PHY4802L - LABORATORY ELECTRONICS - Fall 2016

Grading

  • Lab, Lab Book and Lab Reports: 60%
  • Final Project: 15%
  • In-Class quizzes and Instructor discretion 25%
Please check with your instructor if you have questions about the grading scale.
On the day of the final, once all presentations are complete, you must clean up your project and bench area. Anyone not doing so will receive an Incomplete in this course.

Quizzes

We will have In-class quizzes on an as-needed base. They will take between 15 and 30min and will usually (not always) be given at the beginning of the class. No make-up in-class quizzes will be offered. The quiz is based on what you should know at the day of the quiz. The basics are covered in the reading assignments and the lectures. But you have to be able to apply those principles and that requires practice. The textbook and the student manual have many practical examples which be might modified for quiz questions.

Lab and Lab Book

One of the most important aspects of this course is to learn how to work in a lab, how to take notes and maintain a lab book and how to write good reports. We will be with you in the lab and will constantly evaluate your performance and we will also check your lab books on a regular basis. See How to keep a lab manual/log book for further instructions.

Lab Reports

Lab reports are due by the start of class on the dates listed on the schedule. Late lab reports will incur a severe penalty of up to 15% off per day late. After 4 days late the maximum grade for the assignment (assuming perfect work) will be 50%. This year, we ask you to use 'latex' to write your lab report. We will follow the same format that is used in Phy4803L. But see their website for instructions. Similar to 4803L, we also expect you to compile the tex file as your first lab report for chapter 1. More instructions will be provided in class.

Assignment due dates will be strictly followed.

We accept hard copies and electronic copies in pdf format assuming we can read them. Electronic copies might be returned electronically. The due dates are shown on the Class Schedule and the hard copies or pdfs have to be submitted on that day prior to the start of the lab. While you will work in teams of 2 for building the circuits and recording data, the lab reports are to be individual efforts. Discussion with and help from your peers is encouraged, but copying of work is not. Both of the members in a group should participate in taking data and in analyses. Exclusively sharing the duty of lab work is not allowed. Lab partners will be rotated based on the instructor's preference.


Final Project

The final project will consist of a circuit devised or selected from the literature, by each team of two students, that will be built and demonstrated for the class (including a description of its operation). It will be judged on a combination of complexity, execution, and comprehension. Students are responsible for ordering and purchasing any parts needed for their project that are not already in the lab. Students wishing to keep their final project are required to purchase their own breadboard. Students will choose their own partner for the final project.

Laboratory Access

If you have to put in more time, the laboratory (Room 1249) is accessible during off-hours. A combination locked box on the door contains the key to the room. You will be given the combination in class. Be sure that the box with the key and the room are locked when you leave. This access is intended for make-up and for when simply more time is needed. For safety reasons, no student should be working in the lab alone at any time. If you are found working alone in the lab you will be given an automatic failure for that week's lab. In general that person should be your lab partner. However, life happens and sometimes only one of the students is falling behind due to sickness or other events. In that case, you can bring someone else who has to be mature enough to call an emergency number if needed.