Students work on the analysis of this data in a small attached building as well as in the Neils Science Center. Frequent open house sessions are scheduled. Many students and community members visit the VU Observatory for these events. Twelve PC stations permanently located in the laboratory are used extensively for computerized data acquisition and on-line analysis. Experimental sensors such as ultrasonic motion detectors, LED photogates, video cameras, and thermocouples are directly interfaced with the PCs and allow students to store data files on the Neils local area network for easy access from other locations on campus.
Many software applications are available for student use.
There are more than 100 PCs of various types in Neils, each of which allows student access to the campus network and the internet. In addition, faculty in the Physics and Astronomy department have six workstations which are used to carry out research projects funded by external agencies like NASA, the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, and the Petroleum Research Fund. Students are regularly involved in this research during the summer months. Instructional Resources Three classrooms in the Neils Science Center are fully equipped technologically, including permanent mounted projector, computer connectivity to the internet, laserdisk player, CD player, VHS player, and individual student response devices. The latter are used by students in the class to respond to questions and the answers are displayed annomyously and graphically so that everyone can learn from the class participation.