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Re: Most experiments are performed in labs



Hej!

Right on!

bc

Must remember this attitude if I ever get to teach again.


Michael Edmiston wrote:

I try to be receptive when students use different words than I would use, as
long as their words are reasonably accurate and/or in common usage.
Occasionally I make alternative suggestions, but I only penalize the student
for more serious faults such as incomplete sentences, subject-verb problems,
etc. Therefore I personally would not object to student use of "lab" when I
would prefer "experiment" if the sole criterion were whether "lab" is a
generally accepted substitute for "experiment."

However, I do not let students use the word "lab" in place of "experiment"
for a different reason. I ask the students to write every report in
publication style. They must act as practicing scientists doing legitimate
experiments then publishing the results. This means I do not permit wording
such as, "We were supposed to measure..." or "We were told to..." etc. I
keep telling them... "Don't write your report from a student's perspective;
write it from a scientist's perspective."

In this situation I believe "lab" connotes a student endeavor that might be
fairly cookbook in nature. Even if I give fairly explicit directions, I
want the students to pretend it was not a cookbook lab. If the student
approaches data acquisition and analysis as a scientific experiment as
opposed to "a stupid lab the professor made me do," I think it sets a whole
new tone for the overall experience (as well as giving them practice writing
scientific reports). Although this approach is far from successful for
every student, when it is successful I think it not only makes the
experiment more enjoyable, but also encourages them to ask more questions,
and to ask questions in a more interesting way. They might ask, "What could
I do to get this to come out better?" rather than saying, "Is this good
enough?" They sometimes even ask if they can try some alternative
approaches.

Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817