QUALITATIVE METHODS IN PROBLEM SOLVING (PHYS 412)

BASIC LINKS

Syllabus: (PDF)

Email Dr. Larsen

Dr. Larsen's Main Page

QUALITATIVE METHODS IN PROBLEM SOLVING

- WELCOME! -

This is the web-page for Qualitative Methods in Problem Solving. If you're on this webpage, it is probably reasonable to figure that you are likely enrolled in the class -- so thanks for signing up. Materials on this webpage are meant to supplement information given to you in class itself. I'm not a big fan of OAKS, therefore any on-line supplementary material for the course you need can be found here. To the left, you'll find important links/syllabi/etc.

If you'd like to find out more about me or the research we do in my lab, check out my main webpage.

- About This Course -

This is a sporadically offered course at C of C that I'm very excited to be teaching. This course has several purposes that are loosely related to each other:

Prepare junior and senior-level undergraduate Physics and Astronomy majors to succeed on their subject GRE tests.

Review basic material from lower level undergraduate physics.
Find out more about the test, test strategies, and the logistics of signing up for the test.
Focus on methods to quickly eliminate obviously wrong answers in order to have a better chance of "guessing" correctly.

Develop skills associated with what is loosely known as "qualitative problem solving" (aka "Fermi problems"). The methods discussed and used will include scaling, dimensional analysis, limiting cases, symmetry, etc.
Learn about post-undergraduate career options, how to navigate the process of getting into and through a graduate program in Physics. (How to apply to a program, how to go about asking for letters of recommendation, postgraduate funding opportunities, etc.), and the post-graduate career options in academia, industry, government labs, and elsewhere.
Develop experience in effectively communicating within the disciplines of Physics and Astronomy.
Potentially other topics of interest to the class as time allows.

This is meant to be a low-stress -- yet practically useful -- course. Class discussions are hoped to be informal and, since the course is not yet a prerequisite for anything else on campus, we have a bit of freedom to digress into areas of mutual student/instructor interest. I've taught some version of this course a large number of times and -- in my experience -- the course is most enjoyable if you are comfortable asking questions and helping to guide the discussion. When everyone participates, this can be a very fun class.

- Important Information about the Subject GRE -

Although this class would be very useful for any upper-level Physics major, the major impetus for the creation of this course is based in the desire of several students to have a vehicle to help prepare for the subject GRE. Because of this, the Physics GRE exam will be the primary focus of approximately the first half of the course. If you plan on taking this test, it is my sincere hope that this class will help better prepare you for it. For students planning on taking the GRE, you should be aware of the following resources and information.

ETS Webpage (the people who administer the GRE)

Information Page for Physics Subject GRE

Link to create an account to sign up for the test.

Cost:

$150 (Plus there are a plethora of other options you can sign up for to give ETS your money if you so desire, like getting your scores early via phone, registering late, requesting additional score reports, requesting "hand-scoring", etc.)

Important Dates:

In 2014-2015, you have 3 dates you can take the test. (All three dates allow you to take the test here at C of C if you so desire). If you plan to graduate in May and want to have your scores in the hands of a graduate school in time to evaluate your application in time to enroll in fall, you need to take the test on one of the first two dates.

Test Date 1: 9/27/2014. (Regular registration needs to be completed by 8/22/2014. Late online registration (extra fee of $25) needs to be completed by 8/29/2014). Scores can be checked on-line starting 10/27/2014. (11 days earlier if you pop for the extra "scores by phone" option).
Test Date 2: 10/25/2014. (Regular registration needs to be completed by 9/19/2014. Late online registration needs to be completed by 9/26/2014). Scores can be checked on-line starting 11/24/2014. (11 days earlier if you pop for the extra "scores by phone" option).
Test Date 3: 4/18/2015. (Regular registration needs to be completed by 3/13/2015. Late online registration needs to be completed by 3/20/2015). Scores can be checked on-line starting 5/18/2015. (11 days earlier if you pop for the extra "scores by phone" option).

Note the sneaky/annoying thing ETS does. If you sign up for the first test date with the thought that "I'll try to take it again if I bomb it the first time", you see that you actually have to sign up for the second date before you take the test on the first date -- even with late registration. So you have two strategies in hand -- bite the bullet and register for both the first and second test dates (twice the cost), or just sign up for one of the dates and hope you do well enough to get into the school you are shooting for. (Note that ETS does this pretty much every year, so Juniors -- you may want to even consider taking the test on Test Date 3 this year so you get another bite at the apple in 2015-2016 if you aren't that pleased with your score). Another option for this year's Seniors is to register for both of the first two tests and cancel your appointment for the second date if you feel confident you did well at the first sitting. Of course, ETS isn't stupid -- they realize people will do this, and they keep half your money if you cancel a test date. (You also have to cancel at least 3 days -- not including the test date -- before you are scheduled to take it. They also include a fair amount of paperwork on this front, so if you want to do this be careful to follow directions).

Also note the other tricky thing -- you can't even get scores by phone from test 1 before you actually take test 2, so all you have to go on between the two test-dates is your feeling regarding how well you did.

Format:

Multiple Choice. 100 Questions. 170 minutes. (102 seconds per question). 5 Choices per question. No Calculators!. You are given a sheet with some fundamental constants on it.

Scoring:

Each correct answer gives you +1. Each incorrect answer subtracts a quarter point from your raw score. (Upshot -- guessing completely at random is designed to be a zero-sum proposition, but if you can remove one possible answer you know to be wrong, you are better off guessing than leaving it blank).

- Class Due Dates -

Sample Test 1 Due: September 1st, 2014
Sample Test 2 Due: September 8th, 2014
Sample Test 3 Due: September 22nd, 2014 [First fall GRE test-date is on the weekend after this on September 27th].
Sample Test 4 Due: October 6th, 2014
Sample Test 5 Due: October 20th, 2014 [Second and final fall GRE test-date is on the weekend after this on October 25th].
Fermi Problem Presentations: (Date to be determined by in-class draft based on performance of an extemporaneous in-class sample estimation problem. Your presentation will be scheduled for either November 24th, December 1st, or during the final-exam time-slot on the evening of December 8th.

updated: 2 August 2014