Lab Manual Design

Summer 2020

Over the course of the 2020 summer break, I created an updated template for the BSU Physics Department's lab manuals. I implemented the template in the manuals for the following courses: PHYS 101, 111, 112, 211, 212 & 309.

The original scope of the project was to simply update the instructions in the manuals to use Vernier's new Graphical Analysis software, as well as write a tutorial for the software. The responsibilities were originally shared between the faculty and the stockroom staff, but shortly after getting started on it I ended up taking over the project. It quickly became clear updating the manuals to Graphical Analysis would take a few days at most. After communicating my intentions with my supervisor and faculty, I began making plans for more extensive changes.

The changes were motivated by issues I'd noticed during my time in the department. The formatting in the manuals was both inconsistent and outdated. In addition, several lab exercises shared between different courses had received separate edits. This meant each course was benefiting from only a portion of the improvements which had been made.

The first step was to create a style guide for people to refer to in the future. The style guide was made based on a mix of modern lab manual designs and the formatting already present in some of the manuals.

With the style guide finished, the next step was to implement the format in the manuals. The greatest challenge was formatting the manuals efficiently and consistently with Microsoft Word. Some notable obstacles included:

• page numbering & headings
• equation formatting
• section headings
• vertical spacing
• image formatting

Shown below are samples of one of the old designs (left) and the new design (right). The lab manuals are sold to students, so the general design is shown with content censored.