Two workshops will serve 40 college faculty who teach upper-division experimental physics courses or who may be considering the development of such a course. The program will facilitate the exchange of ideas about advanced laboratory experiments in general, and particularly three inexpensive, homebuilt (from commercial parts) tunable diode laser experiments: Turnable Diode Laser with Grating Feedback, Doppler-Free Saturated Absorption, and Cooling and Trapping of Atoms. Other experiments will include transmission lines (coaxial, waveguide, and optical fiber), transverse and longitudinal mode studies of lasers, computer-assisted experimentation, electron spectroscopy, radio-frequency spectroscopy, microwave spectroscopy, optical spectroscopy (atomic and molecular), and gamma ray spectroscopy. A total of 17 experiments will be in operation during the workshops. Equipment lists, data, circuit diagrams, and helpful hints will be provided to assist in the development of similar experiments at the home institutions of the participants. The PI will select a variety of participants that will optimize the learning experience for all. Ideally, about 80% of the individuals would be those who are developing an advanced laboratory course, while 20% would already be teaching a well-developed laboratory course. The latter group would be able to share valuable information with the developing group. We specifically urge minorities in the physics community to apply for these workshops.
