Introduction and Preparation for the Labs
For the labs the working, results, sketches, answers, brief comments must be written and kept together in a single soft-bound, lined-paper A4 lab notebook, not a loose-leaf refill pad. You will NOT need a notebook which includes graph paper; you will NOT need an expensive hardback notebook.
A softback notebook may be bought (~£1) in the Student Union shop located within the coffee shop area to left of the Parade before descending the steps to the Lime Tree. You will need this during the first CT lab starting first thing on Tuesday morning of week 1; and so best to buy early in preparation.
Lab exercises will be completed in groups of two (only three if space is short), and all group members must record the results during the lab. This should be done immediately and not put off until later or redone more neatly later. Any errors can be scored out and results repeated. You are expected to complete most of the work for each CT lab within the 2-hour lab session. This means that lab sessions do not impose much of a workload burden outside the lab sessions, other than scanning the next lab scripts the day before each lab and discussing any difficulties with other students, or the lecturer via the subject MOODLE forum.
It is expected that you write the lab title, date at the top of the first page of each CT report, and record the working, answers and comments with clear section numbers or headings, so that the answer for each part can be quickly and easily identified.
Lab notebooks should be kept after the labs and brought every week with the printed set of lab scripts for the experiments. You will need to scan your lab notebook and upload the pdf to MOODLE when requested to do so: this may be halfway through the labs and/or at the end of the lab programme. This may be done using a phone pdf creation tool or using University Library photocopiers/printers in scan mode. It will help if results are kept tidy and concise, e.g., 2 or 3 pages per lab.
If you are too ill to attend a lab session you should email f.v.p.robinson@bath.ac.uk with details as soon as possible. Every effort will be made to arrange an alternative catch up session, although you may have to complete the missed lab alone with little supervision. Therefore, to get the best out of each lab as a collegiate, supported learning and motivating experience, it is better that you attend at the set time with your peers if you can. Do not be tempted to bunk off unless genuinely incapacitated since the labs are designed to consolidate circuit theory learning.