101 Lab Policies

                  SCHEDULES AND PROCEDURES

  As can be seen in your Lab Schedule, there are eleven labs
and one lab final scheduled for the semester.  You must attend 
ten labs and the lab final.  If you attend all eleven labs,   
then the lowest of your eleven lab scores will be dropped.   
Lab make-up sessions are not possible because of equipment    <== What to do if you 
and space limitations.  You must attend only the lab session        must miss a
for which you are registered.  EXCEPTION: ONCE (and only once)     scheduled lab
during the semester, you may arrange with your lab instructor 
to attend his or her lab at a different time during the week.  
To see what lab times your instructor is teaching, look at 
the list of 101 lab sections.

  Lab reports must include data pages which have been 
initialed by your lab TA during the lab meeting at which the 
data was taken.  Lab reports will generally be collected at    <== How to turn in a
the beginning of your next lab meeting.  This is the only place    report if you are
where you may turn in your lab report.  EXCEPTION: ONCE (and       going to miss the
only once) during the semester, you may turn in your lab report    next lab meeting
by giving it to the secretary in PSF-470; ask her to time stamp 
your report and to place it in your TA's mailbox -- the time 
stamp must be BEFORE the lab meeting at which your lab report 
is due.

  Lab descriptions are freely available at our Lab Schedule 
webpage.  The tables for recording your data are included with 
each lab description, and it is your responsibility to print 
the lab description, read it beforehand, and bring it with you 
to each lab meeting.  If you forget to do this, you may take   <== What to do if you
data on notebook or graph paper, but you will receive a ten       forget to print the
point penalty each time you do so.  In such cases, your actual      lab description
data sheets (the notebook or graph paper) must be initialed by 
your TA; you must then copy your data to the appropriate tables 
in the printed lab description.  Turn in both the printed lab 
description AND the initialed data sheets (stapled together); 
answers to all questions must be written on the printed lab 
descriptions.  When printing the lab descriptions, you are 
encouraged to print on both sides of the paper (if your printer 
has the capability); however, printing multiple pages on one 
side of a piece of paper complicates grading and is not allowed.


                         WEIGHTING

  The lab final will consist of 10 multiple choice questions 
and will count as one lab; the lab final may not be dropped.  
The average of your ten best lab scores and your lab final will 
be your overall lab average.  Your lab average will count as 
25% of your overall class grade.

                         CHEATING

  You will work in groups in lab, but please understand that 
working together on a lab project does not mean you have 
permission to copy the work of your lab partner.  Your written 
report must be entirely your own.  You may not copy graphs, 
interpretations of graphs, answers to questions, or any other 
part of a report.  Any copying of these types will be 
considered as a form of academic dishonesty.  Allowing copying 
is just as dishonest as doing the actual copying.  Therefore, 
all individuals involved in such dishonesty will be considered 
equally guilty, so all will receive a zero for that lab grade.

                   LAB GRADING APPEALS

  Lab reports will be graded by your lab TA.  You should save 
all graded materials throughout the semester in case of appeals
or mistakes in recording grades.  If you wish to appeal the
grading of one of your lab reports, you must follow these
procedures:

(1) First discuss the grading of the report with your TA
    immediately after the lab session in which you received
    your graded report.  If the problem cannot be resolved 
    by this discussion, then follow the steps below:

(2) If you think you deserve more points on a graded report,
    submit an appeal IN WRITING.  Explain carefully exactly
    why you deserve more points, and ask for as many points
    as you think your answer deserves. 

(3) Staple your written appeal to your original report, and 
    give this to Dr. Adams within two school days of receiving
    your graded report.  You may do this after lecture, or you 
    may ask the secretary in PSF-470 to time stamp your report 
    and put it in my box.

(4) I will discuss the report with your TA, and with the other
    lab TA's.  What I demand of the TA's is relative uniformity
    in report grading (everyone should get the same treatment,
    as far as is possible).  We make take no action, in which 
    case I will write a reply to your appeal.  Or we may recall 
    those reports as graded by your TA for regrading.