P3A Course Syllabus

quick menu

Textbook

This course will cover Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 & 11 of University Physics for the Life Sciences, 1st Edition, by Knight, Jones, and Field. In contrast to most P3 courses, this course does not use Pearson's MyLab and Mastering for homework.

Anchor 11

Class Meetings

Lectures take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3:00 to 3:50 PM in the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall.
First class: September 26th, Friday. Last class: December 5th. No class will be held on Friday, November 28 (Black Friday).

There are 30 class meetings in total. Three Mondays will be dedicated to exams, leaving 7 Monday lectures, 10 Wednesday lectures, and 10 Friday lectures. Attendance is optional. Lectures will be recorded on YuJa (laptop screen + microphone), but demos can only be viewed in class.

Lecture Notes

Available only on this website (not on Canvas) and can be downloaded. LearnItUpp is made for desktop/mac/ipad, not for mobil.

Note: Lecture notes may be updated up until class. For the best version to study from or download for note taking, please use the copy posted right before class.

Anchor 10

Office Hours

On Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays from 4pm to 5pm in 4179 Frederick Reines Hall (mini conference room).

Additionally, I offer a "by appointment only" office hour on Fridays from noon to 1pm, in 4182 Frederick Reines Hall (my office).

Anchor 9

Anchor 8

Reading Assignments

Reading assignments over a whole chapter are due every Friday. They are meant to help you stay on track with the material.

Why is reading important? Physics is a highly structured subject—each new idea builds on previous ones. To truly understand it, you need to engage with the material multiple times and in different ways. Reading before class helps lay the foundation, lectures deepen your understanding, and practice solidifies it. Spacing out your study allows your brain to selectively forget and and fill in gaps, which strengthens understanding. This iterative process is essential—and it can’t happen if you only start studying the weekend before the exam.

Anchor 7

Homework Assignments

Each week, homework problems will be posted on MyLab and Mastering, with submission deadline on Mondays. You are expected to attempt solving the problems independently. You will receive extra credit (10%) for engaging with and submitting the correct answers for these problems. Additionally, during the discussion sessions, you will take weekly quizzes based on randomly selected homework problems of that week. The quizzes will be graded by the TAs, and they will contribute with 15% toward the overall grade. Be aware that simply reading the solutions and assuming passive understanding will be enough is a risky approach. Without actively practicing problem-solving—meaning re-solving the homework multiple times on your own—you may struggle on the quiz, as recognizing a solution is not the same as being able to reproduce it under time pressure. To succeed, you must engage with the homework by working through the problems yourself, using the solutions as a guide rather than a shortcut. Doing so will not only improve your quiz performance and overall grade but will also prepare you effectively for the midterms and final. Remember: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Quiz grading scale:

2 points: Entirely correct solution
1 point: Mostly correct solution with minor mistake(s)
0 points: Mostly incorrect solution

To accommodate unforeseen circumstances, the two lowest quiz scores will be automatically dropped at the end of the quarter. No make-up quizzes or retakes will be offered, so please do not request exceptions. This policy is in place to ensure fairness and manage resources effectively:

Fairness: It is impossible to replicate a previous quiz with the exact same difficulty.
Resource limitations: TA availability is limited, and we cannot allocate extra time for additional quizzes.

Anchor 5

Grading

Final letter grades for the course will be computed using the following weights:

Class participation: 0%
Discussion group work participation: 10% (lowest 2 scores will be automatically dropped)
Discussion quiz: 15% (lowest 2 scores will be automatically dropped)
Exams: 75% (top 3 out of 4 exam scores, each for 25%; i.e. you can drop either a midterm or the final)
Bonus: Up to 10% for correct homework submitted on MyLab & Mastering, added on top of your regular course points.

Letter Grade & Percentage Range:

A+ 97–100%

A. 93–96%

A- 90–92%

B+ 87–89%

B. 83–86%

B- 80–82%

C+ 77–79%

C 73–76%

C- 70–72%

D 60–69%

Scores will be curved if needed (if class GPA falls below 2.72). Scores for individual assignments will be posted on Canvas as they are entered by the TAs. It is the students' responsibility to ensure that scores have been correctly recorded. If there are clerical errors students shall immediately notify the TA. No scores will be changed after the last day of classes.

Past P3C Performance Trends

In past P3C classes, many students experience a challenging start — Exam 1 often hits hard as everyone adjusts to the course’s pace and style. By Exam 2 and especially Exam 3, scores tend to improve as students become familiar with the problem-solving approach and expectations. The final exam usually reflects this growth, with a noticeable boost after applying the end-of-quarter curve to ensure at least a 2.7 class GPA. This means that even if your early scores aren’t where you want them, steady effort and adapting to the “drill” can lead to significant improvement by the end.

Letter grades after applying curve to ensure class GPA is 2.7

Anchor 6

Exams

This course holds three midterms and one cumulative final exam. Midterms occur during Monday lectures on October 20th, November 10th and December 1st, and the final exam is scheduled for Monday, December 8th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM. All exams will be held in PSLH. Note that the time of the final exam is different from the time of the classes.

Midterm & Exam content

Midterm #1: Kinematics (Chapters 1, 2 & 3)
Midterm #2: Forces & Motion (Chapters 4, 5 & 6)
Midterm #3: Equilibrium, Rotational Motion & Momentum (7, 8, 10)
Final: Work & Energy, Interactions & Potential Energy (all 10 chapters: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11)

TarT

The final exam is optional, and can replace a missed midterm or improve your grade. If you take all three midterms and the final, your lowest score will automatically be dropped. Each exam's weight is the same toward the final grade, including the final exam. No other "make-up" opportunities will be offered online or at alternate times so do not request exceptions. This policy is in place to ensure fairness and manage resources effectively:

Fairness: It is impossible to replicate a previous exam with the exact same difficulty.
Resource limitations: TA availability is limited, and we cannot allocate extra time for additional exams.

Mark your calendar now to protect these exam dates from scheduling conflicts.

Exams are closed book and closed note. The type of problems will be similar to those covered in lectures, discussion sessions and by the homework.

What's the best way to prepare for the midterms and final?

Short answer: Love physics as much as you love biology. You already know how to excel in a class — you’ve done it before. If you bring the same passion you have for biology into physics, you’ll set yourself up to ace this course. There is just one key difference: physics requires steady repetition for the concepts to “soak in” and your skill to develop, so study a little every day. Last-minute cramming won’t connect the pieces. If physics isn’t your favorite, shift your focus from the grind to the payoff: a smoother, less stressful quarter, greater confidence, a higher GPA, and the skills to solve problems as a doctor, dentist, or pharmacist — and to think clearly when others crack under pressure.
Long answer: Practice actively—solve every problem multiple times until the process becomes second nature. Mastery comes from repetition and application, not from listening to lectures and passive understanding of written solutions. If you commit to this, achieving an A is well within reach. I will teach you the concepts in class, but you will need skill to do well in the exams.

Don't wait until the last weekend to start preparing for the midterms—practice several times a week consistently throughout the quarter. As mentioned earlier, physics needs time to "soak in." Even if you're used to earning A's with minimal effort, this is one of the hardest course that you have taken and it requires sustained practice for success. In the past, many top students who assumed they could ace the exams with last-minute cramming were caught off guard and stressed after the first midterm. Don’t make that mistake—start early, practice regularly, and build your mastery systematically. Again, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Beyond the grade, mastering physics will sharpen your analytical and problem-solving skills, which are essential for success in medical school and your future career. The ability to think critically, break down complex problems, and apply logical reasoning will serve you well in diagnosing patients and making sound medical decisions. The focus is not on growing your physics knowledge (you will likely forget most of what you learn here!), but on improving your analytic thinking (this will stay with you forever).

Anchor 4

Discussions

For details, please refer to the schedule of classes on the UCI registrar website. You will receive your "homework" credit for discussion quizzes, which contributes by 15% toward your overall grade. You will also receive 10% for group work participation assisted by the LAs. The 2 lowest scores will be automatically dropped at the end of the quarter to accommodate any issues and emergencies. Please do not request exceptions.

Anchor 3

Lecture Recordings

Recordings are available on Canvas under the YuJa section. Please note: UCI's recording system may experience issues when connecting to a Mac via HDMI, which could cause some screen recordings to appear full black.

Calculator Policy

On quizzes and exams, students are allowed to use any simple, non-programmable, non-graphing calculators. These include the TI-30Xa, TI-30XIIS, TI-34II, TI-36X Solar, Casio fx-300MSPLUS, Sharp EL531VB-BL, HP-9S, HP-30S, or similar models.

Cheating Policy

Anyone caught cheating on any assignment will automatically fail this course. In addition, the appropriate deans will be notified, and this course will strictly enforce the UCI policies on academic honesty. Cheating includes giving or receiving assistance on any assessment, submitting work that is copied from another person’s work, and tampering with and/or re-submitting exams or homework. Cheating does not include discussing problems with other students or using outside reference materials to learn more. You are encouraged to learn by working together, but any work turned in for a grade must be your own effort and not someone else’s.