PHYS 101 - Great Ideas In Science Labs

Lab Info & Policies

Attendance is mandatory. Few exceptions will be allowed.

One excused absence may be made up at the end of the semester, provided a written excuse is received before class, unless it is a legitimate emergency. An official excuse is defined by the Tulane Student Handbook as: (a) personal illness with a doctor's note or a dated medical excuses policy form from the student health center, (b) family emergency such as a serious illness or death in the immediate family or (c) official Tulane business. Any un-excused absences will result in a zero for that lab.

Students are not automatically allowed to make up a missed lab, permission to make up a lab can only be given by the lab instructor or the lab supervisor.

The departmental policy is that a student must pass the lab in order to pass the course. A passing lab average is 59%.

Copying, plagiarizing, or any form of cheating on any part of the lab will be dealt with as described by the Tulane Honor Code, where punishments range from a failing grade in the class to the possibility of expulsion from Tulane.

The labs are self-contained, and students must come prepared for each lab, even if the labs are not "in sequence" with the lecture. Students are expected to read the background info and lab procedure before class and be able to complete the lab in the two hour lab period, and each student is responsible for bringing their own scientific calculator and lab manual, along with a textbook if necessary.

All lab manuals are available in hardcopy from the Physics Dept.. The lab manual NO LONGER available online

Each student is responsible for attending the lab correct section (day, time and room number).

All students are required be careful with the lab equipment, and may be held financially responsible for serious negligent treatment. There is no eating or drinking allowed in the lab, in the interest of protecting the equipment.

A pre-lab outline will be turned in at the beginning of class. It should contain the title and date of the lab, the objective of the lab, and a brief hypothesis concerning the outcomes of the lab. The pre-lab should be approximately ¾ -page long.

A simple, three question quiz will be given at the beginning of each lab, and then the instructor will give a brief lecture after the quiz is collected and answer any questions.

Lab reports may be done in groups, with one-per-group turned in at the end of class. The lab reports should contain:

•  Names of lab partners, date, and title.
•  Data and results collected, and any calculations performed.
•  Answers to any questions from the lab manual.
•  Possible sources of error in the experiment.
•  Conclusions obtained from the experiment.

For more information on writing lab reports, see the following links: