Below your question's options, skip a few lines and type in the date of lecture or page in the textbook where another student can study up on the correct concept.
5. Dr. B will comment or maybe ask you to revise the question.
6. If your question is good enough to use on the final exam, you will earn two bonus points.
7. Take a look at the example question.
8. You may contribute one question only, so make it a good one.

The bonus questions can make a nifty study guide, too. Plus, if you have studied it and I choose one or two of the questions, you will already know the answer for those questions on exam day. Handy!