Project Overview

This unit of study has students create an online, collaboratively-written lab report that includes data tables, graphs, photos of the experiment, data analysis, and peer evaluations. Once the initial data has been collected (1-2 days), the lab report webpage will take an additional 3-4 days to complete. Read this page carefully to determine what it is that you'll need to do for this assignment.

Procedure Overview

Day 1 - Perform experiment, collect data, take picture of experiment set-up.

• Find a lab partner--you'll be working in pairs.
  
• Make sure you take a good picture of your experiment with the camera in the classroom.
• Please note that for the purposes of this lab, all students will be referred to by their firstname and initial of last name only.
  

Day 2 - Discuss unit overview (this page) in class, create Google account, create Sites account, get assigned site name from instructor, enter some of your initial writeup.

• Use Firefox as your browser, either on a PC, Mac, or *nix machine.
• If you don't already have an account with Google, create one by going to http://mail.google.com and following the instructions there to create a Gmail account. (Be sure to use a good password!)
• Get the pre-assigned name of your site from your instructor.
  
• Go to http://sites.google.com and follow the instructions to set up a Sites account using your Google id.
• Create a site using the preassigned sitename given to you in class. Only one of the two partners in this assignment needs to create the site.
• In the Sharing section, list the gmail address of the second partner as an owner so that they can be invited to work on the site as well.
• In the Sharing section, invite all three Conceptual Physics teachers as Collaborators by listing their email addresses in the box: rwhite5279@gmail.com,jillbush99@gmail.com,robinebarnes@gmail.com
• Begin entering text for your lab report into your site, following the format listed below (under Day 4). Use buttons in the Sites toolbar to format your text as you wish, but please keep your lab report to a single page. It might be a good idea to eliminate the navigation bar from your site--it isn't needed for this project.  (Tip: Open up the lab report format in one tab of your browser, and open your webpage in another--you can easily switch back and forth between the two views by selecting the appropriate tab.)
  

Day 3 - See Flickr demo in class. See Excel demo in class or online, use Excel to create data tables and graphs. Use screen capture to create graphics, save graphics to thumb drive or email them. Insert graphics into web page.

• Your photos are uploaded at http://www.flickr.com/rwhite5279 --download them to use in your webpage.

• Use Microsoft's Excel to create data tables and graphs:

• Insert an image into your webpage by
• being in Edit mode for your webpage
• moving the cursor to the point on the page where you'd like to insert the graphic image
  
• selecting Insert > Image from the Sites menubar. You'll have a few options for manipulating the photos placement and size.
  
• Create a folder on the machine you're using, name it something appropriate, and move your project files--photos, screen shots, Excel file, etc.--into that folder.
• Use a flash drive to make a backup copy of that material.
  
• NOTE: Only one person should be editing the webpage at a time! Although multiple editors are possible, changes to the site will be LOST!

Day 4 - Work Day. Complete final version of web page, which will be a well-written lab report with the following elements (each one numbered and in a header text, with content appearing as normal text):

1. Title, Date, Names of Group Members
2. Purpose of Experiment
   A complete sentence statement of what the subject or purpose of the experiment is.
3. Hypothesis
   A complete sentence statement of what you expect your exxperiment will show.
4. Set-Up
   Labeled digital photo(s)
5. Procedure
   A series of numbered steps, given in complete sentences.
6. Data
   Listed in table form, with labels and units.
7. Analysis
   This will include calculations you perform using data values collected in the lab. You need to show at least one complete calculation for each type of calculation performed. If there is more than one calculation of a given type, you can summarize the calculated results in a table. (You can type your calculations directly into your site, but if they've very complicated, you should:
   
   1. Launch Microsoft Word
   2. Select Insert > Object... and choose an Object Type "Microsoft Equation", then click "Ok".
   3. Use Equation Editor to enter your calculations that you want to appear in your webpge. When finished, close the window to see that equation inserted into your Word document.
   4. Right-click (control-click on Mac) and choose Save As Picture... to create a graphic of your calculations that you can insert into your webpage.
   Also, discuss the results of your experiment, and how you interpret what happened. Was your hypothesis supported?
   
   
8. Sources of Experimental Error
   Discuss in one paragraph (2-4 sentences) what probable sources of experimental error were present, including random or systematic errors. It is not appropriate to talk about "human error," ie. mistakes you made while doing the lab.
9. Summary
   This is a one paragraph (2-4 sentences) summary of the experiment, including the hypothesis, the result, error percentages, and a qualitative statement evaluating the success of the experiment.

Day 5 - Peer evaluation. Use links from this page to go to two other pages and provide formal written comments.

Before other students can evaluate your page, you'll need to do two things:

1. In the upper right menu options, click on More Actions > Page Settings, and click the Allow Comments check box if it hasn't already been selected.
2. Click on More Actions > Share this site, and invite all Conceptual Physics students as Collaborators by listing their email addresses in the box. A list of all students emails can be found here.

You are responsible for evaluating other students' online lab reports, and posting your evaluations in the Comments section of the students' pages. Each evaluation you do will consist of a single paragraph, 4 sentences minimum, with a qualitative analysis of both good and bad features of the online report. Students should strongly consider using the "sandwich approach" to critiquing the report: begin the paragraph with a positive comment or two, follow that with some criticisms or notes on areas for improvement, include an additional positive comment or two (making the sandwich), and finishing with an appropriate concluding sentence, and your name (first initial, last name only, please!).

Things to consider commenting on:

• level of detail in the report
• accuracy of data
• depth and breadth of error analysis
• procedure appropriate for hypothesis
• overall quality of the group's report