6. How do I manage a Lab Section?
In
lab sections, you have the opportunity to help students bridge the gap between theory and practice. In the sciences, laboratories...
Click for moreIn
lab sections, you have the opportunity to help students bridge the gap between theory and practice. In the sciences, laboratories have traditionally been taught with three main objectives:
- Acquisition of specific lab techniques (e.g., preparing an agar plate or performing a careful dissection).
- Sharpening the analytical skills of science (e.g., observing, classifying, inferring, stating hypotheses, designing experiments).
- Obtaining concrete experience with abstract ideas (e.g., measuring angular momentum or observing capillary action)
Several departments on campus offer laboratory science courses. Laboratory teaching policy varies greatly among departments and even among courses. However, a few guidelines may be generally useful to the laboratory TA. The role of the teaching assistant in most labs is to provide direction and assistance, and to serve as a reference for students as they conduct their own work.Click for less
Conducting the Lab
Preparing for the Lab
The main secret to a well-run lab is the old scout motto: “Be prepared.” You will feel more relaxed and confident as a lab TA if you aren’t running around frantically trying to set up the lab as the students are streaming in the door! You can take several key actions to assure this:
- Thoroughly read the assigned lab in the lab manual several days beforehand. Look up any terms or concepts that are unfamiliar to you.
- Prepare a brief introduction to the lab. This will vary, but may include pertinent announcements of field trips or exams, a call for questions from the last lab or lecture, an outline of the present exercise, rationale or purpose for the lab, and clarification of any confusing concepts in the lab manual.
- Refamiliarize yourself with the subject you will be teaching in lab. This involves reading the course text or reference books and bringing them to the lab for student use. Be sure that you feel comfortable and knowledgeable about the material before lab.
- Perform all calculations for the lab and keep a record to use in aiding students. Miscalculating a formula confuses students.
- Make sure that all necessary equipment and supplies are ready before the start of lab, eliminating your need to search the entire building for some crucial piece of apparatus while your students twiddle their thumbs or take a nap. (Return to top)
Conducting the Lab
If you have prepared well, you will be ready to interact with students and enjoy the lab. In conducting the lab, several points to remember are:
- During the first lab of the semester, clearly present the goals of the course, a preview of lab activities, dates of exams and field trips, grading and attendance policies, a list of supplies required and where to find them, and your office location and hours.
- Introduce the lab. Be brief. After all, the students are here to conduct the lab, not listen to you lecture. Use the outline you prepared.
- As the lab progresses, make contact with each student to determine whether she or he understands the procedure or is lost. Ask students thought-provoking questions about the purpose or application of the experiment. You must take the initiative here, as students often are too shy to ask for help, especially early in the semester.
- Never invent an answer to a question. Instead, if you don’t know the answer, be willing to look it up in a reference text or the lab manual, or ask another TA or a professor.
- Enforce laboratory safety rules. You are responsible for students’ welfare, and it is up to you to require the use of safety glasses, chemical hoods, or gloves. TAs in chemistry and the life sciences may confront the possibility of working with hazardous materials and chemicals, and therefore must know the do’s and don’ts of dealing with hazardous materials.
- Instruct students in detail as to the format of lab reports. If you are specific, they are more likely to produce well-organized papers that are much easier to grade.
- Follow a regular procedure for ending the lab. For example: approximately fifteen minutes before the end of a lab, encourage the students to clean up, finish experiments, and hand in reports. (Return to top)
