Ultimate makeover for an introductory physics lab

Abstract

Nowadays, science students face multiple challenges after graduation, and teaching them useful lab skills is a step towards providing the needed support. Thus, the laboratory sections included with the introductory-level Physics I and II courses should provide a student with practical experience and initial laboratory skills that would be further honed by upper-level courses. Emerging from pandemic situation provided the opportunities for a novel approach facilitating a meaningful lab experience to students. This article lists the updated experiments and the innovative methodology that was introduced with the use of the open-source tracker software (https://physlets.org/tracker/). The new methodology has not only expanded the number of possible lab experiments, but provided students with the ability to conduct some of the simple experiments at home using common household items, thus offering both the exciting experience for students and serves as a backup option for lab sessions in case of future restrictions on students' attendance at lab facilities. Additionally, the labs are designed as a progression that introduces additional skills to students such as the use of software for simple analysis, error propagation, creating presentations and more.