Research-Based Upper-Division Instructional Physics Laboratory Using Building-Block Instrumentation

多年来，里德学院（Reed College）的物理高级实验课程并没有实现让初级学生熟悉当代实验物理研究的目标。它主要是一门高级电子学课程，而不是对实验研究的系统介绍。教师最近重新设计了高级实验室，以(1)更有效地让初级物理专业的学生接触到现代实验物理研究的关注和技术，(2)培养学生作为自主研究人员的技能，(3)以经济有效的方式构建一个教学实验室。实验室由灵活的、基于组件的研究站组成，这些研究站既可以用于指导实验，为精心设计的研究项目建模，也可以通过改变实验参数来进行独立的学生项目。为了扩大高级实验室的范围，正在增加天文学和射电天文学的实验资源。越来越多的人认为，以研究为基础的科学课程，包括动手和研究性的学习模式，极大地有助于本科生科学成熟度的发展。

For many years, the Physics Advanced Laboratory course at Reed College did not fulfill its goal of familiarizing junior-level students with the concerns of contemporary experimental physics research. Rather than a systematic introduction to experimental research, it was chiefly an advanced electronics course. The faculty have recently redesigned the Advanced Laboratory to (1) more effectively expose junior-level physics majors to the concerns and techniques of modern experimental physics research, (2) develop students' skills as autonomous researchers, and (3) construct an instructional laboratory in a cost-effective manner. The laboratory consists of flexible, component-based research stations that can be configured for both guided experiments that model well-designed research projects, and, with alterations to the experimental parameters, independent student projects. In order to broaden the scope of the Advanced Laboratory, resources for experiments in astronomy and radio astronomy are being added. There is a growing consensus that research-based science curricula, involving hands-on, investigative modes of learning, greatly aid the development of scientific maturity in undergraduate students.