|
Being a Successful Lab Instructor
A laboratory is a place where students can be a scientist: designing
investigations, collecting and recording data, handling scientific
equipment, analyzing results, discussing their findings, and
drawing conclusions. In a lab setting, students learn how to
apply scientific reasoning, to work independently and collaboratively,
and to test scientific theories based on empirical research.
It is in the lab that learning,
rather than mere memorization, takes place. It is here that abstract
scientific concepts become concrete.
As a TA in a lab, your responsibilities
include:
- Preparing handouts, including
lab notes, diagrams, drawings, illustrations, and outlines
- Distributing lab materials
- Supervising student work and
correcting faulty procedures
Here are some practical tips:
1. Assume nothing
Don't assume that your students
know how to use even the simplest pieces of scientific equipment.
Emphasize laboratory safety rules, in writing and orally.
2. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
Test the equipment and practice
the experiments and demonstrations at least once before class.
Know where first-aid equipment is located.
3. Be orderly
Announce the day's project;
describe the students' tasks in detail; at the end of class,
review what the students have learned. To heightened student
interest, you might relate the day's experiment to a current
controversy or scientific dispute.
4. Reinforce student learning
with visual aids
Diagrams, drawings, and PowerPoint
slides help students understand basic concepts.
5. Invite students to ask
questions
The lab is where students can
resolve confusions and clarify perplexing points. Don't wait
for students to come to you; be pro-active: circulate throughout
the lab and ask students questions.
6. Link theory and practice
Explain to the students how
the course's lectures, readings, and lab experiments interrelate.
Help them understand how a particular experiment clarifies basic
concepts and tests various theories that were described in the
lectures or readings. |
