Recitation instructors in 241 should:

1) Thoroughly prepare and conduct recitation classes

2) Train to be proficient administrators of CHIP the web based homework grading system

3) Keep track of homework scores in the grade-book of CHIP and by grading the supplemental quizzes.

4) Help proctor the two 1-hour long exams and the final exam.

5) Assist in assigning final grades.

Attached is a copy of the syllabus for the course. Please note the problem sets that are due on each date. I feel that the most important aspect of the course for the students is attention to working these problems. I can not put questions on exams that are as illustrative because of time limitations. You need to work these problems before the recitation period, so that you are aware of subtleties. The editor answers to the problems are available in Room 144. These answers are not always correct and the solutions are very superficial. You will have to do some work to explain the material to the students in a way that easy to understand it.

I want you to have students participate in discussing the homework solutions. I suggest that you have the students to come out at the backboard to do the easy problems. They can put their solution on the board at the beginning of each class. Rotate these assignments through the entire class during the semester. You should be prepared to comment or editorialize. You should put your emphasis on the more difficult problems. One way you can do that is by providing your students with a check list outlining the steps they should follow to solve complicated problems.

Since you work in the Help Center you are not expected to have regular office hours. Nonetheless you should make an effort to be available in the case a student has a special problem or need which can not be accommodated by the sessions provided at the Help Center.

The students should enter the solutions to the homework problems in CHIP before the due date and time. CHIP will automatically grade them. Partial credit (30%) can be obtained for work entered up to two calendar days after the recitation class has met. No credit will be given if the assignment is more than one week late. You should record the result of the quizzes in CHIP often so that your students can monitor their progress in the class.

To give your final grade keep track of the following:

1) Homework grade

2) Give 10 quizzes during the semester (keep score of the best 8)

3) Attendance

Before each hour exam, I will send you a document specifying the place that your recitation sections will take each exam. These will be multiple choice, and will be machine graded. We will meet about an hour before each exam, for last minute instructions and picking up the exams. You will then take exam papers for your sections to the proper location, hand out the exams, and monitor your students. At the end of the exam, assemble the computer sheets, keeping your sections separate. It is up to you to check that the person handing in the exam is one of your students. I will be in my office the evening of the exam to handle any problems. After the exam, we will assemble back in physics, and I will take care of taking the computer sheets to CIS for grading. As soon as I get the results, I will post them and send you copies for your classes.

You will be an integral part of assigning final grades. At the end of the semester, but before final exam week, you need to compile your recitation scores. As the syllabus states, you have 100 points to contribute. The recitation grade will be computed as follows:

The semester average of the quizzes will be normalized, for each recitation group of students, to 75\% of the maximum quiz score (down if necessary, but in a way that turns a perfect quiz score into 60 points, and also a zero quiz score remains zero.)

I will distribute op-scan sheets to you for recording your grade totals. These sheets have

sections for students names and id numbers. You will probably want to have students fill in this information. Then in the last week of classes, enter your totals on these sheets and get them to me. The timing is semi-critical; CIS wants them before final exam week. This will mean that you may have to ignore the last recitation. I will take these over to CIS to get the scores folded into the exam scores. I will also provide you with a set of class rosters, on which I want you to enter a different total. Once we have the total score from CIS we will meet to decide the final grade. This meeting is critical and mandatory for all of us. At this time we will all decide on cutoffs. I will also ask you to consider students who are on the borderline and give you the opportunity to add 1 or 2 discretionary points. These points will rewards students that have a record of good attendance to the recitation or have shown greater interest and participation. Only you can do this, which is why the meeting is mandatory.

A word about my policy of replacing the lowest hour exam score. Please make sure your students understand this. If it is to the student advantage, 50% of the final exam score will be substituted for the lowest evening Exam score, i.e. the (positive only) difference will be added to the point total. This should provide strong motivation for the students to continue to work hard in the course even if they do poorly on one of the hour exams.

Remember that most of your students can not do mathematics thanks to our educational

system. We will have regular meetings during the semesters but feel free to contact me if problems arise. If you have an account on the departmental computer, please send me your login/mail address. If you do not yet have an account, I can help you get one immediately. My login is daniela@physics.purdue.edu. Please make a habit of checking your E-mail daily.

Physics 241 has a webserver providing course information, assignments, announcements, and grades. You can find most information about PHYS241 in \\http: www.physics.purdue.edu/phys241/