How to Earn an A

At the end of Spring 2008, all students earning an A in PHYS 2212 G or H were invited to pass on any advice they might have for students in subsequent semesters. Here are their responses, for your benefit, in the order they were received. The only editing has been for spelling, and to remove material that was not advice to students (advice to instructors, for example).

Dr. Jarrio's initial comments: You will see many references below to bonus points. In Spring 2008, we organized the course with a significant amount of extra credit possible, in order to encourage students to adopt study strategies which have been proven to be successful — namely: go to class regularly; work homework problems related to lecture topics as soon as possible; and to work more than the minimum required number of problems.

When you see comments below regarding early homework or extra homework, please keep the following in mind: at the end of the term, the benefit (in terms of GPA) to students who took advantage of the bonus points far outweighed the actual numerical value of those points. For example, the Early Homework was worth a 4-point bonus to the final grade. All other things being equal, with a grading scale of ten points per letter grade, you would expect that the students who earned the early bonus would have a collective GPA that was 0.40 points better than those who didn't. In actual fact, the GPA difference was 1.84 points (!!) between those who regularly took advantage of the early bonus and those who ignored it, 3.44 vs. 1.60 (!!!). In real terms, then, the benefit of Early Homework was five times the nominal value in bonus points!

The message that I hope you will carry away from this is that even if there are no bonus points on the menu for you this term, there is still a considerable benefit to be had by following the advice of the students below when they say, earn the bonus.

I'd have to say that everyone should do the Mastering Physics. It is stressfull at first but it really does cover everything you need to know for the tests. Also make use of the old tests from past classes.
-SD

Well here's what I did this semester in Physics. I did the Mastering Physics early, but it never helped me learn anything. It was just stressful and time-consuming. Anyway, I didn't do the bonus questions because they didn't help me either. I never studied Mastering Physics.

I think what got me an A was the previous years' tests. They helped me know what to expect and were all great review problems. Without them, I would have been much worse off.

Also, I kept a formula sheet for each test. During lecture, I wrote down the important equations we were given, and kept them all together in a separate page than my notes and used them to work through the past tests. Then I marked which ones I needed to memorize and learned how to use those.
-NT

"To get an "A" in physics you have to take all the opportunities seriously. all the diagnostic tests, recitations and the labs everything should be taken very seriously. don't worry about the grades all the time. your main focus should learning the material as much as possible and putting the best effort you can. always pay attention to the class. try to finish up the mastering physics before the due date always. that'll count a lot at the end of the semester though you won't realize it right now. and never mind having a little bad grade for the tests. these are always like that. so, these are the norms of phys 2212. get used to it. at the end of the semester your efforts will be reviewed carefully not only the test scores. so, keep that in mind and work for the "A". good luck.
-RM

I got an A in this class because I took advantage of most of the bonus incentives for this class, along with going to class having read some of the material beforehand and only missing maybe 4 lectures the whole semester, and I studied the online homeworks and old quizzes before each test (which helps a lot on the free response sections of the quizzes). Basically, I heeded the advice of the professors that they gave the first day of class when they showed the grade statistics of past classes in terms of GPA corresponding to PRS scores and homework. I also did the optional diagnostics tests, because even though the extra credit wasn't much for them, it showed that I cared about my grade. If you do all of the above and study enough for the final, then you'll end up doing well in this class.
-Anon.

I found that doing the bonus homework really helped in understanding the material covered. The additional bonus points gained from doing the bonus homeworks and doing the assigned homeworks early really do help out as well if you'd just take some extra time to do them. I also think that attending class is a must in order to really learn the material. While reading the book is a good habit, lectures help enforce the knowledge gained from the book. Additionally, lectures fill in information that the book may leave out or is unclear on. And while PRS questions aren't exactly my favorite thing, they really help in learning the material by making students actively participate in the lecture.
-KR

My advice to next semester's students is to "go the extra mile." Doing the homework early or working the extra homework problems may seem like a pain throughout the semester, but the extra points gained from this extra work allow one to go into the final not only with a few more problems "under his/her belt" but also with a higher grade. I think students also need to realize that memorizing formulas doesn't help unless one knows the underlying concepts and what the formulas actually mean. Furthermore, the 5% from class attendance may seem measly at the beginning of the semester, but the 5% becomes more meaningful as the semester progresses and the tests become harder. Therefore, I think it is important for students to attend most classes, gaining not only the percentage points for attendance but also the concepts taught in class.
-KLR

Here are my big three:

1. Do the homeworks for the bonus
2. understand the homework and just don't rush through it
3. Keep up with the class, read before the class so you understand the material being covered, and get the prs questions right

-PJ

I am not a physics major, did not take AP physics in high school, and don't consider myself a natural genius at physics. But I earned an 'A' — pre-curve — without too much trouble by taking the same approach to physics II as I take to all other classes: go to class, do the assignments, and master the material. I wish I could suggest that this is the necessary approach to earning an 'A' in physics II. But as it turns out, this is far beyond what is necessary. In fact, expectations are so low, and grade inflation so obscene, that students are able to get by with the very bare minimum. Just read the May 1 announcement: "We gave A's to students with test averages in the middle sixties, we gave B's to students with test averages in the middle fifties, we gave C's to students with test averages in the high forties, and we gave D's to students with test scores in the high thirties." That's right, even some 'A' students only knew a mere 60% of the material in this core-level class that is supposed to teach essential techniques of scientific analysis and problem-solving to the next generation of scientists. If a "true A" were actually required to receive an 'A', I don't think that would be asking too much — at least, I hope not. I have always been proud of Georgia Tech precisely because of its high expectations that turn out great scientists and engineers. I thought it was schools like Tech, and people like my classmates, that are the hope for the future and for progress. As I see expectations fall, am I wrong to feel disillusioned and concerned? I don't know how the bar has gotten so low, but it crucially needs raising.
-A disheartened student

Dr. Jarrio replies: Certainly, we extended a lot of latitude to students in Spring 2008. Yes, there were students with quite low (raw) test averages who ended up with surprisingly high final grades. Do not make the mistake of interpreting this to mean that the course was dumbed down. There were also students with test averages over 79% who got no curve and earned C's, students with test averages over 69% who only earned D's, and students with test averages in the high fifties who still failed. The simple truth is that some students clearly tried harder than others, and they were rewarded for that effort. They may not have mastered the subject matter — electromagnetism is hard, even for physics graduate students — but then our goal in PHYS 2212 has never been to create junior electromagnetism experts. We're satisfied when we see students putting in the hard work that is necessary to move from everyday, sloppy thinking to organized, methodical, scientific reasoning. It's not so much how much you know, but how well you use what you know, that we care about in the introductory courses.

My quiz grades were barely above average, but taking advantage of all the bonus credit, doing all the Mastering Physics on time, and attending lecture and doing well in lab really helped me score an A. Reading the textbook helped me understand the material and working old quizzes helped me study. Also the OMED help session tutors saw me on a pretty regular basis; I'd say take advantage of the great help they provide!
-SK

There are really three things I did this semester to really help. First, I read every chapter. It helps to read the sections before lectures (if possible, it was hard for me to always do this) and again before tests. Reading before tests will help explain and drive home what you have learned. Second, do all the homework and do it early. Not only is it great practice but it is free points for the class. The last thing I would recommend would be to do every available practice Quiz and start early. I think we had six Quiz's available. I would recommend doing something like two on Saturday before, two on Sunday, and then two on Monday. Doing them all Monday night will overwhelm you.
-NE

This may seem to be a given, but I found that working through the bonus problems the day of the tests (quizzes) did wonders to reinforce the concepts and equations. The homework is invaluable to the learning process as well, but the bonus problems often integrated several key concepts and equations into one problem. If I could get through those, the test problems were fairly simple in comparison.
-BM

Resist the temptation to memorize everything. That's impossible. Instead, only try to understand how the equations connect with physical reality. Only then will you be able to bend the curve.
-A.C.B.

I noticed I scored better on quizzes I started preparing for several days in advance rather than just a day or two before the quiz. But the single most important factor was just doing the homework and getting the bonus points because there are usually a few homework problems that are challenging to the caliber of quiz questions, and it was great to know exactly what to do when you remembered that a quiz question was similar to a homework question.
-PB

Make sure you do the extra credit homework and the early homework. It adds a scale of 5 points to your grade, which is much harder to add through the 5 quizzes. As for the quizzes, do the practice tests.
-MM

The most beneficial thing for my grade was doing the homework early to get the extra credit. Doing the bonus homeworks was helpful for my grade as well, but I preferred to save those questions as study material for the tests.

The most beneficial thing for learning the material was to do the reading before class. That made answering the PRS questions, doing the homework, and studying for the quizzes much easier.
-TU

Advice:

1. Brush up on calculus — know how to compute cross products and dot products well. If you wish to be a super nerd also look at line and surface integrals.
2. Don't forget PHYS 2211 material.
3. Study for tests by doing problems. Caveat — don't just memorize specific problems, but strive for an understanding.
4. Don't pass up extra credit.

-SL

The best advice I can offer to next semester's students is always, ALWAYS attend class/recitation/lab, ALWAYS do the homework early, and ALWAYS do the bonus homework. Even though I never got an A on any quiz (besides the final) I still was able to get an A in the class.
-NM

Dr. Jarrio comments: I think it's worth emphasizing that this student earned an A on the final exam, despite a consistently poorer test performance during the term. Sometimes the payoff for good study habits is not immediate — don't give up by assuming that the extra work isn't worth the effort.

I just wanted to say that I was nervous about the class since I'd heard that Physics 2 was one of the hardest courses at GT. However, as the class progressed, I realized that the class truly allowed you to decide your own score. Even putting the actual tests aside, with the amount of homework, PRS, and extra credit that was given, it was easy to boost your final grade an entire grade. Although this may seem redundant, it was literally as easy as going to class, doing your homework, and studying an hour or two for tests. If you did the first two every other day and managed a low B average for tests, it was simple to get an A in the class.
-AJ

Mastering Physics can, in fact, be your friend. It is tedious and incredibly long, but the problems and accompanying notes are very effective. I think one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make in Physics or any other college course is relying too much on passive learning, such as simply reading or listening. They are, of course, very important for obtaining the information initially, but without working through problems to reinforce the material, you will not be adequately prepared for the tests, period. Also, take notes in lecture. I personally did not refer back to them often, but just writing them down is a huge help in memorization.
-IK

I'd just say to read the book, go to class, and do the homeworks.
-AR

The only advice I have for students next semester is to do the homework problems … all of them, and early too, even when you don't want to think about physics right after the test.
-AF