Prelab for classes

Submitted by Levi Torrison on
Duration
-
Abstract

Most chemistry labs are of the "cookbook" style, the labs are a series of steps to perform in the alloted time and not much thought goes into the performance.  The other option is to give students a problem to solve and then give them free reign to design a lab.  Many of the students have no idea where to begin the design phase of a lab and end up just looking up a cookbook lab and trying to make it work.  The other problem with the free reign option is safety and logistics with the laboratory prep.  Is it a safe lab?  Do we have the chemicals, glassware, equipment?  This is why so many of the colleges and universities go to prescriptive lab experiences.  

Our solution is to have a prelab for each lab.  The prelab consists of a writing assignment the student must perform before they get into the lab.  This writing assignment will help them understand what they are trying to accomplish.

Division/Department
Completed Full Cycle
Yes
Course Number
CHM 152
CHM 235/6
Files
Attachment Size
cats-152-lab.docx 13.72 KB
Rating
Average: 4.4 (7 votes)

Comments

Olga Tsoudis Sat, 09/12/2015 - 8:06pm

Levi, The writing assignment is a great addition to learning in the lab. Great idea!

Peter Turner Tue, 09/15/2015 - 10:35am

I like the "pre-metacognitive" aspect to this. I predict you will see an increase in lab quality outcomes, but am curious as to how you will assess this.

Becky Baranowski Mon, 04/18/2016 - 2:50pm

I might do this with the few labs I do in diff eq.  Mine are so cookie cutter that there is no thought process.  Can I steal this from you?

Bronwen Steele Tue, 04/19/2016 - 7:17am

I do pre-lab homework assignments. The only piece of data I obtained was qualitative - students were much more aware of what they were doing in lab and were familiar with terms as I explained what they would be doing. It saved alot of lab time, if they had questions I indicated they needed to ask their neighbor and figure it out since they worked through the material in advance. 

Erica Wager Fri, 04/29/2016 - 3:24pm

This seems like it would help students a lot in understand what you expect and what they are able to reasonably do. It also allows for more creativity I would assume! Do you compare grades of classes where you hadn't started this yet to the current class to assess if it's working? I bet student feedback would be very helpful also. Great idea!

Amy Weibel Sat, 09/24/2016 - 11:27am

It makes perfect sense!  I've been implementing a pre-lab at other colleges at which I teach with great success. Not only does this process improve the quality of work by students, but it also helps students get the work done within the time constraints of a lab period.