General Instructions for Laboratory Teaching

General Information

Location: laboratory A3-609, Technicka 8
Important: students must bring proof of safety training or the date of their safety examination to the first laboratory class.

Students must use indoor shoes in laboratory A3-609. Without suitable footwear students will not be allowed to enter the laboratory.

Course of Laboratory Classes

A standard laboratory lesson lasts two teaching hours, usually 2 x 50 minutes. During this time each group is expected to complete the assigned measurement tasks. Students attend the laboratory in the time slots for which they are registered. Any individual change of time must be agreed with the teacher in advance.

Attendance is compulsory and recorded. Students must come prepared, which means that they have read the relevant laboratory manuals and understand the measurement procedure well enough to work independently.

Recommendations for Laboratory Work

Laboratory teaching connects theory with real measurement situations. The benefit of practical work depends strongly on preparation: students should know what quantity they are measuring, which instruments are used, what measurement conditions are required and how the measured data will later be evaluated.

Work in Groups

Students usually work in pairs or small groups because the capacity of the laboratory and the number of workplaces are limited. Group composition is left to the students, but the group is expected to work together throughout the semester. If a student is absent, the measurement record and the final report must still belong to the original group, not to another group with which the student happened to measure.

If two groups use the same workplace at the same time, each group keeps its own measurement record and prepares its own report. A single shared report for two groups is not accepted.

Attendance and Preparation

Laboratory classes are compulsory. Absence must be excused in advance and the missed measurement must be completed in another term agreed with the teacher. Students must be prepared for the assigned task before entering the laboratory; studying the manual during the measurement time is usually not possible because the measurement schedule is limited.

During Measurement

Students follow the laboratory manual systematically, check the circuit or measurement setup, and ask the teacher before energising any equipment connected to mains voltage or to voltages above safe limits. Students must not manipulate any equipment that is not part of the assigned task.

During the measurement students record all relevant values, settings and observations. Unless instructed otherwise, they are responsible for selecting reasonable ranges, steps, number of readings and units. When useful, control calculations should be made directly in the laboratory so that mistakes can be found before the workplace is dismantled.

After finishing the measurement, all adjustable sources and instruments must be returned to safe initial values. Circuits should be disconnected from the supply or handed over according to the teacher's instructions.

Measurement Report

Measured data are processed into a laboratory report. The report may be prepared individually or by the measuring group, depending on the teacher's instructions. The first page should contain at least:

• the title of the laboratory task,
• names of the students who measured and prepared the report,
• student signatures where required,
• date of measurement, date of completion and date of submission,
• study group or other identification required by the teacher.

The report should include the complete assignment, a concise theoretical introduction in the students' own words, the actual measurement procedure, measured and calculated data, sample calculations, graphs where required, and a conclusion evaluating the measurement and possible sources of error.

Submission and Assessment

Reports must be submitted on time and in a form that is readable, complete and technically clear. Assessment is based on the fulfilment of the assignment, quality of measured data, correct units and ranges, correctness of calculations and graphs, independent work, and the quality of the final evaluation.