Lab Section Assignments. Lab section assignments will be posted to Blackboard during the first week of the
term. The class will be notified by email when the assignments are posted. Lab
sections are limited to a maximum of 16 students. Lab sign-ups require your Dartmouth
ID number.
Permanent Lab Section Changes. Students can make permanent lab section changes anytime during the first
two weeks of classes using an electronic form found on Blackboard or via
the permanent lab change form at the bottom of this page. Permission
is not required to make the change. After that time period, permanent lab section changes must be approved
by the lab manager, Jan Largent.
Temporary Lab Changes. While all students are strongly urged to attend their regularly assigned
lab section each week, the Physics Department recognizes that there are legitimate reasons for a
student not being able to make their assigned lab section on any given week. To accommodate these situations, students
are allowed to temporarily switch into another lab section for a specific week using an electronic form
found on Blackboard or via the temporary lab change form at the bottom of this page.
Permission is not required to make the change. Students making a temporary lab change should
hand their lab report in to their regular TA.
Note: You are allowed a maximum of 2 lab changes per term. This total includes the sum of both
permanent and temporary changes made. For example, if you make a permanent lab section change during the
first two weeks of the term, you would have 1 temporary change remaining for the term. If you cannot make your regular
lab session and you have used your 2 lab changes, then you will need to make up the lab on your own time. Contact
your TA to make arrangements for the make up session.
Prelab Exercises. Most weeks, students will do a prelab assignment consisting of questions and predictions about the
behavior of a physical system. This prelab exercise must be done before coming to lab. Each prelab will be count for
approximately 20% of the grade for each lab session.
Lab Homework. There are no formal lab reports for this class, However, for some of the labs, you may be assigned lab
homework. Lab homework (if assigned) is due 48 hours after your lab session and is worth 40% of the lab grade, while
attendance and participation are together worth 40% of the grade. The turn-in location for lab reports are slots located below
the student mailboxes by the front door of Wilder on the right as you look out. Each slot will be labeled with the TA's name
and lab section. Slide your homework into the appropriate slot.Ê If there is no lab homework assigned for a particular lab,
your attendance and participation is worth 80% for that week.
Making Up a Lab. If you miss your regularly assigned lab section on a given week and cannot temporarily
change into another section, then the lab work must be made up on your own time. One setup of each lab is left
up in the lab room for one week following the last lab session in which the specific lab was run. At the end
of that time period, the spare setup is taken down. For example, if the last weekly lab session for your course is
Thursday evening, then one setup of the lab will be left up in the lab room until the next Thursday evening.
The only reason a lab setup will be put back up is if you are sick for the entire make-up period and
physically could not make it to the lab. In such a case, documentation from Dick's house or a doctor will be
necessary.
To make up a lab, contact your regular TA to make arrangements for the make up session. Email is probably the most
efficient way to do this. Give your TA a couple of possible times you could meet. Don't wait until the last
moment to do this. If you do, your TA may not be free during the time you want to do the lab and they are under
no obligation to rearrange their schedules to suit yours. It is possible to make up a lab during the normal lab sessions
during the next week.
