The Role of Experimental Work

The difficulties in making the physics laboratory truly a part of the education of students are considered. The tendencies toward the use of less standardized equipment and toward allowing more freedom to the students are resulting in improvements, but they, in turn, introduce new problems—those of cost, of the preparation of laboratory assistants, and of the prevention of over-specialization at an early stage. Among the activities that offer hope for the improvement of our laboratories are the work of the AAPT Committee on Apparatus, especially the Apparatus Drawing Project. Broad specifications of the requirement for good instructional apparatus and laboratory instructions are outlined, and instructors are encouraged to engage in a continuous process of change in their laboratories. Finally, some of the educational achievements of well-run experimental work are listed and discussed.