Most of the labs that we do in chemistry are ones where the answer sheets are fill in the blank with the data tables already arranged. I am trying to figure out if I can develop the labs into ones where the students need to use a comp-book during the lab. I am really struggling with the logistics of this. How often to grade them? Right now labs are graded weekly.
The other issue that I have is the "team" approach to teaching this class. There are some people who think that we need to do stuff the same way as each other. The problem comes from the idea that other people do not want to conduct their classes in the same fashion that I do. In chemistry, we do not have the same students in lab as we do in lecture so that complicates things.
I am trying to figure out ways that the students can improve their writing in science and the comp-book seems like the easiest way to do this. I would really like to see "original" student work and not just the fill in the blank kind. I just do not know how all of this works here. (Needless to say that I am experiencing frustration.) I would just like to try but with it causing issues in other people's classes, I think I need to be sesitive to that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Those are valid issues with no easy answers. But maybe you can brainstorm with the rest of the team some of the things you're thinking about and come up with a solution that's acceptable to everybody.
Exactly what do you mean by "comp-book" - like a spiral notebook that's for their lab writeups?
The comp-book is a bound booklet. Some colleges call them blue books (I think). They are sold with carbon pages, carbon less pages, graph paper and just regular lined paper. It becomes a journal of sorts. It is where the students record their notes from the lab assignments and record their data. These are very different from their formal write-ups.
Post a Comment