This algebra-based online course is a four credit-hour course that includes a hands-on physics laboratory. The overall goal of this online course is to provide the student, interested in the health professions, with a continuing introduction to physics that emphasizes additional concepts than those covered in PHYS 1010 that are the foundation of science and which the students may encounter in their professional studies. These topics include thermodynamics, waves and sound, electrostatics, circuits, magnetism, light and optics, and atomic and nuclear phenomena. Course pre-req: one semester of college algebra. PHYS 1010 or equivalent physics course is highly recommended.
In lecture courses, students should be able to:
In lab courses, students should be able to:
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:
On the course start date, students will have access to orientation. This must be completed to be able to gain access to the first module in the course. Students must complete the first module to gain access to the next one. We recommend that students spend about 15 hours per week to complete a course in 16 weeks. When trying to complete the course in less than 16 weeks, we typically see students do this successfully within 12-14 weeks. Instructors will be timely in grading and feedback, but it will not be instant.
Course Details
Physics II is divided up into 16 weeks that follow the second half of the textbook. Each week contains a reading assignment, video lectures, homework assignment, and lecture quiz, except weeks that have an exam or project. Non-exam/project weeks also contain a laboratory assignment and lab report. Each of the three units includes a discussion board.
TED-Ed Lecture Videos
All lecture videos feature optional quiz questions that students can use to check their understanding. The questions do not count towards final grades. To access this optional content, please register for a free TED-Ed account here.
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.
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. Other lab experiments will make use of the materials in the Hands-On Lab Kit. Labs will focus on discovering relationships between physical variables and identifying applications of the relevant physics principles. Laboratory instructions and experiment submission forms are provided for each lab and are organized by course week/topic.
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
There is a highly recommended Practice Proctored Exam available to all students. The first attempt is free. This exam does not cover course material and is not included in your overall course grade. It prepares test takers for what the testing environment will be like, what forms of identification are needed, and provides a chance to test your external webcam with a live proctor. This is a great way to become familiar with and prepare for your exam!
Exams and Projects
You must purchase the Official UNE External Webcam to take your proctored examinations. Remember to order your webcam at least three weeks prior to scheduling your first proctored exam. For all exams, you must review the Proctored Examinations information and requirements in the Policies section of this syllabus.
Each unit concludes with a final assessment. In the first unit, that assessment is a hands-on project and a written report. The second unit culminates in a proctored exam. For the final unit, you will create a presentation and complete a short proctored exam. The exams are closed for review. You will not be able to review these exams at any time. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.
The two proctored 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 may use:
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Homework | 13% |
Quizzes | 13% |
Unit 1 Project | 16% |
Unit 2 Exam | 16% |
Unit 3 Exam | 6% |
Unit 3 Project | 10% |
Lab | 20% |
Discussion | 6% |
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 |
This course is designed to be completed in a 16-week period, just like an on-campus course. One week in this online course is equivalent to 3-50 minute lectures in a traditional classroom setting. The general rule of studying for science courses is to spend 3 hours studying for every one hour that you are in class. Therefore, the suggested study time for each module is 9 hours above and beyond the time it takes to listen to the lecture. Please refer to the schedule below for the suggested schedule of lectures and the accompanying laboratory exercises. Students may complete the course in less than 16 weeks.
Week | Title | Textbook Chapter | Lab Assignment |
1 | Introduction, Thermodynamics I | 13 | I/O Lab Setup and Calibration |
2 | Thermodynamics II | 14, 15 | Heat Transfer and Temperature Mapping with I/O Lab |
3 | Waves and Sound | 16 | Waves and Sound Frequency with I/O Lab |
4 | Sound II | 17 | Sound Intensity Level and Mapping |
5 | Unit 1 Project: Thermodynamics and Sound | 13–17 | None |
6 | Electrostatics | 18 | Charged Objects |
7 | Voltage and Capacitance | 19 | I/O Lab Circuits I |
8 | Current and Resistance | 20 | I/O Lab Circuits II |
9 | DC Circuits | 21 | I/O Lab Circuits III |
10 | Magnetism | 22 | Magnetic Field with I/O Lab |
11 | Unit 2 Exam | 18–22 | None |
12 | E/M Waves, Light | 24 | Light Intensity with I/O Lab |
13 | Geometrical and Wave Optics | 25 | Lenses and Mirrors |
14 | Atomic Physics | 30 | Simulation-based |
15 | Nuclear Physics | 31, 32 | Simulation-based |
16 | Unit 3 Project and Exam | 24, 25, 30–32 | None |
Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.
Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.
ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.
The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!
The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.
Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you - they will monitor course progression and provide assistance or guidance when needed. Please don’t hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, course materials, billing, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.
Questions? Visit the Student Support Science Prerequisites page
Check Brightspace for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.
The Student Lounge Discussion Board is a designated support forum in which students may engage with each other and grapple with course content. Feel free to post questions, seek clarification, and support each other, but be mindful of UNE's Academic Integrity Policy.
Your instructor will monitor this forum. However, if you are seeking specific and timely answers to questions about course content or your personal grades, please contact your instructor via course messages. For questions about course materials, program policy, and how to navigate and proceed through the course, please contact your Student Service Advisor through the Student Portal.
Your course may have proctored exams. 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 any required additional software. 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. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.
Students will receive two attempts at all proctored examinations. The higher score of the two attempts will be calculated into the final grade. Students can schedule their second attempt by following the same ProctorU instructions as with the original exam.
All students are encouraged to utilize a second attempt on their exams in order to improve their overall performance in the course.
Discussion topics cover events or materials related to this course that contribute to a deeper understanding of key concepts and allow you to interact with your classmates and the instructor. Each discussion topic may require you to conduct internet research, read additional materials, visit a specific webpage, AND/OR view a short video before writing a response following the specific guidelines in the discussion topic prompt.
To earn full credit you will need to post a response to the discussion topic, respond to the original posts of other students, and then contribute meaningfully to an ongoing discussion. You may need to post your initial response before you will see any posts from your classmates. 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.
Please see Brightspace for a full description, along with specific guidelines, for each discussion topic. Discussion board assignments should be completed, along with all other assignments in the course, in the order that they appear. Due to the course design, you may be unable to take a proctored exam if you do not complete all assignments that appear prior to that exam.
Please also refer to the Grading Policy/Grade Breakdown section of the syllabus to learn the percentage of your grade that each discussion is worth.
Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Programs: Technical Requirements
A schedule of lectures and assignments is included in this syllabus. This is, however a self-paced course and you can complete the course in less time.
Please visit the enrollment page to review the withdrawal and refund policies.
Students are expected to attempt and complete all graded assignments and proctored exams by the end date of the course. View the incomplete grade policy..
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.