Re: [Phys-l] PDF Based Laboratories -- or not

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

On 07/19/2011 08:56 AM, Paul Corbitt wrote:
> ... revising the
> introductory algebra based physics labs.  One of our goals is to be able to
> distribute the labs as pdf files. 

Just to underline what others have said:  That goal is much
too narrowly stated.  It would be better to ask for "some
good tool(s) to help with formatting and submission of lab
reports" ... rather than to ask for a PDF form-filling app.

First of all, as Peter Schoch pointed out, treating the lab
report as a form-filling task is a Bad Idea.  Those things
are called McLabs, and they are suitable only for students
whose highest aspiration is to get a McJob after graduation.

Constructive suggestion:  It helps to have _examples_.  Find
some really good lab reports from yesteryear, and tell the
students to write reports that have the same features.
Explain why the good features are good.

To the very limited extent that you can guide the process
by providing an outline or template or form to fill out,
there are plenty of general-purpose tools that are easier
*and* better than PDF.

Indeed, it would suffice to have an email in plain text that
says:
  Title goes here
  Authors and affiliations go here
  Abstract goes here
  Introduction goes here
  Explanation of apparatus goes here
  Discussion of data goes here
  Conclusions go here
  References go here

And they could perfectly well reply by email.  No form-filling
app required.  No web-cgi app required.

I've seen this work on many occasions, in the classroom and
in the real world.  For example, if you want to report a bug
against the Linux kernel, you can report it by email, and
there is an outline rather similar to the above that you can
use.

One step fancier than plain-text email is html.  There are
scads of tools that allow you to compose html, including
pasting pictures, typesetting equations, et cetera.

I have long since passed the tipping-point where it is easier
for me to do calculations on the screen, rather than using 
pencil and paper.  Cut-and-paste, re-arrange, cut-and-paste,
re-arrange, et cetera.  Save a checkpoint -- permanently --
using git.  Cut-and-paste, re-arrange some more, et cetera.

There is a fundamental point that is hard for students to
grasp:  They (often rightly) reckon that nobody wants to
read their lab report.  In the real world, however, the
only reason for writing the report is because some folks
(maybe many many folks) want to see it.

For this application, PDF form-filling is a square wheel 
... and there are lots of nice round wheels readily available.

Much more importantly:  Focusing on the tool(s) is a big
mistake.  Worry primarily about the content of the reports, 
not the form or format.

=========

To carry this one step further:  Lots of people I know use
their git-repo and their email-archive as their lab book.  
A cryptologically-signed email to the patent attorney is IMHO 
better proof of "what was done when" than any pen-and-ink lab 
book could ever be.  Not every lawyer agrees with me, because 
this procedure has never been fully tested in court (as of
the last time I checked) ... but OTOH there's a reason why 
it's never been tested:  When the bad guys see what they're 
up against, they run away and are never heard from again.