Taking lecture notes

At any one time you are likely to be attending two or three lecture courses, usually at the rate of two or three lectures per week. Most lecturers use blackboard and chalk, often supplemented by a visualiser and PowerPoint presentations. It is easy to copy down what a lecturer writes on the board without thinking too much about it, but this is not a good way to learn. Try to listen to the lecturer, take meaningful notes and actively engage with the lecture. Some lecturers will distribute printed notes. Such notes, like a textbook, are not a substitute for taking notes in lectures. Physics courses involve a high rate of information flow, so it is important to check through your rough notes within a day or two of the lecture to clear up sections that are vague, label diagrams etc. and to reinforce your learning. You can also view a recording of the Year 1 lectures on Panopto. This content is normally viewed via Blackboard.

Content of a Lecture Course

The content of a lecture course is defined by a Course Description that includes a set of Learning Outcomes accessible on the teaching website. These take the form of a statement that ‘On completion of the course, students will . . .’ followed by a series of bullet points that tell you what you should know/understand/be able to do afterwards. The degree to which you have achieved these outcomes will be tested in exams and coursework. The Learning Outcomes are your primary guide to what you should be studying. They cannot be complete, of course, and you will need to attend the lectures to get a full picture of what a course is about.

Course Associates

In the Physics Department, an individual lecturer normally expects to give a course for three or four years. Each lecturer is assisted by one or two Course Associates who advise on the course, help set and mark the exams and may even, in an emergency, take over the course if the lecturer is ill. One of the Course Associates may well take over the course when it is given up by the current lecturer. The policy of regular change stimulates syllabus review and fresh presentation.

Major topics in a core course

Major topics in a core course are decided by the Teaching Committee, taking into account the content of any prior courses and prerequisites for following courses.

The Mathematics courses

The mathematics courses which run concurrently with physics courses in the first two years are of fundamental importance - they are not peripheral add-ons, but provide essential tools. You cannot do Year 2 Quantum Mechanics without some understanding of eigenvalue problems, Year 2 Electromagnetism without vector calculus, or Year 3 Instrumentation without Fourier transforms.

Maths in Term 1 

Some incoming undergraduates have taken Further Maths A level. Others have not. Some have taken Maths with Statistics. Most have not. In order to follow later Physics courses you need to achieve a common baseline of mathematical competence by the end of the first term. The early parts of the first term Maths courses are aimed at bringing all students up to the baseline level and some students will find this much easier than others.

In order to prepare you for the Maths courses, we are asking you to complete some maths exercises‌ before you arrive. You will be tested on this material in an online test in the first week of term. In the rest of Term 1 there is a lot of new Maths to cover. Don’t be put off by this – it is an essential prerequisite for the physics courses which follow in Term 2.

Office hours

Each lecturer specifies one or two office hours per week when they will be available to deal with difficulties that individual students are having with their course. These are advertised on the relevant Blackboard course pages and the noticeboard. It is good to formulate a question or set of questions before making a visit, but if you can’t your need to consult the lecturer is even more urgent. Generally, office hours are under-used because students are reluctant to exhibit their ignorance, but take heart – if you are struggling with a particular topic, the chances are that you are not the only one. Lecturers are keen to know which parts of their course come across well and which prove difficult. Questions raised during office hours give them immediate feedback on which they can act, if necessary, whilst the course is still running.

Understanding your notes

If this is a problem, enlightenment usually begins by checking with your fellow students or the textbook that you have written up your notes correctly. The next step is to use the lecturers’ office hours – a quick fix may be possible, or there may have been an error on the blackboard. If you are still having problems, especially if you do not understand the physics, raise the topic in tutorials.