A Note from the Instructor:

I often hear about complaints about the policies set forth in the lab and while students complain, they very seldom ask why we do things the way we do. So below are some responses to some of the most common complaints:

WHY do I have to write the procedure before coming to class, WHY can't I just print it out?

Well, before we had students write the procedure in their notebooks prior to class, lab experiments often took as much as 30 minutes longer and students made many more mistakes in the experiment because they didn't know what they were doing. By having the procedure written we are assured that you (the student) have read through the experiment at least once and hopefully along with the pictures in the manual have a pretty good idea what you need to do once you get to lab.

Another reason we have you write the procedure is to further prepare you for your life as a scientist. Unlike the labs you are taking now, when you get to a research lab, ready-made procedures are very often not available. A researcher has to build a procedure from references found in libraries and online and write these procedures into his or her research notebook to use in the lab. So by having you write your procedure before the lab, we are simply practicing the same preparatory steps you may take as a graduate student later on.

I HATE lon-capa! The pre-labs are hard and they take too long to complete!

The pre-lon-capa pre-labs were of course just paper assignments. Normally 3 to 5 questions, with a graded average of about 50%. Since they were paper, you only got one chance to get it right. Additionally, we found that on average only a small percentage of students were actually completing the pre-labs with all the others just copying from them. This worked well for the student who copied from a "smart" student, didn't work so well if the copying was from someone who had it wrong. The other difficulty with this was that a lot of the pre-labs are preparatory in nature with the results of the questions being needed to complete the lab experiment. If students had it wrong, this caused severe problems when it came time to complete the lab.

So we introduced lon-capa. Lon-capa allows students to get a perfect score everytime (eventually). They also assure us that if the material is preparatory for the lab, the students bring the correct data into the experiment. Since everyone gets their own version of the questions there is no copying and thus everyone learns not just a select few. And yes, I am aware it can be frustrating at times, but the pros outweigh the cons as I have just shown (especially for student's grades).

As for the time it takes, I generally find that the students who come to me after having alot of trouble completing the material have 1) not read the book and 2) not read the background in the lab manual. Doing those two things BEFORE attempting the pre-labs will save you many hours of grief and frustration. And though very few of you do, you can always come see me for help.

I got kicked out of lab just for not having my goggles or wearing the correct clothes and they wouldn't let me make it up!

The rules for safety are strict and contrary to popular opinion I HATE making students leave the labs. But I also cannot allow a student to put themselves at risk by being improperly dressed. State LAW mandates the rules we have put forth for safety. If I allow a student to perform a lab without proper attire and they injure themselves, I can be held liable (both legally and financially) for their injury. And quite frankly, I don't get paid the kind of money that would allow me to brush that possibility off.

As for not allowing students to make up the absence this creates, well this comes from the need to be fair and treat everyone equally. If you were in charge what would you say to the student that forgot his goggles in a Thursday night lab? If the student were in a Monday or Tuesday lab, you could allow them to make up the lab later in the week, but how do you accommodate the student in the last lab of the week? If I cannot provide a make-up for all the students then I cannot offer it to even one. It just wouldn't be fair.

These are just a few of the main complaints that I am aware of. If you have others that you would like to voice and have explained or corrected, please let me know. The way the labs are constructed and run now, was not devised arbitrarily. We have slowly adapted over the years through trial and error, trying to make the best learning experience for the student. If you feel you have a better way to do something, I want to hear about it. We will always try to improve the labs and the lab course so long as we can abide by the rules of safety.

Stephanie