[spxtr]

Pretty funny.

Having taught low-temperature condensed matter labs, a big part of the grade is figuring out what went wrong, and either correcting for it, or at least acknowledging that it went wrong. The student needed to give more information about the experimental setup (what instruments did they use? four point or two point resistance? resistivity vs resistance? what is R_0?) and why they think the experiment didn't work. It looks to me like they had something miswired, so they only measured noise.

[evilotto]

My understanding of undergrad lab work is that the point is not to get results, it's to learn how to do lab work.

[lonelyasacloud]

Usually on a Friday afternoon/early evening while other non-Science/Engineering types are out having something called a Social Life ...

[analog31]

Indeed, a scientist should have some exposure to experimentation. Experiments don't always work on the first try, and often require some knowledge and skill.

The ones who can't solder go into electrical engineering and sit at a computer terminal all day. (joking of course)