Student-designed laboratory exercises have become an important part of the physics classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Rather than filling in the blanks of a laboratory workbook, students are required to design and carry out weekly experiments which relate to the physics concepts being studied. Using computers, standard laboratory equipment, and other assorted tools and materials, students work together in teams with the teacher acting as facilitator or guide, asking questions or suggesting additional ideas for the experiments. Rather than taking their data and notes home to produce a clean report, students write their laboratory reports during lab time, reporting errors as well as successes. Though students were hesitant about the approach at first, they later adopted it enthusiastically, with many students giving the laboratory exercises the highest ratings of the course. The success of the exercises in helping students to take more ownership of the course and become more actively engaged with the content has been evidenced by long-term changes in students' investigative behavior. Guidelines for the laboratory exercises are included. (EJV)