Are your lab reports too big? Probably. Over the past few years, I have taken a hard look at my lab reports from AP chemistry down to entry level labs in order to determine the value of the lab follow-up. What I have found is that some of the reports that I was grading, the questions the kids were spending time answering and days that labs spilled over were not worth the effort. In this brief article I hope to allow you to think about your labs. You might just find yourself buying some extra time!
Disclaimer: Your students need to do labs. They need to have their brains engaged in labs. They need to learn safe and proper lab techniques. They need to reflect about what they have done. They just might be able to do those things faster than you think.
1. Don’t make them answer redundant questions.
I found in some of my earliest lab editing, that some of my follow-up questions were redundant. They had already recorded how much sodium hydroxide they added in their methods and then a post-lab question was “How much sodium hydroxide was added?” This is obviously a waste of time. Make sure that the students do not spend time answering questions that are clearly redundant. I know it sounds dumb, but I found questions like this.
2. Don’t make individuals collect data that the class could collaborate on.
I found that many of my labs were written so that a single group would collect all the background data, and then collect the experimental data. For example, when doing a Beer’s law lab, the group collects all the absorption points for the standardized curve and then collects the absorption of the unknown. Group after group would get the same results for the standard curve. Why not allow the class to collect the standard curve and then collaborate. This creates more time for students to ask valid experimental questions. Plus, pooling data from multiple sources is a great way to learn communication and lab procedures with consistency.
3. Don’t make students write down every answer to follow-up questions.
There are times that students will be more efficient at verbally communicating the results of their lab. Instead of having them write down answers, you grading those answers, entering them in the gradebook, then handing them back out, have the students form discussion groups. Give them guidance on the topics of the discussion and have them explain, out loud, what their lab meant. Honestly, the pressure of speaking in front of other students has brought out deeper analysis than a little paragraph ever did. It also engages more students’ brains as they participate in analyzing what their classmate has said.
4. Use lab tests instead of individual lab analysis.
I have started doing this with my AP students in both biology and chemistry. They keep a digital notebook in which they record their methods, results, and calculations. I do not grade their lab books. Instead, they know that the semester final will include a period of a lab test. The lab test includes some mini-questions that they must solve in the period. I give them no instructions. All the instructions are found somewhere in their lab notebook. For example, my AP chem students just created and analyzed alum. Part of the analysis was determining the hydration ratio. On their lab final, they will have to calculate the hydration ratio of copper (II) sulfate. They already know the basic skills, now they have to apply what they learned in lab in a slightly novel way. It saves you from grading every lab follow-up. It adds responsibility to the student. It is less time and effort for you to manage.
5. Score labs competitively.
I love using lab competition. The best outcome wins. And if you win, you get the highest grade. Even if students are competing for just a few points, their attention to detail, their ability to ask pertinent questions, and their level of concern for the lab all increase. I put outcomes on the board and rank them publicly. This allows me to know what grade they deserve very quickly. It also creates an environment where the student actually assumes the responsibility for the outcome. That, honestly, doesn’t happen in many of our traditional labs. The students just slog through the methods. When they reach the last step, they are done. But if they are competing for their grade, they are checking and double-checking. They are keeping their lab partners accountable. Isn’t that the outcome we wanted in the first place?
6. Quantify their lab knowledge on tests.
I try to include an analysis from a lab on every test. I was going to have to grade a question any way, I might as well double-dip and determine their understanding of the lab along the way. The students know that a lab question is coming, so they review what they did and ask themselves valid follow-up questions. The test questions are frequently error analysis, application to another process, or claim analysis. These types of questions engage their brain just like you wanted from your lab in the first place.
7. Don’t grade every lab. Period.
This one is really quite simple. You don’t have to grade every lab every time. Sometimes you can collect their labs, give points to every student that faithfully completed it, and then hand them back out. If you are analyzing their understanding through collaboration, lab tests, and unit tests you don’t have to mark them down if they didn’t fill in the blank for how much sodium hydroxide they used. If they are being ineffectual in lab, it will come back to haunt them on summative assessments. Give yourself permission to skip the grading.
I hope that some of these ideas will help you streamline your lab procedures. Trust me, streamlining is important. There is only so much of you to go around. If you are worn down and ineffective or hesitant to assign a lab because of the work it will cause you, then the students may not be getting the best. This sounds counterintuitive but do your best for your students by making them do less.
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