Lab Syllabus - Physics 21 Introductory Laboratory I
Spring Semester 2004
This laboratory course is
designed to accompany either Physics 11 or Physics 31. Students registered in
Physics 21 must now be enrolled in or have completed Physics 11 or 31.
Please note - Students who withdraw from Physics 11 or
Physics 31 during the semester must also withdraw from Physics 21!
Course Coordinator: Tom Warnock, Room A414
Office Hours: TBA; or by appointment. You may contact Mr. Warnock by e-mail: James.Warnock@uvm.edu or by phone: 656-0052.
See Mr. Warnock if
you have any specific questions about the laboratory course, or special
problems regarding attendance or grades.
Reminder: Add, Drop
or Section Changes must be done using the UVM Registrar's web page, or
in-person at the Registrar's office.
Course Format:
Please note! - Physics 21 uses WebCT as part of
the course. Each week, videos and/or
photos of equipment used in the upcoming experiments, plus experiment hints,
safety instructions, etc., will be found on the WebCT pages. In addition,
you will use WebCT to take “pre-lab and post-lab quizzes”
on-line, to discuss lab related questions with other students and your course
instructor, and to check your Physics 21 lab grades.
You can access WebCT by
clicking on “UVM a-z” in the upper
menu bar of the UVM homepage ( www.uvm.edu ), selecting links beginning with “W”, then
choosing “WebCT”. Log-in into WebCT using your UVM “netid” as your
WebCT username (“netid’s” can be
found by searching using the UVM “directory” on the UVM homepage,
and is usually the same as a person’s “e-mail” account username). You must use the same password to
log-in to WebCT as you do to log into your UVM email, or “zoo” account.
One two-hour laboratory
per week, held in Room A409 Cook Building. You must attend each weekly
laboratory session, completing all data taking and analysis during your lab
period. Your lab report, including data, graphs, and completed analysis along
with any additional questions posed in the lab manual, must be handed in at the
conclusion of the lab period. Lab reports will be graded on a scale
of ten possible points, and the average of all your lab reports will constitute
60% of your final lab grade.
Prior to each lab, you
should carefully read each upcoming experiment in the lab manual, and review
information about the experiment posted on the WebCT Physics 21
web-pages, as well as in your text. This preparatory work
should provide you with sufficient background to do well on the pre-lab
quizzes. Each week’s pre-lab quiz will be available beginning
Thursday at 5:00 p.m. until the following Monday (midnight), just prior to the
start of the lab cycle, and may be taken on-line anytime during this
time. These weekly pre-lab quizzes can
be accessed by from the left-hand menu bar of any Physics 21 WebCT
page. You will have only one attempt
at each pre-lab quiz, and the average
of your best six pre-lab quiz grades will constitute 15% of your
final lab grade.
After completing each
experiment, you are required to take an on-line post-lab quiz designed
to test how well you understood the experiment. The post-lab quiz should be taken after you have completed that
week’s lab, and must be taken prior to the following Monday’s (midnight)
deadline. You will have unlimited
attempts at the post-lab quizzes, but only your latest attempt on each quiz
will count. The average of all
post-lab quizzes will
constitute 15% of your final lab grade.
All quizzes are “open-book”,
but must be completed without help from any other person. To be graded - each quiz attempt must be submitted within the allotted
time-limit. Each quiz attempt will be
graded on a 0-10 points scale. You should plan to take each quiz
sufficiently far in advance of the quiz deadline to allow for communication
with your lab instructor should any technical difficulties prevent you from
taking or successfully submitting your quiz.
A Lab practicum, given during your regular lab meeting time (see Schedule), will count as 10% of your final lab grade. There is no final exam in Physics 21.
Required Course Materials:
Physics 21: Introductory Laboratory Manual (one copy) will be provided by your instructor at the first lab meeting. It is included in the laboratory fee which will be added to your regular tuition and fees billing.
Laboratory Notebook (5 x 5 quadrille ruled) duplicate pages with carbon, (available in the UVM bookstore); a transparent metric ruler; pencil with eraser; and an electronic calculator with trigonometric and exponential functions, and scientific notation.
Your Laboratory Notebook: All data must be recorded, as it is being taken, directly in your laboratory notebook. Make sure that you use a carbon under each “tear-out” page so that you have a record of your data and analysis. All entries should be clear and complete concerning what is being recorded and the details and conditions of the experimental setup. If you must redo a measurement, explain the reason in your notebook and cross-out the old data in such a way that it can still be read. Never erase! General guidelines for preparing acceptable lab reports are given in the Introduction of the Physics 21 Introductory Lab manual. At the end of each lab period you are expected to hand in, to be graded, the “tear-out” original (not carbon copy) of all pages containing data and the analysis of the data including graphs. Also include any changes or additions to the published experimental procedures, and the answers to any additional questions posed in the lab manual.
Your laboratory report will
be graded within 3 school days after it has been submitted and available for
you to pick up either from the blue-hallway return boxes, or directly from your
lab TA. All of your grades will be
posted directly on WebCT. If you wish to discuss your lab report, please
see your lab instructor during their office hours.
Attendance : Attendance at all laboratory sessions and the lab practicum is mandatory. Failure to attend at the regularly scheduled time will result in a grade of zero for that activity unless you have received permission from Mr. Warnock to attend a different session. If you anticipate that you will be unable to attend your regularly scheduled lab, you must reschedule it with Mr. Warnock at least one week prior to the lab that you will miss. If you miss a lab due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond your control (such as serious personal illness or a death in the family), contact Mr. Warnock as soon as possible. If space is available, you may be given permission to attend another laboratory session in the same week. Be prepared to provide documentation of the reason why you were unable to attend at the regular time. If you miss a laboratory due to legitimate circumstances beyond your control and are unable to arrange to attend another session the same week, apply to Mr. Warnock for an excused absence. There is a limit, however. A student missing three laboratories, for any reason, must “withdraw” or make a formal request for an “incomplete”, to avoid a failing grade. If you have been given permission by Mr. Warnock to attend a different session for one week because of a particular scheduling problem or illness, you should hand in your report to the instructor of the section you attend. Your report will be graded by that instructor and posted on WebCT.
Evaluation: Your final grade for Physics 21 will be determined approximately as follows:
Laboratory reports 60%
Pre-Lab quizzes 15%
Post-Lab quizzes 15%
Lab practicum 10%
Letter grades will be assigned to final course averages as follows:
A's 90-100% ; B's 80-89% ; C's 70-79% ; D's 60-69% ; Failures - below 60%.
(In unusual circumstances, when necessary to compensate for significant differences in grading between different lab sections - final course grades for students in a particular section may be adjusted.) Students who are concerned about their performance in the course are encouraged to discuss the matter with Mr. Warnock. Please note that Friday, March 26, is the last day to withdraw from courses. Students who withdraw from Physics 11 or Physics 31 must also withdraw from Physics 21.
Students are expected to
comply with the University's Academic Honesty policy. Please consult The
Cat's Tale for details. In addition
to the matters described there, please note that it is a serious offense to
submit a report, or use data, from an experiment in which you did not
participate. Cooperation with laboratory partners is encouraged during the
setting up and data gathering parts of each experiment, but your analysis,
conclusions, and write-up must be your own individual work. When taking
quizzes, you may use your text or lab manual, notes you have individually
taken, and a calculator, if necessary. You may not consult with other
students while taking a quiz. If you require special testing accommodations,
you must contact Mr. Warnock as soon as possible so that the necessary arrangements
can be made.