Problem-Solving Studio Policies

I. Overview

Problem-Solving Studio ("Studio") sessions constitute one hour out of the three officially scheduled contact hours allotted to lab activities in a given week (the other two hours being spent on traditional laboratory experiments). Studio sessions will be Remote, Synchronous activities.

II. Goals

Our goal in Studio is to give you a supervised environment in which to hone your problem-solving skills. Your goal should be to understand techniques well enough that you can generalize them to a variety of different problems sharing similar features — and to be able to do so on your own, without the supervision of a TA or instructor, without assistance from classmates, and without performing an internet search.

III. Organization

Each weekly Studio session will operate as a web conference, run by your Studio TA. The morning of your meeting, a Canvas assignment will become available with a worksheet involving context-based, real world situation, in which the application of physical principles is required in order to answer a practical question. Students will organize into teams of three or four, with each team working the assigned problem in a separate breakout room. Completion of the worksheet will proceed in two stages.

• First, you will work together in groups of three or four to assess the given situation, identify the core physics problem that must be solved in order to answer the key question, and to outline a series of specific problem-solving steps that will accomplish that goal. A key component of this stage will be the development of a pictorial representation of the core problem — i.e., a sketch or graph that distills the essential physics and identifies the symbolic quantities that are needed for a mathematical formulation of the problem. You will also be expected to itemize any key assumptions that you are making in order to solve the problem.
• Second, you will work together to solve the problem that you developed with your group, to arrive at an answer to the question posed in the contextual situation. In solving the problem, you are allowed to work as a team to complete the problem, but you will be expected to write down and submit your own solution, for grading. (In other words, it is okay to compare notes as you solve, and to confirm that you are all getting the same answer — but your group should not let the best student solve the problem while everyone else simply copies her work.)

IV. Allowed Resources

While working to complete the Studio problem, you may consult freely within your group. You may ask the TA for guidance if you are having difficulty. You may consult the following online resources: (1) our Canvas web page; (2) the e-text provided through your MyLab & Mastering account; and (3) your Mastering homework. Use of any outside resources or commercial websites (such as Chegg) is not allowed.

V. Grades

Attendance will be monitored in each PSS period, and will constitute 50% of your grade for that week. You are expected to join your sessions on time; if you are chronically late, your TA is authorized to reduce your 50% baseline score as he or she deems appropriate. Likewise, if your TA feels that you are not actively contributing to your team's solution (that is, participating in the solution process), your attendance score may be reduced.

After you have completed the PSS problem, you will upload your solution to Canvas, with a submission deadline of midnight on the day of your session. If you do not finish the problem during the session, you may continue to work on it (individually or in your group), provided you submit your work before the deadline—and provided that you do not consult any of the prohibited resources described in Section IV.

Your submission will be graded according to five criteria, grouped in two broad categories:

• Problem Formulation. This category includes three criteria, each graded on a 0–10 scale:
  • Visual Representation: You are expected to create a sketch, graph, or other pictorial representation of the problem you are solving, including all relevant quantities (knowns or unknowns) as symbolic variables, rather than numerical values.
  • Conceptual Approach: you are expected to identify the major concepts, problem-solving methods, and simplifying assumptions that will required to answer the question posed in the problem.
  • Solution Plan: you are expected to describe a solution plan—that is, outline a series of basic operation steps that you will follow—before you actually start "solving" the problem.
• Problem Solution. This category includes two criteria, each graded on a 0–10 scale:
  • Application of Concepts: How well did you apply relevant physics and mathematics techniques to solve the problem?
  • Logic & Clarity: How well-organized was your solution? Was there a clear logical progression to your work? Did your work follow the plan laid out during Problem Formulation?

Grading Rubric: Scores in each of the five categories will be assigned by the TA using the following rubric:

Your Attendance, Problem Formulation, and Problem Solution scores will be summed to yield a 0–100% score for that week. A formal solution set will be posted to the class web page, at the end of each week. At the end of the term, your lowest Studio score will be dropped, the remaining scores will be averaged, and a final percentage score will be recorded. Note that the drop allows you to miss one Studio session without penalty; after that each successive absence will be scored as a zero, and included in your final average. Please see the makeup policies below, for information regarding excusable absences, and their effect on your score.

VI. Make-up Policies

1. Absences excused by the Student Academic and Financial Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate (documented by a statement from the Office of the Registrar).
   • In accordance with Student Rules and Regulations IV.B.3, these absences may be made up. Documented requests for these make-ups must be made to Dr. Murray at least one week in advance.
   • Lack of Documentation: Recognizing that advisors, etc. do not always provide copies of the statement from the Office of the Registrar in a timely fashion, undocumented requests should also be made to Dr. Murray at least one week in advance. In these cases, a make-up will be arranged, but the absence itself will remain on your record as unexcused (and no points will be recorded) until the necessary documentation is provided.
   • Lack of Timely Notice: It might be possible to arrange make-ups with less than one week's notice, but it is not guaranteed. If adequate notice is not provided, and it is not possible for the Studio to be made up with another section, it will be considered that you have declined the opportunity to make up the work. Circumstances that absolutely prevent timely notice from being given will be given due consideration.
2. Absences for which accommodation is requested by the Office of the Dean of Students (documented by an email from the Office of the Dean of Students to Dr. Murray).
   • Make-ups will not be permitted for any reason that causes a single Studio to be missed. In such cases, the absence will be treated as the student's first drop, and any other unexcused absences — whether occurring before or after the Studio in question — will be treated as zeros and averaged into the student's final score.
   • Make-ups will be permitted for the second or subsequent absence for which an accommodation is requested. Note that you cannot drop an unexcused absence AND request to makeup an absence for which accommodation has been requested. In such cases, the absence for which accommodation has been requested is dropped and the unexcused absence is recorded as a zero.
3. Other absences — Other absences may not be made up.