The Research Experience in the Undergraduate Lab

一个正在进行的项目得到加强，以便将基础研究的方法和经验带到本科物理专业的实验室课程中。这门课程已经教授了三年，包括必备的图书馆研究，在持怀疑态度的观众面前定时的口头报告，以及以期刊手稿的形式进行报告。学生们以小组形式开展不限成员名额但有时间限制的研究项目，其中一些来自当前的研究文献(纳米接触中的量子电导、声致发光、胶体晶体等)。该项目提供的仪器、计算机和软件与典型研究环境中使用的设备、计算机和软件非常相似。其目标是培训学生在他们未来的职业生涯中可能会使用的一些实际的方法、工具和数据简化包，而不是“模型”或“学生”版本。这些需求由五个强大的数据采集和还原站满足，每个站包括一台带有数据采集板的计算机、一个GPIB接口和研究质量万用表，以及LabVIEW数据采集软件和几个功能齐全的数据还原和演示包(MathCad、MATHEMICA和ORIGIN)。此外，还有更专业的GPIB仪器(频率计数器、数字示波器、函数发生器和锁定)，以及用于绘图和编制视图和报告的共享打印机。虽然这门课程针对的是初级物理专业的学生(这是必修课)，但它的强化形式预计会吸引其他科学和技术专业的学生。这种高级实验室的研究模式使学生在口头和书面交流以及仪器和数据分析方面具有有用的技能。

An ongoing project is enhanced in order to bring the methods and experiences of basic research to a laboratory course for undergraduate physics majors. The course, which has been taught for 3 years, includes such elements as required library research, timed oral presentations before a skeptical audience, and reports in the format of journal manuscripts. Students work in small teams on open-ended but time-limited research projects, some of which are drawn from current research literature (quantum conductance in nanocontacts, sonoluminescence, colloidal crystals...). This project provides instrumentation, computers, and software that closely duplicate those used in a typical research environment. The goal is to train students in some of the actual methods, instruments, and data-reduction packages that they are likely to use in their future careers, as opposed to "model" or "student" versions. These needs are addressed by five powerful data acquisition and reduction stations, each consisting of a computer with a data-acquisition board, a GPIB interface and research-quality multimeter, together with LabView data-acquisition software and several full-featured data-reduction and presentation packages (MathCad, Mathematica, and Origin). In addition there is more specialized GPIB instrumentation (frequency counters, digital oscilloscopes, function generators, and lock-ins), as well as a shared printer for graphing and preparation of viewgraphs and reports. Although targeted to junior-level physics majors (for whom it is required), this course in its enhanced form is expected to attract students from other scientific and technical majors. This research model for upper level laboratory equips the students with useful skills in verbal and written communication, as well as instrumentation and data analysis.