1. Do the homework yourself. Not only does it count in the grading of the course, but it should let you know how well your understanding the material. Doing the homework will also prepare you for the Mid-Term Exams and Final Exams. Don't expect verbatim homework problems, however. Please do the homework problems on 8.5 X 11 inch paper. If you like, you may fold your papers in half, so that other students won't be able to see what scores you got, but be sure to write your name, Physics 4A, the date, and the assignment number on the upper half of the outside. Any homework not bearing a student's name will not be accepted.


2. Read the material in the text before you come to lecture. It's much harder to understand a lecture if one doesn't know at least roughly what the lecture will cover. Also, if you find something obscure in the reading, then you can ask Professor Ringwald about it during lecture. The readings are indicated in the course outline.


3. Attend the lectures. Professor Ringwald will supplement the reading in the book through different presentations, working examples, and doing demonstrations. All students are responsible for everything covered in lecture, even if they don't attend. If Professor Ringwald decides to move a exam date (not very likely) and announces this during a lecture that you missed, you are still responsible for this.


4. Plan to spend a minimum of 12 hours a week outside of class on this course. This course requires significantly more time in order to understand the material than most other courses.


5. As soon as something is unclear please ask Professor Ringwald to clarify it, either during class, or during office hours, or by e-mail or phone. You can also get help from the graduate TAs. The schedule for the TA hours will be announced in class.

TENTATIVE Course Schedule (updated 2016 April 9). Always do the readings before class:

Please note:

Don't miss class. Listening to lectures and participating in discussions are much more effective than reading someone else's class notes. Active participation is even better: it will help you retain what you are learning.

This class will observe the five-minute rule: if I am five minutes late, you may go home. If you are five minutes late, you may go home. Don't be late: if you are, the instructor will require you to leave the classroom.

Sorry, but Professor Ringwald will under no circumstances give make-ups for Mid-Term Exams, nor will Professor Ringwald give Mid-Term or Final Exams in advance, not even for students who have legitimate reasons for being absent (including job interviews, illness documented by a physician's note, deaths in the immediate family that can be documented), or for students who are participating in University-sponsored activities, such as athletics or theatre. If any student must miss a Mid-Term Exam, the part of the course grade for which that Mid-Term Exam would have counted will be voided, and the rest of the grade will be counted as 100%.

This is really the only possible solution, since it takes about eight hours of Professor Ringwald's time to prepare one of his cheat-proof exams, each of which must be different for every student who wants a make-up exam or an exam in advance. The reason for this is that, in the past, students who were allowed to take make-up and advance exams abused the privilege by attempting to use the situation to cheat. It is therefore quite impossible for Profesor Ringwald to give make-up exams or exams in advance without very substantial additional cost in his time (and it is not unusual for Profesor Ringwald to work 100-hour weeks creating opportunities for good students). If students never cheated, this might not be so difficult, but sadly, cheating is common enough to require serious steps to be taken to prevent it. Scheduling make-up exams or exams in advance, in classes as large as Phys 4A, is also not humanly possible: during Professor Ringwald's first semesters at Fresno State he did allow make-up and advance exams, and quickly found it impossible to accomodate every student who wanted them, because there simply aren't enough hours in the week for it: this left no choice but to end the practice altogether of giving make-up exams and exams in advance. Even with smaller classes, one can never be sure that a makeup or advance exam was really fair, since it must be different from the regular exam.

If any student must miss the Final Exam for a very compelling reason (such as an illness documented by a physician's note), that student will receive a grade of I (incomplete) for Phys 4A for the semester. It will then be that student's responsibility to contact the university administration within the first 15 working days of the next semester to make the necessary arrangements to remove the I grade. See the California State University, Fresno General Catalog for regulations concerning the Incomplete (I) grade. Only students who can document very compelling reasons to miss Final Exams (such as with a physician's note) will be eligible for incompletes: other students missing the final exam will get a 0% on the Final Exam.

The above paragraph means that if any student's parents or anyone else buys that student a plane ticket or otherwise arranges for that student to leave the Fresno area at the end of the term, whoever bought the ticket or make these arrangements is responsible for knowing when the Final Exam for this course is (listed above), and that students are not allowed to miss the Final Exam for this course for any reason other than an illness documented by a physician's note, or else that student will get a 0% on the Final Exam.

If for any reason a student leaves the classroom while an exam is being given, the student may not re-enter the classroom as long as that exam is still taking place. The student's leaving the exam will be taken to signify that the student has finished that exam. This includes trips to the bathroom, so plan ahead. Professor Ringwald regrets it has to be this way, but in the past students have attempted to cheat while doing this.

If a student absolutely must make a trip to the bathroom before finishing the exam, the student will be given an Incomplete (I) grade for the semester, just as if the student was sick. The student will then be responsible for resolving the I grade next semester, in the manner described in the Fresno State General Catalog.

Any student who arrives late for an exam, at any time after the majority of the other students are seated in their assigned seats, will have her or his grade on that exam lowered either by twenty percent or by one percent for each minute that student was late, whichever comes to more. Don't be late for exams.

Any student who turns in an exam at any time over one minute after the end of the class period in which the exam was given (for example, any time after 1:51 p.m., in a class period that ended at 1:50 p.m.) will get a zero on that exam. Finish exams promptly.

Since during exams Professor Ringwald needs to supervise exams, he will not be able to discuss students' grades or assignment deadlines or to accept assignments during exams, until the exam is over. Professor Ringwald will be happy to answer any questions about the content of the exam in progress, however.

When taking exams, every student is required to sit in the assigned seat listed in the seating chart given on the front cover of the exam. Not doing so, without the explicit permission of the instructor, will earn a 0% for the exam.

All students are required to remove sunglasses and earphones of any kind during all exams, because they have in the past been used to aid cheating.

Calculators may be used for Phys 4A exams, but laptop, tablet, and wearable computers may not. Any devices that can communicate outside the classroom, including cell phones, may not be used during Phys 4A exams, even if used only as calculators with the communications functions turned off.

(a) understand or seek clarification about expectations for academic integrity in this course (including no cheating, plagiarism and inappropriate collaboration)

(b) neither give nor receive unauthorized aid on examinations or other course work that is used by the instructor as the basis of grading.

(c) take responsibility to monitor academic dishonesty in any form and to report it to the instructor or other appropriate official for action.

Instructors may require students to sign a statement on exams and assignments that “I have done my own work and have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this work." (This section on the honor code was a required syllabus policy statement by Fresno State.)

Professor Ringwald will be photographing this class several times, to get to know the class, and during exams, to prevent various forms of cheating.