PHY198S

Physics at the Cutting Edge (2020-21) -- PHY198S

Syllabus

Overview

PHY198S Physics at the Cutting Edge is a First Year Foundations seminar course. The Faculty of Arts and Science describes FYF courses this way:-

Learning at a top research university means becoming involved in academic life by exchanging points of view and tackling controversial topics. Small classes, capped at 25 students or fewer, help ensure that all students are active participants in discussions and are encouraged to develop their ability to think analytically and to express ideas and logical arguments through class discussions and in their writing.
These full or half-credit courses focus on issues, questions and controversies surrounding a particular topic or theme. Taught by some of the Faculty's leading scholars, the best researchers and teachers at U of T, they are only for newly admitted first-year students.

The Department of Physics describes our FYF course this way:

A limited enrollment seminar course for First Year Science students interested in current research in Physics. Students will meet active researchers studying the universe from the centre of the earth to the edge of the cosmos. Topics may range from string theory to experimental biological physics, from climate change to quantum computing, from superconductivity to earthquakes. The course may involve both individual and group work, essays and oral presentations. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: PHY151 (or equivalent).
Co-requisites: PHY152 and MAT137/157.

The overarching goal of the course is to give you an accessible introduction to the world of current physics research, centred around the weekly physics colloquium series. All pre-class readings and class discussions will be kept at first-year level appropriate for PHY152 students.

The physics colloquium is typically attended by researchers, mostly in physics but also in other departments depending on the topic, and a few interested laypeople. It might seem a wee bit scary to contemplate attending colloquium as a first-year physics undergrad. Please don't worry! I will ensure that you know enough basic background information to be able to get the general idea of the talk, without getting bogged down in higher-level details. (See Class format section below). It is also important to know that colloquia are not pitched at a high level from the beginning -- instead, speakers begin with a general introduction that should be accessible even to interested members of the general public. Later in the talk, they tend to delve more into details, and towards the very end maybe only people in their precise field follow along. Part of research culture is learning to be content with partial understandings of interesting topics, and we will practice that skill together. When you do graded work in this course, you will only be expected to show a level of understanding appropriate for PHY152 students.

My own research expertise is in theoretical high-energy physics, specifically: black holes, string theory, and quantum gravity (kinda like Stephen Hawking, but less famous). I have over a decade of experience in teaching FYF courses, and three decades of experience in giving outreach talks to the general public from ages 8 to 80+. I love teaching, and making connections with research, and I aim to make this class accessible, educational, and fun for all of my students regardless of their background.

Logistics

Enrolment in this course is capped at 25, in order to enable us to have significant active discussions in class. Please plan to regularly attend and participate in our Thursday 2-4pm classes. As this course is centred around colloquia, attending those from 4-5pm Thursdays is also expected.

To keep everyone maximally safe during the pandemic, classes will be held online, synchronously. Zoom meeting details are confidential to registered students and can be found on Quercus. Video recordings of seminar classes will be posted there after class, for personal use by registered students only. We will also use Quercus for submitting graded work electronically. Asynchronous discussion will be done via Piazza, which is linked into Quercus.

All non-confidential course-related information will be posted here on my website ap.io/198s/.

Communication

Here are my full contact details plus some helpful tips about communicating with me.

Emails about course matters should be kept brief. I aim to respond within 24 hours, but if messages are more involved it may take longer. You can help speed up my response time by including the course code PHY198S in the subject line of your message.

Asynchronous out-of-class physics questions should be asked on Piazza, not by email. You will get a faster response this way. Also, other students will be able to benefit from your questions, and from answers posted by me or the TA.

If you would like synchronous 1-on-1 help from me outside of regular classes and office hours, I welcome that. Please email me to book a half-hour private Zoom meeting.

Important note: if you ask for my help for any reason, that will not reduce my opinion of you. In fact, it is only likely to improve it. Asking for help when needed in a timely fashion takes courage, and this should be met with encouragement.

In my teaching, I aim to express encouragement for my students on a scale from +0% to +100%, rather than -50% to +50%. After all, encouragement is not an inherently limited resource that must be rationed.

Grading

Weightings
Participation: 15%. Attendance at both classes and colloquia is expected. Participation marks can be earned by actively participating in class synchronously, and on Piazza asynchronously. Colloquia will be delivered in webinar mode, so student participation in them is not expected.
Weekly Summaries: 35%. Each week for Weeks 2-11 you will write a short (1-2 page) essay about what you learned that week, worth 3.5% each. Intended audience: other PHY152 students not taking this course. Due date: beginning of next class.
Midterm Exam: 20%. This will be held during Mar.08-12, and will be a 25 minute conversational style oral exam based on class + colloquium material from Weeks 2-7 only. (The midterm will not be a traditional time pressured written test, because online surveillance software for proctoring is problematic for a whole bunch of reasons.) Sole allowed aid: one-page single-sided summary sheet created by you.
Final Project: 30%. This will be on a topic of your choice, due on Apr.08. It has two components: an individual written report worth 15% (5-8 pages), and a group presentation worth 15%, of duration N x 5 minutes where N is the number of students in your group. There will be no final exam.
Lateness policy
Weekly summaries are due by the start of the next class. The lateness penalty is 5% per day, up to a maximum of 7 days beyond the due date, which is the latest any assignment can normally be handed in. I encourage you not to hand in late if you can avoid it, because delays tend to pile up like a rolling snowball.
To help alleviate academic pressure at the busiest times of the semester, each student gets a bank account of seven Grace Days, which allows handing in Weekly Summaries late without penalty. You may spread out your Grace Days however you wish. My only rule is that you must inform the TA by email at least 24 hours before the original due date, stating how many Grace Days you are spending on that particular assignment.
Final Project individual reports and group presentation slides are due on the last day of class, Apr.08, which is student presentations day. Since these slides will be shown in class on Apr.08, they cannot be handed in late. But if you get really behind, you can hand in your individual report up to five days late if absolutely necessary. There is no option to hand in any later than that without filing a formal petition, because Arts & Science rules require me to submit your final grades within five business days after classes end!
Handing in
All Weekly Summary essays and Final Project reports and presentations must be submitted electronically on Quercus for pandemic safety reasons. Please submit your work in .pdf format.

Accessibility accommodations

Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you have a disability/health consideration that may require accommodations, please feel free to approach me as well as Accessibility Services. I am disabled myself, and very motivated to be decent to students managing physical and/or mental health disabilities. Here are some further important details on deadline extensions and accessibility accommodations.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Excellence

At the University of Toronto, we strive to be an equitable and inclusive community, rich with diversity, protecting the human rights of all persons, and based upon understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of every person. We seek to ensure to the greatest extent possible that all students enjoy the opportunity to participate as they see fit in the full range of activities that the University offers, and to achieve their full potential as members of the University community.

Our support for equity is grounded in an institution-wide commitment to achieving a working, teaching, and learning environment that is free of discrimination and harassment as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code. In striving to become an equitable community, we will also work to eliminate, reduce or mitigate the adverse effects of any barriers to full participation in University life that we find, including physical, environmental, attitudinal, communication or technological.

Our teaching, scholarship and other activities take place in the context of a highly diverse society. Reflecting this diversity in our own community is uniquely valuable to the University as it contributes to the diversification of ideas and perspectives and thereby enriches our scholarship, teaching and other activities. We will proactively seek to increase diversity among our community members, and it is our aim to have a student body and teaching and administrative staffs that mirror the diversity of the pool of potential qualified applicants for those positions.

We believe that excellence flourishes in an environment that embraces the broadest range of people, that helps them to achieve their full potential, that facilitates the free expression of their diverse perspectives through respectful discourse, and in which high standards are maintained for students and staff alike. An equitable and inclusive learning environment creates the conditions for our student body to maximize their creativity and their contributions, thereby supporting excellence in all dimensions of the institution.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity (AI) is fundamental to learning and scholarship at the University of Toronto. Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in this academic community ensures that the U of T degree that you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement, and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

Students are expected to know what constitutes AI: Familiarize yourself with the University of Toronto's Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. It is the rule book for academic behaviour at the U of T. Potential offences include, but are not limited to:

In papers and assignments:
Using someone else's ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement.
Copying material word-for-word from a source (including lecture and study group notes) and not placing the words within quotation marks.
Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor.
Making up sources or facts.
Including references to sources that you did not use.
Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment including (a) working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be individual work, (b) having someone rewrite or add material to your work while editing.
Lending your work to a classmate who submits it as his/her own without your permission.
On tests and exams:
Using or possessing any unauthorized aid, including a cell phone.
Looking at someone else's answers.
Letting someone else look at your answers.
Misrepresenting your identity.
Submitting an altered test for re-grading.
Misrepresentation:
Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including doctor's notes.
Falsifying institutional documents or grades.

The University of Toronto treats cases of academic misconduct very seriously. All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following the procedures outlined in the Code. The consequences for academic misconduct can be severe, including a failure in the course and a notation on your transcript. If you have any questions about what is or is not permitted in this course, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you have questions about appropriate research and citation methods, seek out additional information from me, or from other available campus resources like the U of T Writing Website. If you are experiencing personal challenges that are having an impact on your academic work, please speak to me or seek the advice of your college registrar.

Notice of video recording and sharing

During pandemic conditions, I am teaching online-only to safeguard our lives and our health. Lectures in this course, including student participation, will be recorded on video, and will be made available for later viewing to help support your learning. Video links will be provided via an announcement on Quercus a few hours after each class. Please note that course videos and materials belong to the instructor, the University, and/or other source depending on the specific facts of each situation, and are protected by copyright. In this course, you are permitted to download session videos and other materials provided via Quercus for your own academic use, but you should not copy, share, or use them for any other purpose without prior explicit permission of the instructor.

Licence terms for course materials on this website

In the spirit of academic openness, I share non-confidential course materials on my own website for free, rather than securing them behind a tuition firewall. I started off by sharing lecture notes online soon after I began teaching at UofT in 2000, as an automatic accessibility accommodation so that students who could not take notes in class did not have to ask for a note taker. I hope that sharing my course materials online may also be useful to other UofT instructors wondering what I cover in my courses and how, and perhaps even to interested parties elsewhere. All my stuff is offered under a specific kind of licence which is less restrictive than traditional copyright but still has conditions: a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Canada 2.5 licence. Please read the terms carefully.