CONTENTS Description/Text Book Instructor Goals Outline Grading Written Paper Oral Presentation Poster Presentation

Instructor: Dr. John Varriano
Office: 108 Science Bldg.
Phone: 3439 (office)     685-9551 (home)

Office Hours:
Check my posted schedule for official office hours. Feel free to come by at other times to see if I am in.

Goals:
The goals of Physics 491 & 492 are:

1. To learn how to perform and to perform theoretical and/or experimental research in some area of physics. This includes the development of the following skills: the reading of scientific sources, the synthesis of the ideas discussed in these sources into the research, the ability to organize and direct the research effort, and the ability to analyze the results of the research effort.
2. To convey the results of the research in a written report, in an oral presentation, and in a poster presentation, the three common forms of reporting research results in the physics community.
3. To prepare you for employment in the scientific industry as a research scientist or for research in graduate school.

Outline:
The course is primarily designed by you and by the results that you encounter as you perform your research. It should be emphasized that this course is focused on the research process and quality of your results, not on the quantity of results that you obtain. Be prepared to hit obstacles as you proceed and be flexible in your research. Try to think of ways around these obstacles or, even better, try to predict where and when the obstacles will occur so that you can deal with them accordingly.

You are on your own as far as when and how long you work on your research. Keep in mind that this is a 2 credit hour course and that I expect a certain amount of work throughout the semester commensurate with a 2 credit hour class. You should meet with me at least once a week to discuss your progress.

You are to present your results near the end of the semester in three different formats: a written article, an oral presentation, and a poster presentation. These formats are the usual ways in which scientific results are communicated to the public.

Grading:
The written article, the oral presentation, and the poster presentation will each count as one grade. Your work throughout the semester will also be graded and count as one grade. The average of these 4 grades will then determine your final letter grade according to the following scale:

Written Paper:
The paper must have a title and should begin with an abstract. The abstract should be no longer than 300 words and should describe and summarize your research. You should continue with an introduction section describing the background of your research topic. You should then include your results followed by your conclusions. Graphs and diagrams are very useful in describing your results in an efficient way. You must include references. Follow the format for references found in a scientific journal such as the American Journal of Physics (in CBU library).

The paper should not be too long. Scientific journals do not publish verbose papers and you should get into the practice of communicating your results in a brief and efficient manner. I suggest browsing through some articles in the American Journal of Physics or other journal to see how scientific articles are typically written.

If you wish, you may turn in a rough draft of your paper. I will then read it and discuss it with you. You then can make improvements and turn in the final draft to be graded. Realize that this process may take several days so turn in your rough draft sufficiently early.

Oral Presentation:
The oral presentation should communicate the main findings of your research. It should last approximately 15-25 minutes. A slide presentation (e.g. PowerPoint) is the best way to assist you in your presentation. Make sure to title your talk. You should briefly describe the background of your topic and then spend the remaining time discussing your results. You should end with your conclusions. Following your presentation, expect to answer questions raised by the audience. You should aim your talk at an audience that is knowledgeable about general physics but perhaps not as knowledgeable about your specific research topic.

If you wish, you may present a practice talk to me. We can then discuss ways of improving your talk before you give your final presentation before the physics faculty and other physics students.

Poster Presentation:
The poster presentation will be displayed near the Physics offices. The presentation should cover a standard "science fair" poster board on which main ideas and results of your research are presented. The first sheet must be a title/abstract page that contains the title of your project, your name, the date of your oral presentation, and an abstract. The last page of your presentation should be a summary/conclusion page. You should include references if you deem them important to your poster presentation.

Avoid using long sentences on your sheets (except for the abstract which should be grammatically correct). In fact, sentence fragments or "bullets" tend to be more effective. Use a large font and don't clutter your pages. You are trying to attract people's attention with your poster. Include relevant plots and equations but be sure that people can figure out what a plot means or what an equation is relating.

The poster presentation should not be that much additional work since most of the material would probably be already formatted correctly on the overhead slides used in the oral presentation. The poster is a good opportunity for you to show other people what you have been doing with physics and provides a chance to impress people. Plus, it is a good exercise for you in organizing and reducing your work to the few main and salient points of your research.