This is a one-semester course, with a laboratory, designed for individuals with a baccalaureate degree who need first semester physics as a prerequisite to apply for admission to health professions’ programs. These may include graduate programs in medicine, veterinary medicine, dental medicine, nursing, physical therapy and physician assistant.
The objectives of this course are designed to facilitate your construction of conceptual models to describe physical ideas that are the foundation of sciences that you may encounter in your professional studies.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
Course Details
Physics I is divided up into modules that follow the first 12 chapters of the textbook. Each module contains a reading assignment, video lectures, homework assignment, and lecture quiz. Modules will also contain a laboratory assignment, lab report, and, for some, a discussion board.
This course also provides many practice problems with solutions for you to use to enhance your ability to solve physics problems. These problems are from your supplementary text, Schaum’s Outline, and have full solutions. To get the most out of these practice problems, watch the “About Deliberate Practice” video tutorial in the Module 1 section of your course before attempting these problems.
Successful comprehension of physics concepts requires practice, diligence, and motivation. You should spend several hours per section on homework and independent of laboratory time. Assignments can be found through Brightspace. They consist of homework with solutions to check your work once the homework has been reviewed by your instructor, and lecture quizzes. Homework must be handwritten. Please upload pictures or scanned copies of your homework for grading.
A significant amount of time is dedicated to at-home hands-on laboratory experiments. We will make use of the IOLab Wireless Lab System along with accompanying laboratory instructions to collect data, analyze data on your home computer, and share results and interpretation with the instructor and other students. Labs will focus on discovering relationships between variables involved in our fundamental models of physics. Laboratory instructions and experiment submission forms are provided for each lab and are organized by course module/topic.
Your lab assignment sheets will ask for a photo of your setup. Always include a photo of the experimental setup, NOT just one of the iOLab device sitting on a table in front of your laptop, or of the materials used. Also include a picture showing some action, such as yourself measuring something, of the device sliding down a ramp, etc.
Discussion questions cover interesting current events or materials that contribute to a deeper understanding of key concepts and allow you to interact with your classmates and the instructor. There are a total of six required discussion questions throughout the quarter that will count towards your discussion grade for the unit. Each question will require you to conduct at-home lab work, read additional materials (a short journal or magazine article), visit a specific webpage, and/or view a short video. Then you will write a response following the guidelines in the assignment.
To earn full credit: you will need to post a response, respond to the original posts of at least two other students, and then contribute to an ongoing discussion. For special cases where one or two students are accelerating faster through the course, the instructor will participate in the discussion so that everyone has the opportunity to interact.
Discussion Question Guidelines
Final Exam
For your final exam, you must review the Proctored Examinations information and requirements in the Policies section of this syllabus.
There will be a 3.5 hour proctored cumulative final exam. Exams begin and end promptly with scheduled times. Be prepared to stay in the exam room for the entire time. The exams are administered online via web proctoring – you will be required to follow all the proctor’s requests. You will not be able to review these exams at any time. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.
You may use:
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Category | Points Available |
---|---|
Discussions | 10% |
Homework | 15% |
Lab Assignments | 25% |
Quizzes | 25% |
Final Exam | 25% |
Total | 100% |
Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
The lecture quizzes are graded immediately. After submission, the homework will be reviewed by your instructor and upon being reviewed, will allow you access to the solution manual for that module to check your work. The final lecture exam should not be taken until all the other assignments are completed. Exams taken online with ProctorU will be graded immediately. While you will see your proctored exam scores, you will not have access to your exams once you have submitted it for a grade. You may contact your instructor regarding specific feedback, however no exams will be released to the students.
Week 1: Mar 20 – Mar 26
Week 2: Mar 27 – Apr 2
Week 3: Apr 3 – Apr 9
Week 4: Apr 10 – Apr 16
Week 5: Apr 17 – Apr 23
Week 6: Apr 24 – Apr 30
Week 7: May 1 – May 7
Week 8: May 8 – May 14
Week | Modules | Due Dates |
1 | Modules 1-3: Introduction, Scientific Method, Modelling, The Constant Velocity Free Particle, The Constant Accelleration Free Particle |
Introduction Discussion Due Sunday by 11:59 PM Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM EST |
2 | Modules 4-5: Tools: Vectors and Trigonometry, Free-Particle Interactions: Weight and Friction |
Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM |
3 | Modules 6- 7: The Constant Force Particle I, The Constant Force Particle II |
Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM |
4 | Modules 9-10: The Restoring Force Particle and Energy, Work, Energy, and Energy Resources |
Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM |
5 | Modules 11-12: The Impulsive Force Particle: Linear Momentum and Collisions, The Center Seeking Particle: Uniform Circular Motion and Gravitation |
Assignments Tuesday by 11:59 PM EST |
6 | Module 13-14: Torque and Rotational Motion, Fluid Statics |
Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM |
7 | Module 15: Fluid Dynamics and Its Biological and Medical Applications | Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM |
8 | Final Exam |
Assignments Due Tuesday by 11:59 PM |
Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies. Questions? Email: prehealth@une.edu.
Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.
Check Brightspace for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.
Your student service advisor monitors course progression and provides assistance or guidance when needed. They can assist questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Brightspace, and more.
Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.
Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted. Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded. Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.
The University of New England has contracted with ProctorU to provide students with the most convenient online exam proctoring system. This system provides a simple, no cost to the student, secure, online proctor for exams and allows the student to take all the exams at home and on their own schedule.
Upon enrollment into the course, each student will register with ProctorU and establish a login name and password. This will give the student access to all of ProctorU's services. When ready, students will schedule each of their proctored exams with ProctorU. Exams must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance to avoid fees. Prior to taking their exams, students must be sure that they have downloaded the ProctorU Chrome or Firefox extension and are using the most current version of Chrome or Firefox. They must also be sure their testing site's connection meets the minimum requirements by using ProctorU's "Test It Out" utility.
Upon the exam day and hour, students will log in to ProctorU and click on "exams". After following the procedures outlined at ProctorU's website, the student will log in to Brightspace and locate their correct exam. The proctor will then allow student access to that exam.
Students must use ProctorU and must follow all proctoring requirements for their exams to be credited.
Information about exam attempts can be found in your course.
Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Programs: Technical Requirements
A schedule of lectures and assignments is included in this syllabus.
Courses in the program are equivalent to one-semester courses designed to be completed in 6 or 8 weeks
Please review the policies in your confirmation email. Contact PreHealth@une.edu with any questions.
Students are expected to attempt and complete all graded assignments and proctored exams by the end date of the course. Contact support with any questions.
Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, only the student may request official transcripts. This may be done online by going to the University of New England Registrar website and following the directions on the page.
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.