Our goal is for labs to be as fun, stress-free, and valuable to you as possible.
2020 labs are meant to be completed during the 2 hour period provided. You should never take lab reports home to finish working on them. However, you are strongly encouraged to read the lab writeup and complete all "pre-lab" questions before arriving for your lab. (Turn them in when you arrive for lab.)
While doing the lab, take data in your lab notebook, do the required calculations (also in your notebook), and answer all questions provided in the writeups. Try to save yourself 10 minutes or so at the end to finish up - a nice concise written discussion of the lab at the end really helps your TA see what you have learned. Ask your TA what they want; each TA will have different perspectives about what's important in a lab report.
Note: There is *no* mechanism to make up labs after the semester is over.
There are 6 labs. You will receive a check+, check, or check- on each one,
which are worth 3, 2, and 1 points respectively.
NOTE: Failing or *missing* a lab is worth -4 (negative 4) points.
(For a description of what these grades really mean, see the section on meaning of grades below.)
In general, most people should expect to get a check on most labs. So, a typical student should expect to get a raw total lab score of +12 points, which is a check (2 points each) on all 6 labs. In the end, the lab portion of 2020 is worth 15% of your total course grade, or 15 "course points" out of 100 total. Here is how I will assign the number of points (out of 15 possible) for the lab portion of 2020:
Remember, the maximum possible lab score, (check+ on all 6 labs) is an amazing 18 points. A more typical score (check on all 6 labs) would be 12 points.
If your total lab score adds up to 15 or more points, you get 15/15.
(Congrats, an A++ for the lab portion of 2020! Note: there is no "extra credit" for getting more than 15 total points, it would require TOO much effort on anyone's part to strive for a check+ on so many labs!)
If your lab score adds up to 14 points, you end up with 14/15.
If your lab score adds up to 13 points, you end up with 13/15.
And so on!
If your lab score adds up to N points, you end up with N/15.
This continues down to 1:
If your lab score adds up to 1 pt, you get 1/15 for the lab portion of 2020.
However, if your total combined lab score is 0 or less, read on!
VERY IMPORTANT: If your lab score is less than or EQUAL to zero, you CANNOT PASS PHYSICS 2020. There can be NO exceptions to this rule.
Think about what it means. If you skip two labs (that's two F's, for -8 points) and show up for the rest and get checks (four checks, thats +8 points), you would have a total of 8-8=0, and you would NOT pass Physics 2020. (irrespective of your score on all other parts of the class!)
This means you must NOT miss 2 labs, and even missing 1 lab is a very serious hit. (5 checks and one fail is 5*2 - 4 = 6, out of 15 possible points - this is barely a D for the lab part of your grade)
Check+ is truly exceptional work, an "A+". I will be pleasantly surprised if any section of 30 students gets more then a couple check+'s on any given lab. Check+ represents organized presentation, discussion of error analysis (qualitative and quantitative) and obvious signs of hard work, understanding, and thought. You will have to listen carefully to what your TA wants to get a check+ on a lab! You will not be able to get a check+ on any lab where your pre-lab was not A work.
Check is the standard grade. It represents everything from normal A work, to B work or even high C work. I would expect the majority of the class should get checks on all labs. It represents preparing for the lab by reading the manual before arriving, and doing the pre-lab questions in advance. It means following instructions fully, and requires demonstrating an understanding of the physics of this lab. You need results, and some thoughtful discussion, including some error analysis, to get this grade. Important: if you do not turn in a pre-lab at the start of lab, you will not get a check or a check+ on this lab, no matter how well you do. The best you can hope for if you do not do the pre-lab is a check minus)
A check minus means you showed up for lab, and you *did* the lab, but your lab report was considered in some way weak by the TA. It represents anything from low C work down to a D. Inadequate preparation (e.g, not bringing your pre-lab with you, done ahead of time), or sloppy presentation, or missing some important piece of the lab, or neglecting to do what your TA has asked, could result in a check minus. This is not a fail, it just means below expectations.
A fail means you did not show up, or you did the lab so sloppily that your TA doesn't feel you deserve even a bare pass on it.
PLEASE NOTE: There will not be any mechanism to improve lab grades after they're done. Get it right the first time, you can not do any labs over again to improve your grade (we don't have the facilities or person-power to allow this, sorry!)
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