Lab Syllabus - Physics 22 Introductory Laboratory II
Fall Semester 2003
This laboratory course is designed to accompany either Physics 12 or Physics 42. Students registered in Physics 22 must now be enrolled in or have completed Physics 12 or 42. Students who withdraw from Physics 12 or Physics 42 during the semester must also withdraw from Physics 22.
Course Coordinator: Tom Warnock, Room A414 Cook Building
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 via the
UVM Registrar's web page, or through the registrar's office.
Course Format:
Please note! - Physics 22 uses WebCT. Each week, photos and/or videos 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 look up the assigned ActivPhysics
2 exercises, take “pre-lab quizzes” on-line, to
electronically submit your abstracts, and to check your Physics 22 lab grades.
You can access WebCT by clicking on “Academics” in the upper menu bar of the UVM homepage (www.uvm.edu), then choosing “WebCT course tools” from the right-hand menu bar on the “Academics” page. Log-in into WebCT using your “netid” as your WebCT username (“netid’s” can be found by searching “UVM people” on the UVM homepage, and is usually the same as a person’s “zoo” account username). New this semester! – You must use the same password to log-in to WebCT as you do to log into your UVM email, or “zoo” account.
One 3-hour laboratory per
week, held in Room A410 Cook Building. You must attend all scheduled laboratory
sessions, completing all data taking and analysis during your lab period. Your
data, graphs, and completed analysis must be handed in at the conclusion of the
lab period. A typewritten abstract of
each experiment should be submitted within 48 hours following the conclusion of
your lab period, or by 10:00 a.m. of the next school day (whichever is later).
Prior to each lab, you should carefully read each upcoming experiment in the
lab manual, review information about the experiment posted on the WebCT Physics
22 site, do the assigned ActivPhysics 2 exercises and think
about any questions posed. This preparatory work for lab
will not be collected, but its completion will provide you with the necessary
background for the five pre-lab quizzes which you are required to take “on-line” during the semester. These weekly
pre-lab quizzes can be accessed by clicking on “Pre-lab quiz” in the
left-hand menu bar of any Physics 22 WebCT page. You must complete each quiz within a 30 minute time-limit, and
you cannot take a given quiz more than once.
All quizzes are “open-book”, but must be completed without help
from any other person. Quizzes will be
graded on a scale of five possible points, and the average of your best five
quiz grades will constitute 20% of your final lab grade. Although a quiz
will be available each week, you need only take five quizzes during the
semester. You may choose which you take, or you may take more than five,
in which case only the five best quiz grades will count towards your final quiz
average.
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 22.
Required Course
Materials:
ActivPhysics 2 workbook w/CD: available from the UVM bookstore.
Physics 22: 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 see-through metric rule, (30-cm length suggested); pencil with eraser; 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, excerpts from which are posted in the lab. At the end of each lab period you are expected to hand in, to be graded, the yellow “tear-out” original (not white 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 questions posed in the lab manual.
Using the carbon-copy of your data and analysis, you should then prepare and submit your typewritten abstract within the allotted time. You may "submit abstracts" electronically via WebCT, or a paper copy may be placed in the slot of your lab TA's locked cabinet (South end of the Cook 4th floor hallway). The Abstract should contain concise statements describing the objective(s) of the experiment, any physics background information that is especially relevant to the experiment, the basic experimental procedure(s) used, and important results that are clearly supported by your observations and analysis. (Abstracts are strictly limited to a length of 150 words!) 1 point may be deducted from late reports, and no reports will be accepted more that 2 days late!
Lab Report Grading Criteria
4 pts. - Acceptable, no revisions needed.
3 pts. - Acceptable, minor revisions needed.
2 pts. - Acceptable, sufficient data taken and recorded, but
major revisions to the analysis and/or abstract are needed.
1 pt. - Unacceptable, submitted data is not adequately labeled and/or is insufficient to support the required analysis.
0 pts. - Unacceptable
Your laboratory report (abstract, data and analysis) will be graded within 3 school days after it has been submitted. You may check your lab grades on WebCT. If you need to revise your report, you may, if necessary, see your lab instructor during their office hours to discuss improvements that need to be made, or pick up your graded report from the blue hallway “return-slots” located near the 4th floor lab rooms and review any written comments. Revisions may be made to lab reports which were originally deemed acceptable and the revised reports re-submitted for consideration of a higher grade. Revised reports may be re-submitted electronically using the WebCT, or a paper copy placed in the locked cabinet used to submit reports. Revisions must be turned-in before your next lab meeting.
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 apply for an “incomplete”, otherwise they will receive 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 22 will be determined approximately as follows:
Laboratory reports 70%
Lab quizzes 20%
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, Oct. 31, is the last day to withdraw from courses. Students who withdraw from Physics 12 or Physics 42 must also withdraw from Physics 22.
Students will be 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, lab manual, ActivPhysics
2 workbook, notes you have individually taken, and a calculator, if
necessary. You may not consult with other students about quizzes. If you
require special testing accommodations, you must contact Mr. Warnock as soon as
possible so that the necessary arrangements can be made.