 Astro
110 (3) Information and policies
Time & Place: MWF 10.30 - 11.20 am in Watanabe Hall 112
Instructor: Prof. Gareth Wynn-Williams
Email wynnwill@ifa.hawaii.edu
Phone 956-8807 or 956-2973.
Fax
956-9580
Teaching Assistant: Mr Ben Granett
Email
granett@ifa.hawaii.edu
Phone
956-0982
Office Hours with Instructor: MWF 11.20 - 11.40 am at Watanabe 423 (enter via Watanabe
416)
or by appointment at the Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive
Office Hours with TA: Tu, Th, noon - 1 pm at Watanabe Hall 402
or by appointment at the Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive
Book: The textbook for the course
is "Discovering the Essential Universe" by Neil Comins.
You do not have to buy the book, but if you want to do well in the course
you are strongly advised to purchase it.
We will not attempt to cover everything in
the book. There will also be a few topics that are not in the
book.
Internet: We will make extensive optional
use of the Internet in this course. All my class notes will be available
over the net, and we will access interesting sites during class. The home page for the course is
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/users/wynnwill/110 Because of copyright issues, you will need to use a login and password to
view the pictures on the website. These will be given out in class.
Quizzes: There will be a very short
(2-minute) quiz during most lectures. The first quiz will be on January
19th . The quizzes are to encourage you to keep up with the course, and
to test your understanding of a major topic covered in one of the
previous two or three lectures. Each quiz will consist of a single question that
merits a one- or two-sentence answer. There will be no quiz makeups, but
I will ignore your four lowest marks (out of a total of about 35 quizzes). Your quiz answers will altogether count for 20% of your grade.
Homework: Homework assignments will be set
roughly once a week, as shown in the calendar,
The homeworks may require simple calculations, graph drawing or answers
of a few sentences. They are designed to encourage you to think
logically. One week will be allowed for homework. All homework is due by
10.20 am on the specified day (usually a Wednesday). Homeworks that are
handed to me by 9.30 am on the following class day (usually Friday) will be graded at 50 %. No
credit will be given for any homework handed in later than this. There will be no homework makeups, but
I will ignore your two lowest marks (out of approximately 12 homeworks).
Homeworks will count for 30% of your final grade. Homework assignments
can be downloaded from the calendar page of the website in the form of .pdf
files.
Examinations: The mid-term exam and the final
will consist of multiple-choice questions. You may be required to answer
questions based on images projected in the lecture room; if you have any
vision problems that could affect your performance you should tell the
instructor well before the date of the exam.
Make sure you are carrying a photo-id. with you to the exams.
We reserve the right to check that students taking the exam are properly
registered; you will be required to sign as well as print your name on
your answer sheet. Failure to do so will result in a zero mark for the
exam. No latecomers will be admitted to the exam once at least one
student has left.
Make up exams will be allowed for serious emergencies only; you must see
the instructor as soon as you can if you miss an exam. Make-up exams, if
permitted, will consist of essay-type questions only. Absolutely no
athletic-related absences will be permitted for the final exam.
You are allowed to bring one letter-size page of handwritten
notes to the mid-term exam, written on one side only. For the final you
may bring two pages, written on one side only.
The mid-term counts for 20% of your grade. The final counts for 30% of
your grade. The final will be cumulative.
Collaboration versus cheating: You
should make every attempt to work out homeworks on your own. If, after
much effort, you are still stuck, then you may discuss your homework
with another student. You must report the nature and extent of any
collaboration on your answer sheet. Moderate collaboration during
homeworks will not be penalized but large-scale or undisclosed copying will be regarded
as cheating and will be dealt with severely, as will any cheating in
exams or quizzes. You may consult books and notes while doing homework
but not when doing quizzes.
Grading:
Mid-term 20 %
Final Exam 30 %
Homework 30 %
Quizzes 20%. The final grade will be based on a curve.
Extra credit: If you are enjoying the
course you may apply to undertake an extra credit project. You might
write a paper on an astronomical topic, create some web pages or do some
observing. No specific marks will be assigned, but a good extra credit
project could lift your grade if you were otherwise just below a
borderline. If you are interested in doing an extra credit project you
should discuss it with the instructor early in the semester. No
new extra credit topic will be approved after April 4th ;
extra credit projects are due May 4th. .
Observing: Students will have the
opportunity to view the sky through the department's portable
telescopes. Dates will be announced in class and on the internet
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