LAB Downloadable zip files.
If you are interested in looking at the iolab-based lab for mechanics and E&M. You can download the labs in combined zip files here
You can also scroll to the bottom to see an individual link to each lab,
Here is a paper explaining the objectives and class structure used to teach these labs.
The iOLab was created by Mats Selen and Tim Stelzer at UIUC. We have used the iOLab at Penn State since 2015 in our physics for majors course sequence. You can buy it or rent from McMillan. The software is available (at no extra cost) at http://iolab.science.
Online Instruction
Starting in the summer 2018, we started offering Phys 211 and Phys 212 completely online with enrollment of roughly 20-50 students per semester. The majority of the students are adult learners working on their software engineering degree online. Our online courses have 5/6 proctored exams which include a proctored pre/post FCI and BEMA. Proctoring is done via Examity.
The iOLab alllows us to create a lab experience that is very similar to our residential instruction experience using PASCO equipment. Students do the labs at home by themselves. They individually turn in lab reports but the course is designed to have multiple communication channels for group work and instructor feedbacks as they work through the lab. The lab objectives focus on data sense-making and observational experimental skills (influenced by ISLE).
We asked our students to make sense of data using visual tools such as box plot and scatterplot. We use the web-based application Statkey for data visualization. Here is an example of a student data plots created using Statkey (for lab 2 of Phys 211).
Our Current Labs (updated in Aug 2019)
Phys 211: Mechanics (calc-based)
Equipment needed: Just the iOLab (include spring)
Software: iOlab software, Excel, Word and StatKey.
- Lab 1: Getting Moving: This introductory lab is different from all other labs with step by step instructions to learn how to use the iOLab and its software.
- Lab 2: Slowing Down: First open ended lab graded via ISLE style rubric.
- Lab 3: A Model for Kinetic Friction part 1
- Lab 4: A Model for Kinetic Friction part 2:
- Lab 5: Hooke’s Law Part A
- Lab 6: Hooke’s Law Part B
- Lab 7: Rotation
- Lab 8: Other Mechanical Sensors
Phys 212: Electricity and magnetism (calc based).
Equipment needed: iOLab (include spring) + desktop electricity kit from PASCO
Software: iOlab software, Excel, Word, StatKey + PhET simulations.