We’ve received a series of questions via email and from your introductory questionnaires. We’ll update these questions and answers as they come in. We’ve listed all the questions first, and then answer them below.
Q) I’m on the wait-list. What are my chances for getting in? What should I do?
Q) I signed up for the wrong specialty track! What do I do?
Q) Are the three subjects combined? Or am I just signed up for the math/drawing?
Q) I’m confused by the schedule. How should I read it?
Q) Can I get e-texts versions of our textbooks if they are available?
Q) What can I do to prepare myself for this program?
Q) What can I expect from seminar, will we be reading books or discussing questions?
Q) What programs will we be using to create the animations?
Q) Will I have the opportunity to record audio and music over our animations?
Q) How much math am I expected to know before entering this class?
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Q) I’m on the wait-list. What are my chances for getting in? What should I do?
A) Our wait-lists for both tracks are very long. We don’t expect much space to open up before classes start. We do not have the capacity to over-enroll – we are strictly space limited due to equipment constraints. If registered students do not show up to the first class meeting, we will release their seats; we will use our judgment as to who we will sign-in though we will use wait-list position as part of that judgment. If you have a good placement on your respective wait-list, come to our first class meeting with your fingers crossed. Do not come to the first class meeting if that would mean missing the program you are registered for, as that will mean you will likely lose your seat in that program! Do make sure you are registered for some program (in other words, don’t be just on the wait-list for our program).
(a minor note: if you are on the wait list for the SO-SR math track, the numbering is misleading – you should subtract 7 from your wait-list position. So for example if you are on the SO-SR math track wait list and your position is given as 9, you are actually at position 2)
Q) I signed up for the wrong specialty track! What do I do?
A) Some students registered for a different specialty track than they intended. As possible, we’ll work that out within the program, swapping a student who wanted to be in the math track with a student who wanted to be in the drawing track. We have a firm space and material limit on the number of students who can be in the drawing track, so we can’t have more than 24 students in that track. If you are registered for the wrong specialty track and there isn’t room for you in the one you want, but you are still interested in our common work in animation, physics, and seminar, we might be able to have you register for a reduced credit option where you don’t do the specialty track work.
Q) Are the three subjects combined? Or am I just signed up for the math/drawing?
A) All students in the program will do common work in animation, physics (which will include common work in mathematics), and seminar. Students in the drawing track will do specialized work in drawing, and students in the calculus track will do specialized work in calculus (the equivalent of Calculus I/differential calculus in fall and Calculus II/integral calculus in winter).
Q) I’m confused by the schedule. How should I read it?
A) All students in program will do common work in animation, physics, and seminar. So all students attend the physics lecture on Monday morning, the animation lecture/screening on Monday afternoon, seminar on Tuesday morning, physics workshop on Wednesday morning, one of the two animation workshops on Thursday (either in the morning or the afternoon), and the weekly wrap-up on Thursday afternoon. Students in the drawing specialty track have a drawing session on Tuesday afternoon. Students in the calculus track have a calculus lecture on Tuesday afternoon and a calculus workshop on Thursday morning.
Q) Can I get e-texts versions of our textbooks if they are available?
A) There are e-text versions of the physics and calculus textbook. If you prefer to use e-text versions, you are welcome to. Here are some things you should note: You will need to bring your textbooks to classes (especially workshops). The Student Workbook for the physics text does not seem to have an e-version (when you see it, that will make sense), so you would need to obtain that separately. The subscription models for e-texts are highly variable. In general, those subscriptions run out and you lose access to the text after some time. For those of you considering continuing in the study of math and physics, I suspect you are likely to find them invaluable references for future study, so you might find the printed versions more useful.
Q) What can I do to prepare myself for this program?
A) Review the program description. Carefully read the summer letter. Obtain and begin to read the program textbooks. Make sure you get the supplies described in the summer letter: “a day planner, comfortable writing tool(s), notebook(s), binder for handouts, and (simple) calculator. Students in the Calculus track will need a scientific calculator (a graphing calculator is preferable); there are many free programs and apps for laptops, tablets, and phones which you are welcome to use.” Look over the class schedule and plan when you will do your out-of-class preparation, assignments, and projects; if you have outside of class commitments (such as family obligations or work) speak with those involved to arrange for enough time for you to demonstrate your best learning. Learn the location and schedule of the Writing Center and the QuaSR (math) Center. If you’re concerned about your math background, don’t panic! and read/follow the advice given in an answer below. Keep in contact with your instructors and support staff, especially in Academic Advising. Show up to class on time and prepared for our first class meeting.
Q) What can I expect from seminar, will we be reading books or discussing questions?
A) Seminar is an opportunity to discuss the readings and develop your ideas from them. To prepare for that you can expect to read the texts, take notes on them and write in response to a series of prompts in order to prepare for seminar discussions. We’ll give you details about the seminar writing assignments the first day of class. You can also read general descriptions of all the writing assignments here.
As we said in our summer letter: “Most of our seminar readings will be shorter essays and excerpts from longer texts. We will make these available on our web-site for you to download and print out. […] we’ve chosen some essays written by artists and scientists that describe their own views on education and we’ll spend some time talking about and reflecting on different approaches to teaching the arts and sciences and individuals’ experiences in learning to draw, animate and do math and physics. […] we will also explore themes of humor and physics (and physical) humor, including various different meanings of the word “funny”. In one sense, something funny provokes amusement or laughter. In another sense something funny might be interesting, different, or strange about the world. We’ll pay attention to observing when these and other meanings of “funny” come into play, and why. […] You will have weekly writing assignments associated with Seminar; twice each quarter you will submit a revised and peer-reviewed paper for faculty review.”
Q) What programs will we be using to create the animations?
A) In fall all animation will be done by hand and shot on digital still cameras using Dragon Stop Motion to capture images and create sequences. In winter we will do some work in Adobe After Effects.
Q) Will I have the opportunity to record audio and music over our animations?
A) In fall quarter we will focus on timing in animation and that is best done without sound. In winter there may be opportunities for individual students to work with sound for animation. We have not worked out all the details of winter quarter, however!
Q) How much math am I expected to know before entering this class?
A) From our program description” We do expect that you […] have completed math through intermediate algebra.” (Intermediate algebra is high school algebra 2 or Math 099 from Washington state community colleges.)
We understand from your questionnaires that many of you are concerned about the mathematics part of our program (just as many of you are concerned about the art and science parts). Mathematics is integrated into our study of art and science, and will be supported in our learning community. All students will learn (or learn better) to reason quantitatively; we will apply mathematics in context in animation and physics.
We provide below a number of resources for those of you interested in seeing where you stand, reviewing, filling gaps, etc. Please don’t panic if these are difficult or unfamiliar! We will work together.
Here is a set of diagnostic tests you could take. The algebra diagnostic test is appropriate for everyone. Students in the Calculus track could look over the other three diagnostic tests. Here is the Review of Algebra mentioned with the algebra diagnostic.
Our physics text (which all students must have) has some material you could review : Appendix A summarizes some relevant Algebra formulas, and there are “Math Relationship” boxes on p. 37 (Proportional relationships), p. 47 (Quadratic relationships), p. 114 (Inversely proportional relationships), p. 186 (Inverse-square relationships), p. 451-452 (Sinusoidal relationships), and p. 464 (Exponential relationships).
In addition, MasteringPhysics, our on-line tutoring and homework system (which all students also must have) has a number of interactive tutorials that can help you learn, clarify, or review math concepts.
For students who are in the calculus track, it would be helpful (but not required) if you have also completed a pre-calculus course. If you haven’t complete pre-calculus, you will need to do some catch-up work to familiarize yourself with functions. For those students in this situation (or students interested in preparing for the calculus work in advance), we recommend that in addition to the review described above, you read through Chapter 1 of our Stewart calculus text, and/or Chapter 1 from Guichard’s Calculus.