Abstract
An optional, one-unit laboratory course to accompany a three-unit general-education course in descriptive acoustics has been designed to utilize some fairly sophisticated equipment available in our electronics laboratory. In the very first experiment, students become familiar with the use of the oscilloscope by following a literal cookbook to get a stable display on the screen, then systematically varying the individual controls to observe their effects on the instrument's operation. In later experiments they get to use stroboscopes, frequency counters, digital multimeters and tuneable filters to investigate pitch intervals, sound spectra, resonance, standing waves and other important concepts that they are studying in the lecture course. Typically about half the students taking the lecture will also take this lab; currently we are filling two lab sections to their enrollment limits of 24 students each. The experiments are quite demanding for the students (and the instructor!), but morale and performance are noticeably stronger than is typical for more traditional laboratory classes.
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