Patterning the World: Connecting Mathematics and Science – Spring 2014

Here is your assignment for physics labs, lecture/seminar, and Wednesday workshop for the first half of the quarter. (edited 10 pm 4/1/14 to correct mistakes in Monday times).

Some information about our first day:

• Our mandatory first class meeting begins promptly at 8:30 am Monday March 31 in Lecture Hall 4.
• We will be there by 8:15 so come early if you’d like.
• We have a large wait list, so registered students who are not present at the first class meeting and have not contacted us in advance will be dropped to make room for wait-listed students who are present.
• From 8:30 to about 9:30, we’ll do general faculty introductions and describe the program, including handing out the Syllabus, Covenant, and a related workshop activity. Around 9:45, we’ll introduce you to some of the program support staff. From about 10:00 – 10:45, you will have a Lab Safety lecture.
• From 11:00 – noon, half of you will be working on a physics lab activity in Lab 1 room 2046. The other half of you will be doing some work on the computer in the Computer Applications Lab (“the CAL”) located in Lab 2, 1st floor.
• Our lunch break is from noon – 1:00. If you’d like to talk with us, Neal and Krishna will be available in the lounge area of the Computer Applications Lab (“the CAL”) located in Lab 2, 1st floor. We’ll be eating our lunch but welcome the company. During the lunch break, in addition to eating your lunch, you should start to work on the Syllabus/Covenant workshop.
• From 12:45 – 1:45, you will complete the activity you didn’t do in the morning: half of you will be working on a physics lab activity in Lab 1 room 2046. The other half of you will be doing some work on the computer in the Computer Applications Lab (“the CAL”) located in Lab 2, 1st floor.
• From 2:00 – 3:00, we meet in Sem 2 A2105. We begin promptly at 2:00.

Go here for information/instructions on enrolling in WAMAP and WebAssign.

You can find the Syllabus and Covenant under the About link in the menu bar above. Here are direct links to the Syllabus and Covenant (click on the underlined words). We’ll provide printed versions in our first class meeting, so you don’t need to print these out yourself.

You can find the full handout from Academic Fair here, or under the About link above (look under the picture). Some recurring questions from the Student Survey are addressed in that document. Below are some relevant pieces:

• This program is for 12 credits. Can I take a course in addition to the program? 12 credits are sufficient for you to be considered a full-time student, so you don’t need to take more credits. However, there may be a 4 credit course you are interested in taking; this program allows for that possibility. The main reason for designing the program at 12 credits was to enable students who know that they will need to spend a significant amount of time to make up for gaps in their math background or study skills to have that time. If you think that you are such a student, we encourage you to concentrate on just this program.
• I’ve taken pre-calculus/general chemistry/algebra-based physics. Is this the right program for me? If you’ve done well in pre-calculus (or equivalent) or a college-level science course with significant mathematics content (like general chemistry, algebra-based physics, or similar), then this is not the right program for you. If you’ve taken a science course or program and found that you struggled with the mathematics required to understand the science content, you will be able to develop a solid mathematical foundation in this program.
• Are there any math prerequisites for this program? There are no math prerequisites other than what is expected for all college students – completion of high school algebra or its equivalent. If your algebra is rusty or if you have weaknesses in your algebra from your previous classes, then this program is probably right for you. If you are not able to do basic algebra at all, then you should probably be taking an algebra course elsewhere.

Students who took Patterning the World in winter quarter were asked to give advice to students taking Patterning this spring. You can read their thoughtful and generous responses here.

• Please complete the Student Survey by Sun. March 30. You can find the Survey under the About link in the menu bar above, or by clicking here.
• Our first class meeting is Mon. March 31 at 8:30 am in Lecture Hall 4. Students enrolled in the program who do not come to the first class meeting will lose their place in the program, at faculty discretion. If you are registered but not planning to take the program, please dis-enroll to make room for a student from our long wait list.
• The wait list for the program is quite long. Our enrollment cap is determined by the number of seats available in our lab room, which is strictly limited. We will take students to fill any available seats, chosen at faculty discretion. If you are not enrolled in the program but are interested in joining, you must come to the first class  meeting (don’t come if it conflicts with the program you are actually enrolled in, as you don’t want to lose that seat).

You can find a link to the program description, the weekly schedule, information about program texts, and our Academic Fair handout using the About link in the menu bar above (look for it just under the image) or by clicking here.