Tasks and Criteria for Success

1. Nota bene: Absolutely positively, you work your way through the lab exercise doing the Tasks as they come up as a usual rule.

   The Tasks do sometimes have to be done out of order in order to accommodate observations.

   Some Tasks can be done ahead of time as part of the preparation for the lab exercise.

2. The Tasks are just instructions for things that need to be done in the Report Form.

   The Tasks are NOT always the full instructions.

   You need to read/work your way through the lab exercise to make sure you get the full instructions and to get the information you need to do the Tasks.

   If you try to just do the Tasks without the reading lab exercise, then often you do NOT know what to do.

3. Some sections and Tasks may be omitted at the discretion of the instructor.

   A few sections and Tasks are explicitly marked as "Optional at the discretion of the instructor." These sections and Tasks are the ones the lab author thinks might need to be omitted. However, the instructor is free to omit sections and Tasks as they find necessary.

   In fact, the lab exercises are all designed to be complete explorations of their main themes, and therefore usually are a bit too long intentionally. Also some sections/tasks might be too difficult for some classes. So some omissions are almost always necessary. The instructor should NOT as a usual rule shorten the lab below about 2 hours (see Lab Duration).

4. The absolutely positively the chief criteria for success is having learnt the topics and skills involved in this lab exercise.

   That learning is what helps you in following courses and all the rest of your life.

   That said, to get an acceptable/good/great grade complete the Report Form correctly, completely, neatly.