Description and Course Policy

Quick-guide Summary of Lab Regulations:

Perform the labs according to the schedule (section I).
Be aware that some hours may be more crowded than others!  Space and/or equipment may not necessarily be available during high-demand times like 1-3 pm (section II).
Expect to do, on average, one lab each week.  There are 13 activities and 13 weeks.  The 14th week is devoted to the lab final.  There are no lab activities during the 15th week.
To get a grade of C for the lab, your average score on each activity should be 85-90% (section VII).  Your actual grade will depend a great deal on the lab final.

To carry out a lab activity, do the following:
Review the preparation section of the lab manual before going to the lab room (section III).
When you come to the lab, ask for the worksheet that is associated with the activity you want to complete (section IV).  Provide your ID has collateral. Do not take the worksheets out of the lab room.
After completing the preparation section, ask for the instructor to examine your answers.
After receiving the instructor's signature, sign out the appropriate materials (section V).  Check for missing or broken equipment before signing them out!  Do not take the equipment out of the lab room.
Collect the instructor's signatures at the appropriate times (section VI).
At the end of the activity, complete the review section on your own.  Hand it in.  An instructor will grade it later (section VII).
The laboratory portion of PHYS131: Fundamental Physics I (and some sections of PHYS161: Physics I) is offered according to the PSI (Personalized System of Instruction) procedure. The laboratory (Room 225, Gessner Science) is open for several hours every day (see attached schedule) during which time students may come (at a time suitable to them) to do an experiment, working at their own pace, and guided by the laboratory manual, lab worksheets and guidance from professors or lab assistants.   It is, in short, a SELF-PACED, OPEN-LAB SYSTEM.

I. Schedule

Each experiment must be completed within the designated period (see schedule).  There are no make-ups.
If prepared, one should expect to spend about 3 hours each week in the laboratory.  The estimated times in the lab manual are average times, not maximum times.  The lab is open several days a week to provide sufficient time to complete the experiments.
You must complete the experiments in order. The lab experiments are designed to develop your experimental and measurement skills and each experiment builds upon skills developed in previous experiments.  You will not be able to make up any skipped experiments.
You are responsible for remembering the skills developed in previous experiments.  Each lab is designed to lead up to the lab final exam, which tests your measurement and experimentation ability.  Thus, it is important that you understand the concepts of measurement and experimentation developed in each lab.
You are expected to be familiar with the physics concepts.  While the experiments stress experimental skills over physics content, the skills are developed within the context of physical experiments so a familiarity with the physics content helps in interpreting the measurements.  The more familiar you are with the physics content and the experimental skills being developed, the less frustrated you will be and the less time you will need to complete the labs.

II. Space Considerations

Only students enrolled in the course and performing the lab are allowed in the laboratory.
The maximum number of students allowed to work in a team is TWO (2).
There are only 4 sets of equipment per lab.  This means that a maximum or eight people can work on a particular experiment at any given time.
For safety reasons, there is a limit of 18 people in the laboratory at any one time (the instructors cannot keep track of what is going on if there are more people than this).
There should be more than enough time to accommodate all those who need to use the lab.  However, there are certain times that are more popular than others and, due to limited room and equipment, not everyone will be able to work on the lab during certain times.
If the lab is full, you are, of course, allowed to wait in line with any other students waiting.
Please form a line in the hallway and wait for your turn to sign out equipment at the Checkout Desk in Room 225.
Seating is based on "first come, first served" (i.e. whoever shows up first gets in).

III. Instruction Manual

You will need to buy a LABORATORY MANUAL from the bookstore.  The manual will describe what the lab is about and how to go about completing the lab.  You are expected to have reviewed the appropriate portion of the lab manual, along with any pertinent material from the textbook, prior to coming to lab.
You must bring the lab manual with you to the lab.

IV. Worksheets

Data, results and conclusions are recorded on worksheets that are obtained in the laboratory room and must not leave the laboratory room.  You may need to provide your student ID in exchange of the worksheet.  The ID will be returned when you return the worksheet.
When you arrive at the laboratory room to start an experiment, go first to the lab worker to pick up the worksheet for the particular experiment you are ready to work on.  The worksheet will be signed and dated by the person providing the worksheet.
It is not necessary to complete the entire experiment in one sitting.  However, you must return the worksheet before leaving the laboratory room.  When you return to finish the experiment, ask for your unfinished worksheet.

V. Equipment

Before getting equipment, you need to successfully complete the "preparation" portion of the worksheet.  After successfully obtaining the instructor's signature for the preparation portion of the worksheet, you can receive the appropriate laboratory materials, if any, for the particular experiment you are ready to work on.
All materials must be signed out.  By signing out the materials, you assume responsibility for the materials.  Make sure everything is there and working before signing out the equipment.  Otherwise, you will be responsible for any missing or broken equipment.
The materials must not leave the laboratory room.  When you are finished, return the equipment.  The tutor will check the equipment and, if everything is present, will initial the sign-out sheet releasing you of the responsibility for the equipment.
Each student must bring his/her text to the lab, along with calculator, pens, pencils, etc.
No food or beverage is allowed in the lab (this includes gum chewing).

VI. Instructors' help

You are free to ask for help from the lab instructors at any time.
In addition, at certain points in the experiment, you are required to check with the instructor (and obtain his/her signature).  The purpose of the checkpoints is to discover early any mistakes in data taking or computations, and to avoid wasting time in redoing the entire experiment.  The professor may also ask the student to redo portions if the lab write-up is not done "neatly".

VII. Grading

Successfully obtaining the instructor's signature at the required points in the experiment is usually sufficient to obtain a minimum grade (as indicated on the worksheets).
At the end of the worksheets, there is a review section.  This section is designed to evaluate your mastery of the experiment objectives.  This will be graded separately from the rest of the worksheet.
You are not allowed to redo the review section after you have handed it in.
Except for the final lab, each experiment is worth 100 points.  Points can be roughly related to letter grades as follows: 95-100 (A), 90-95 (B), 85-90 (C), 80-85 (D).
The final lab is worth 300 points.  The final experiment consists of a measurement with minimal instructions and requires skills and knowledge developed through experiments completed during the course of the semester. The final lab is graded on a sliding scale from zero to 300.  Points can be roughly related to letter grades as follows: 240-300 (A), 195-240 (B), 150-195 (C), 120-150 (D).
Your lecture professor determines how the lab scores are calculated into your course grade.