Guide to Physics Lecture Demonstration Resources, University of Colorado, Boulder
Physics and Astrophysical and Planetary Science instructors are encouraged to
use the resources of the Physics Department's Lecture Demonstration Laboratory.
The Lab's web database http://physicslearning.colorado.edu
documents over sixteen hundred lecture demonstrations and audiovisual items
on the shelves ready for use. These resources are also cataloged in notebooks
on the instructor desk in the Lecture Demonstration office Duane G2B78.
Consulting with the Physics Learning Resource Specialist, Michael Thomason,
is recommended. Most of the resources available, especially newer ones,
are not yet documented; Thomason can suggest effective resources for
specific topics and purposes. Appointments are necessary and can be made by
email, thomason@colorado.edu, or
by phone, 303-492-7117. Walk-in appointments are not usually possible. Monday,
Wednesday, Friday are Thomason's available days for appointments and assistance
with lecture demonstrations. Tuesdays and Thursdays are blocked out for work
in the Advanced Undergraduate Physics Lab and the Physics Computing Labs.
Requests for demonstrations and audiovisual items are due two workdays in advance. Requests with shorter lead times will be prepared on a time-available basis and in the order they are received; they are not guaranteed to be ready or working. Bench space in the lab can be dedicated to your course for storing equipment and personal items such as notes and handouts. Requests received two workdays in advance will be assembled on the back side of the lecture hall stage during the hour before your class, for classes in G30 or G20 lecture halls, or on a cart or in a carrier, for other classes. Regular weekly appointments can be arranged with equipment for the next week's classes assembled on your bench to prepare for successful, effective, and safe presentations.
Demonstrations and av items can be reserved at http://physicslearning.colorado.edu. This is the strongly preferred method; beginning Summer 2003, web login will be required. Contact Thomason to obtain a logon username and password for your secure personal web account. For Spring 2003 it is still possible to make reservations by entering them in the log book on the instructor desk in the lecture demonstration office, Duane G2B78. This office also holds Colorado's most complete library of physics and astronomy lecture demonstration texts and journals.
The Lecture Demonstration Laboratory is off-limits to faculty and students without an appointment or reservation. The lab is in use by sixty instructors each of whom have a right to expect equipment to be ready for their use when they have it reserved. Borrowing from the lab, even for an hour, without a reservation is abusing a shared resource. The lab holds 80,000 items of equipment and supplies, each of which has a unique storage location. Many items are fragile, tiny or appear to be useless clutter to the uninitiated eye. Even seemingly harmless browsing of shelves or benches can quickly damage or misplace parts. Lab staff are happy to arrange guided tours of the shelves and check out items for loan.
New demonstrations are continuously under development; requests for new equipment are welcome. Strong preference is given to documenting the thousands of existing, undocumented demonstrations and av items, over developing new undocumented demonstrations. Requests which require machine shop fabrication or electronics design currently have a semester lead time. New demonstrations typically are used once and then lost to obscurity. Documenting a demonstration in the web database, by contrast, makes it accessible to the entire community of instructors, both locally and globally.
Prepare to enjoy the ultimate Physics Learning Laboratory; thanks for your commitment to sharing physics with others.
Michael Thomason, Director, Physics Learning Laboratories
University of Colorado, Boulder, Department of Physics
All Rights Reserved. Physics Learning Laboratories. University of Colorado at Boulder.