Syllabus
Physics 398R Internship
Summer 2014
Section 1, 1 credit
Faculty:
Telephone:
Brian Tonks
496-7745
Office: ROM 114
E-mail: tonksb@byui.edu
Prerequisite: Ph 328 and instructor permission
Course Description
An internship is a cooperative program between the BYU-ldaho Physics Department and
approved experience providers. Professional internships provide actual work experience in
research and development. Ideally, the internship would take place during the student's off-track
semester and requires a minimum of 400 hours of work experience.
Course Objectives
The objectives of the course are:
 Through on-the-job experience, students will gain a greater vision of what it means to be
involved in research and development in a professional setting.

Apply the principles and skills learned in the classroom to on-the-job practices and
procedures in a research environment.
 Learn to write progress reports and orally present progress made in research
Course Requirements
1. Complete the on-line Student Internship Agreement accessible through Career Navigator
(if you need instructions, ask). After you submit it to the Internship office, they send the
Department Coordinator an e-mail summarizing your application. He then approves the
internship (or will call you in to talk about it) and sends an e-mail back to the Internship
office. They will then approve the internship and send you an e-mail to let you know to
register for the actual course or will e-mail you to help obtain the master internship
agreement with the provider. If they do, come see the Department Internship
Coordinator.
2. Lab Notebook. Keep a lab notebook daily and at the end of each week, write a summary
of the week’s events. You may keep the notebook in a physical notebook or as an
electronic file (or files). Scan at least two pages of your notebook (one of them must
contain the weekly summary) and email them each week to the Department Internship
Coordinator.
3. Complete the Student Intern Evaluation Report. The Internship Office will e-mail this
report to you near the end of your internship experience.
4. Encourage the experience provider to complete the Intern Evaluation Report.
5. Upon completion of the internship experience, you must provide a Written Summary
Report. The report need not be long but should summarize the experience of the
internship. What did you learn, experience, feel, how did it affect your confidence, etc.?
Also address how well prepared you felt and if there is anything the Department could do
to help you be better prepared. It must be completed before a grade can be issued for the
course.
6. You will report your internship experience to the faculty and other physics majors,
generally during a colloquium held early Fall semester.
2
Course Evaluation and Grading
A letter grade will be given at the end of the semester the internship was completed. All
reports and required course assignments must be turned in to your internship coordinator on or
before the official day of the semester to receive course credit. Grades will be based on:
1. Lab Notebook,
2. The Weekly Summary
3. Internship Evaluation Report (e-mailed to you by the Internship office)
4. Student Summary Written Report
5. Oral Internship Report to faculty and students
Generally, the oral internship report cannot be completed before the end of the semester. In
addition, some internships do not end until after the semester ends. The Coordinator will give
you a letter grade based on what you’ve accomplished at the end of the semester, but you are
required to complete all requirements to keep that grade. If you fail to give your oral
presentation or do not complete the other internship requirements stated above, the Internship
Coordinator will change your grade.
Code of Honor
You are expected to exemplify the dress and honor code during your internship. You are a living
representative of BYU-Idaho and what it stands for. Please act accordingly.