70 likes | 83 Vues
Join us on May 24th-25th, 2012 for a workshop addressing common misconceptions in chemistry labs. Explore assumed knowledge, experiments, applications, and integration across disciplines. Learn about the challenges students face and how to approach lab work effectively. Gain insights from student perspectives and experienced educators.
E N D
Misconceptions in the Chemistry Lab Harris Workshop May 24th-25th 2012
1. Assumed knowledge • Prerequisite course skills are thought of as mutually exclusive • Overlap between related disciplines is not recognized (eg. Inorganic labs vs organic labs) • The practical or literal meaning of equations are lost • The importance of record keeping
2. Experiments • Close to100 % yield is always expected and students doubt their abilities if it is less • Hangs ups on failures and the value of the end product • The literature is The Truth • The lab manual is a cookbook • All chemistry has a cookbook
3. Applications • Transfer of concepts to problems and asking “why?” • Chemistry in the real world is not recognized • A simple answer is thought as wrong or not enough • Disconnects between lecture concepts done in the lab
Battling lab misconceptions • Integrated/Interdisciplinary labs • UBC: 3rd year lab course (no lectures) • 1 year duration, 2 afternoons/week, 9 labs covering 4 chemistry disciplines • 2nd semester is optional for non-Chem majors • Students teach each other • Guided by a TA for safety concerns • Perspective/approach from student POV
Battling lab misconceptions • Inform students on • Experiments do not always work or give 100 % yield • Proper note-taking • Real-world applications or analogies • Discernment of the Literature results and non-peer reviewed sources of information
Group Members • Hayley (UofA) • Japhet (Grant MacEwan) • Jeremy (UofA) • Patrick (Concordia) • Sonja (UofA) • Vishanka (UBC)