This course will emphasize experimental investigations of advanced topics and techniques of modern physics.  In addition to the procedures and instrumentation, the course will have two secondary, but very important, aspects.  It will deal with error analysis, which is an essential part of reporting any experimental result.  And it will deal with communication, since discussion and peer-review is as much a part of the scientific process as experimentation itself.

            You will learn about experimental techniques by performing five rather open-ended experiments under the direction of individual members of the Physics Department faculty.  You will learn error-analysis in twice-weekly discussion and problem-solving sessions; you'll incorporate techniques you learn there into your experimental analysis.
And you will learn communication by writing journal-like report on each experiment and by presenting an oral report on your work in the last week of classes.

            On the average, you will be expected to spend at least six hours a week in the lab conducting experiments and three to four hours a week outside the lab researching the topic, analyzing data, and preparing reports.  Each of the two weekly group sessions will involve an additional hour of preparation (reading the book and reviewing problems).  You are also required to attend Physics Department Colloquia.

            You will write a laboratory report, modeled after a journal article, for each laboratory exercise you do.  Graded reports will serve as the principal means of evaluation in the course, counting as 5/6 of the total score. Laboratory reports are due at 4 PM on the last day of each of your lab sessions (i.e. Feb. 3, Feb 22, March 10, April 7, and April 22--see the syllabus sheet). Reports must be turned in to the supervising faculty member for the experiment you are doing before a new experiment is started, unless arrangements have been made with the instructor prior to the deadline.  You will also be required to keep a laboratory journal (lab notebook) for the documentation of methods and data.

            The remaining 1/6 of your score is based on equal parts of class participation (problem solving), a poster paper report on your favorite experiment (to be presented in a formal session during the last class period, April 28), and a final, which will be a take-home exam due at the close of the scheduled exam day Monday, May 2. The two class sessions each week (8:30-9:45 T Th) will be conducted in a seminar format that will facilitate student participation.  We'll talk about a number of topics related to experimental techniques, but the largest part of our time will be spent going through Taylor's An Introduction to Error Analysis by reading it carefully in class, as one would an ancient text.  We'll spend part of each class period solving problems from the text as a group. Quizzes on chapters from the text will be scheduled from time to time. Supplemental materials may be placed on reserve in the physics library, and you should take some time to familiarize yourself with the resources that can be found there.  There will be a final examination based on the classes only.

            Attendance and participation is essential. Come prepared to discuss the topic of the day listed in the syllabus. If you are absent from class for any reason, you will be required to turn in solutions to assigned problems covered in he class within one week of the absence. Occasionally, you may be asked to lead the class in a discussion of some topic---don't worry, you'll get ample warning; and you'll find that teaching is the best way to learn a subject.