Description:

This course is designed to have the student experience all phases of doing scientific research: selecting a question to be investigated, reading the relevant literature, developing a research plan, performing the experiments and/or calculations, interpreting the data, interacting with other researchers, and writing and presenting a final report.

Prerequisites:

Senior standing and completion of the courses in the "The Physical World: Contemporary Physics" thematic sequence or permission of the Research Capstone Coordinator. Submission and approval of a written research proposal. The proposal should be a short (a few pages) discussion of what the subject of investigation will be, what questions will addressed, what experimental/theoretical approaches will be used, and how the project fits into the existing body of knowledge. Approval of the proposal must be obtained from both the student's research advisor and the Research Capstone Coordinator. If the Coordinator is also the research advisor, another faculty member will be called on to act as Coordinator for that student's Capstone experience. 

Grading Policy: 

Fifty percent of the course grade will be based on the student's performance while doing the research, thirty percent will be based the final written report and its oral presentation, and twenty percent will be based on participation in the group meetings. The research phase will be evaluated solely by the faculty advisor. Both the faculty advisor and Research Capstone Coordinator will share equally in evaluating the final report and meeting participation. As part of the evaluation of meeting participation, the faculty will solicit input from the students. 

Class Meetings:

All students, their research advisors, and the Research Capstone Coordinator will meet as a group at least seven times during the term. The first few meetings will be devoted to presentations and discussion of project goals and plans. At the remaining meetings students will present progress reports and discuss problems they have encountered. Each presentation will last between 20 and 30 minutes and be followed by a discussion session involving the audience and speaker. It is expected that the discussions would be wide ranging, covering not only the scientific details of a project but also the possible outcomes and applications of the research. Although it is most likely that these meetings will be held on a biweekly basis, some flexibility is necessary. For example, it may be necessary to have more meetings near the beginning of the term in order for all students to make their initial presentations to the group.

There will also be another series of meetings of all involved students and faculty at the end of the semester at which the students will make their final oral presentations.