PHYS 231 A: Introductory Experimental Physics

Quick Links:

This Canvas page explains everything about the course you need to know, so it is long. Here are some quick links that will help you come back and navigate, after you've read through this page once. 

• Overview Calendar (link to lab handouts)
• Instructor/TA Office Hours
• Textbook
• Lab Meeting Times/TA email
• Course Grade Structure

Welcome to PHYS 231A, my name is Suzanne White Brahmia <brahmia@uw.edu> (pronouns she/her), and I will be your instructor.

This class has laboratory and lecture components.

In the lecture component we will learn about the concepts of measurement, and the other quantities associated with thinking about and reporting measured quantities. The homework each week will help you master concepts discussed in lecture. 

In the laboratory component you get to design four experiments and put what you have learned in lecture into practice by writing experimental reports capable of convincing a colleague about the validity of your conclusions, which is a key part of the scientific method.

In this class everyone is welcome, regardless of other identities you hold in addition to that of physics student. The norm in this class is to strive for treating each other respectfully. Please read and abide by the Code of Conduct.

Mode of operation:

• This class is planned to be conducted in-person unless the University announces otherwise.  You are expected to participate in class to fully benefit from course activities and meet the course’s learning objectives.  You should register for this class only if you are able to participate in-person.  
• To protect your fellow students, faculty, and staff, if you feel ill or exhibit possible COVID symptoms, you should not come to class.  For more COVID related information, please visit https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/.
• When absent, it is your responsibility to inform me and your group members in advance (or as close to the class period as possible in the case of an unexpected absence), and to request appropriate make-up work as per policies established in the syllabus.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Design a both a hypothesis testing and a hypothesis generating experiment.
2. Conceptually understand the statistical underpinnings of uncertainty.
3. Quantify uncertainty in measurement and modelling.
4. Write a scientific report with valid conclusions and discussion of results.
5. Prepare and deliver a scientific presentation.
6. Function effectively on a professional team to produce deliverables.

Overview Calendar

The assignment deadlines will appear in "Modules" tab on the left-hand side of this page. As a rule of thumb, you will have a writing assignment due for Lab and a Canvas Homework assignment due every Monday at midnight.  That pattern will change slightly in the last two weeks of the quarter as you prepare your final group presentations and final exam.

All lab handouts, grading rubrics and other resources can be found here.

Textbook

• Reading assignments are from Measurements and their uncertainties a practical guide to modern error analysis by Ifan Hughes. The UW has a license for the ebook.

Lectures

• Lectures are from 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM on Tuesdays in PAA A212. Lecture homework (covering the prior week's topics) is due every Monday at midnight Pacific. 

• Pre-lecture reading

• Passively watching a lecture is exhausting. In this course, lectures will involve collaborative activities designed for efficient learning. In order to benefit from the in-class activities, and to not let your group down, it is essential that students do the assigned reading before lecture.

• Lecture Homework

• An important learning objective of this course is that you have both a computational and conceptual facility with core statistical methods and ideas for interpreting data. To reinforce the analysis methods discussed in lecture and the reading, there will be an assignment due each Monday.  These can be found under "Modules" on the left menu. In order to pass this course, you will be expected to achieve a score of 95% or above on the homework, and you will be allowed to resubmit your work (with generous hints along the way) until you achieve this score. 

Laboratory

The laboratory activities will be completed in person in B042. 

You will work in a group on every lab. This experience will provide you with a realistic experience of working in a team that can help develop your teamwork skills for the future.

To support you in this process, we will:

• ensure that teams are fairly balanced with respect to student background and expertise.
• provide non-punitive opportunities for the team members to individually reflect on how the team is functioning, how they are functioning on the team and how other members are functioning on the team.
• provide guidance if the team isn't functioning well. 
• provide feedback on your work with opportunities for improvement before the work has a significant impact on your course grade. Lab reports are divided into smaller chunks as you learn so that you will receive feedback on how you are doing.
• provide your teams with some time  to work  on your reports during class.

You will receive more instructions and guidance after you have been put into your teams.

We will use Slack in this course for collaborative work, and we will help you become proficient in its use to catalyze effective teamwork . The first assignment (we'll do it in lecture) for this course is:

• • Complete a Lab Logistics survey that will help us match you with peers to form Lab Groups.
  • Complete survey of Scientific Attitudes Towards Experimentation
  • Get Slack running on your device using the description and instructions here.

The TA (Jared) will place you in a lab group and invite you to your section's Slack channel.

Lab meeting times

• There is one lab section per week: Section AA, Tuesday 1:10PM-4:20PM  (TA: Jared Canright)

• Labs and lab reports

• The first lab will provide an opportunity for everyone to establish norms within your lab groups. You will work with these groups throughout the quarter.
• Over the remainder of the quarter your group will complete four additional experiments. Working in subgroups of two or three students, you will submit a single lab report for the subgroup.  

• Peer review

• After the deadline for submitting the reports has passed, you will be assigned a random report from another group. You will leave constructive feedback and grade it using the same rubric the TA will use. The grades you give will not be used towards the grade for the report, but the group will be able to see how you graded it and they will be able to see your comments, although they will not see who graded it and left the comments. You will be given credit for leaving constructive feedback.

• Oral Presentation

• Your group will give an oral presentation on one of the experiments at the end of the quarter. More information will be provided soon.

• Data Collection and Analysis

• Your group should also set up a virtual space like a Google Doc or OneNote to share data, pictures etc. for all group members to access as you prepare your reports. It is important that you do enough analysis during the lab time to determine if you have the necessary data to complete your lab report before the lab session ends - often you'll want to adjust something and retake data once you've done a quick analysis.

Exams

• We will have a final exam during class time on Tuesday August 9.
• Note that there are no make-up exams.

• Students with outside professional, service, or career commitments (i.e. military service, ROTC, professional conference presentation, NCAA sports, etc.) conflicting with the exam date must contact me early in the quarter to establish alternate examination procedures.
• Students who are sick, or are in quarantine, must contact me before the exam. 

• Exam scores for students who miss the exam without making prior arrangements will be zero.

Course Grade

• The course grade will be based on the following:
  • Lab
    • Lab participation, 10% 
    • Lab reports, 40%
    • Lab presentation, 15%
  • Lecture Homework, 10%
  • Final Exam, 25%
• Each student is required to participate in report preparation, and submit four completed lab reports during the course of the quarter to pass the class. 
• You will lose 10% for every day that a lab report is late.

Office hours and getting help

• You are encouraged to visit me or the teaching assistants during our office hours
  • Suzanne White Brahmia <brahmia@uw.edu> TBA  Suzanne's Zoom Link

• • Jared Canright <jpcan@uw.edu> TBA  Jared's Zoom Link

If you cannot attend office hours but have a physics question you should post it on Slack

If you want to visit me and cannot attend scheduled office hours, email me <brahmia@uw.edu>, or Slack me to find a time we can meet.

Research Study Information

• This course is part of a research project  examining student reasoning ability and attitudes about physics with the goal of  improving physics teaching.  By enrolling in this course you are automatically included in the study. Early in the quarter, students will have an opportunity to learn about the study and to remove themselves from the study if they wish. Your instructor will not know whether or not you participate. Later in the quarter, this link will become active and allow you to review the details of the study, contact a member of the research team, or remove yourself from the study.

Safe Campus

• We are committed to ensuring a safe environment on campus. Please check out the resources available here, http://www.washington.edu/safecampus/.

Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Getting Started

1. Read the syllabus carefully and explore the rest of the Canvas page.
2. Note that lab meetings start in the first week of classes after your first lecture. 
3. I will send future communications via Canvas Announcements as well as on Slack, so make sure to click on your settings in Canvas (top left picture of you), select “Notifications” then under “Announcements” select the checkmark to ensure you get them sent immediately, not later in the day or later in the week.