Recipe for success in 2020


Read the assigned reading before the lectures. Read carefully, don't just skim it.

Take notes while you read. Write down questions for your TA or lecturer.

Never attempt HW's before reading the chapter.

Get into a study group. (Groups of 2 or 3 are generally the optimal size)

Go to office hours! You can go to the office hours of any TA, or the professor. (Here is a list of the TA's office hours.)

Start your CAPA assignments early. If you start the night before they're due, you are surely doomed.

Don't get behind. It's very hard to catch up in this course.

If you feel you'd like a little more practice, check out Giancoli's website ! There are a lot of excellent practice exercises there, in particular for each chapter I can recommend the "Practice Questions", "MCAT Study Guide" (even if you're not pre-med, the questions are good) and "Physlet Problems".

Reading the text and lecture notes, attending lectures, and doing the HW is not enough. You have to understand the material!
Here's a test of "understanding": If you can explain the material in words to someone else, without referring to the text, you probably understand.



(Stolen from Mike Dubson)

Physics 2020 home page. Prof. Pollock's home page. Physics Dep't
Send me your comments