In defense of the high school curriculum and practice, I don't allow "human error" to be used, either. I tell my students that the phrase just means they're too lazy to analyze the real sources of error.
In addition to the above, I get "errors in calculations", which drives me crazy.
Wes
-----Original Message-----
From: "Edmiston, Mike" <edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU>
Sent: Apr 29, 2005 9:13 AM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Human Error?
I'm grading lab reports, and it is time to vent some frustration.
How do you feel about students listing "human error" as one of the
possibilities for why their lab results are not as good as hoped for?
One thing that especially frustrates me is that I tell them early in the
term that I won't accept it. By the time the third lab report is handed
back, I tell them that if they mention "human error" in future lab
reports I will dock a significant number of points. Here I am, grading
the tenth lab report of the term, and I am still getting poor results
labeled as human error from about 20% of the class.
How did this become so ingrained in their lab-report writing? Has it
become standard in high-school reports to list human error as one source
of error? It sure appears I am trying to get students to "unlearn"
something, and I am not winning.
FYI, the rationale I give for never listing human error is that by the
time you publish your results (i.e. hand in the report) you should have
eliminated any human error. If you feel the "straight-line graph"
should be straighter, or the points should have less scatter, and you
truly suspect you might have goofed... then go do it again. Keep doing
it again and refining your technique until you are convinced human error
is no longer a likely candidate for the problems you see. If you still
feel compelled to list human error, that is, if you still believe human
error is a likely cause of your poor results, you are not ready to
publish.
I actually have had students tell me their results might be poor because
they punched the wrong buttons on their calculators... and they ask,
"Wouldn't that be human error?" Well... yes... I guess so. But would
you publish (do you want to turn your lab report in) without checking
for that?
I should also point out that I work in an environment in which sending a
student back to the lab is a possibility, and it has become routine. I
realize some teaching environments do not allow this.
Anyway... my question to this group is... How did reporting "human
error" as a source of error become so prevalent? Do any of you want to
defend it as a reasonable thing to write on a lab report (or in a
publication)?
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu
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