Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2008 APS April Meeting and HEDP/HEDLA Meeting
Volume 53, Number 5
Friday–Tuesday, April 11–15, 2008; St. Louis, Missouri
Session S16: The Place of the Advanced Laboratory in Undergraduate Education |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: David G. Haase, North Carolina State University Room: Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront (formerly Adam's Mark Hotel), Director's Row 29 |
Monday, April 14, 2008 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
S16.00001: The AAPT Advanced Laboratory Task Force Report Invited Speaker: In late 2005, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) assembled a seven-member Advanced Laboratory Task Force$^\dag $ to recommend ways that AAPT could increase the degree and effectiveness of its interactions with physics teachers of upper-division physics laboratories, with the ultimate goal of improving the teaching of advanced laboratories. The task force completed its work during the first half of 2006 and its recommendations were presented to the AAPT Executive Committee in July 2006. This talk will present the recommendations of the task force and actions taken by AAPT in response to them. The curricular goals of the advanced laboratory course at various institutions will also be discussed. The talk will conclude with an appeal to the APS membership to support ongoing efforts to revitalize advanced laboratory course instruction. $^\dag $Members of the Advanced Laboratory Task Force: Van Bistrow, University of Chicago; Bob DeSerio, University of Florida; Jeff Dunham, Middlebury College (Chair); Elizabeth George, Wittenburg University; Daryl Preston, California State University, East Bay; Patricia Sparks, Harvey Mudd College; Gerald Taylor, James Madison University; and David Van Baak, Calvin College. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
S16.00002: The NASA/Olin Summer Internship Program Stephen Holt In each of the past five summers, underclassmen at the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering have worked in small teams under the mentorship of astrophysicists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The experience of tackling authentic projects with strict schedule constraints has provided them with educational experiences that are quite different from what might be obtained in a classroom setting. Results from the perspectives of the Goddard mentors, the faculty advisors and the students will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:18PM - 2:30PM |
S16.00003: The Advanced Laboratory: beyond the ``black box'' to real physics George Zimmerman, Lawrence Sulak The balance between theory and experiment in present physics curricula is too heavily weighted towards theory. Our physics majors do not realize that ``truth in physics'' depends either on experimental verification of theoretical predictions or on serendipitous discovery. Nor do they appreciate that most theories originate to explain experimental facts. They regard instruments as ``black boxes'' (although usually they are painted a different color). The Advanced Laboratory is essentially the only place in the curriculum where students confront the link between theory and experiment. In this age of disposing of (rather than repairing) equipment, Advanced Lab gives students insight into the inner workings of instruments and essential hands-on skills exploiting them: soldering wires, transferring cryo liquids, achieving high vacuum, acquiring reliable data, evaluating errors, fitting data, and drafting a PRL. Students learn techniques critical to several branches of physics, leading to different experimental approaches in their eventual work. If a student pursues theory, AdLab teaches her how to evaluate experiments, experimentalists, and their data. The basic skills learned, and the resulting understanding of physics, will be illustrated with the experiment on the Quantum Hall Effect from our AdLab. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
S16.00004: Development of Research Projects in Advanced Laboratory Ping Yu, Suchi Guha Advanced laboratory serves as a bridge spanning primary physics laboratory and scientific research or industrial activities for undergraduate students. Students not only study modern physics experiments and techniques but also acquire the knowledge of advanced instrumentation. It is of interest to encourage students using the knowledge into research projects at a later stage of the course. We have designed several scientific projects for advanced laboratory to promote student's abilities of independent research. Students work as a team to select the project and search literatures, to perform experiments, and to give presentations. During the research project, instructor only provides necessary equipment for the project without any pre-knowledge of results, giving students a real flavor of scientific research. Our initial attempt has shown some interesting results. We found that students showed a very strong motivation in these projects, and student performances exceeded our expectation. Almost all the students in our first batch of the course have now joined graduate school in Physics and Materials Science. In the future we will also arrange graduate students working with undergraduate students to build a collaborative environment. In addition, a more comprehensive method will be used to evaluate student achievements. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
S16.00005: Advanced Physics Labs at Sacramento State William DeGraffenreid, Vassili Sergan, Gary Shoemaker The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Sacramento State has a long history of offering numerous upper division laboratories to our majors. Currently, we offer five laboratory classes, of which two are required, at the junior and senior level. In addition to what might be considered standard classes: Advanced Physics Lab, Electronics and Instrumentation, and Optics, we also offer courses in Acoustics and Advanced Electronics and Instrumentation. These labs have benefited by some fortunate circumstances, such as the inclusion of an 8700 cubic foot anechoic chamber in our building during its initial construction, as well as support from several instrumentation and display companies. We will review our facilities, curriculum, and future plans. [Preview Abstract] |
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