Coordinating Labs and Recitations
This Q&A was adapted with permission from the book Chalk Talk: E-advice from Jonas Chalk, Legendary College Teacher, edited by Donna M. Qualters and Miriam Rosalyn Diamond
Question
Dear Jonas,
I teach a large freshman introductory science course that includes a weekly laboratory section. I often hear students complain that the laboratory seems totally unrelated to what they are doing in the lecture class. I find this quite perplexing, since the laboratory was specifically designed to illustrate and accompany the subjects presented in the lecture. How do I help my students see the connections.
Signed: Apparently Uncoordinated
Answer
Dear Apparently Uncoordinated,
This is not unusual to hear from students who are in courses that are taught in multiple sections. In fact, much of what I have to say on this subject applies just as well to courses that include recitation or problem-solving sessions outside the regular classroom lecture instead of a laboratory.
You don’t state whether you are responsible for teaching both the lecture and the laboratory sections, but if yours is like most big science courses for engineers, chances are that another instructor or TA is responsible for the lab or recitation. It is important for each instructor to know what is going on in the other section in order to place their own class activities in the proper context for their students. Obviously timing is also important if you need to keep the laboratory concurrent with the lecture. Even the most carefully planned curriculum can appear disjointed to students if one of the sections falls behind the predetermined schedule.
In either case, effective communication between the different section leaders is the key. Ideally, lab and lecture instructors should attend each others’ sections in order to get a firsthand idea of how they overlap. When this is impossible, you need to have regular meetings for the teaching team. Use the meetings to give the lab instructors access to the material you presented in lecture and see that they understand how you presented it. Make sure that the lab instructors identify to the students specific connections between laboratory and lecture. Also, emphasize to your team that when a section falls behind schedule, it is the responsibility of that section leader to notify the other team members so that the course material or laboratory can be arranged appropriately.
One strategy to tie laboratories more closely to lecture material is simply to exchange or cross-reference the homework assignments between the two sections. For example, you might anticipate laboratory activities by asking students to propose hypotheses or make predictions based on what they have learned in lecture before they get to the laboratory. Try to raise questions or assign problems in such a way that that they will only be answered in the laboratory or problem-solving session. Students may find this open-ended approach a little vexing at first, but this is often an effective way to tie the two activities together, and it gives students more of a stake in testing their own thought processes in the laboratory. Don’t assume that the connections between the assigned problems and the labs will be obvious. You can state, for example, “In this problem, you calculate a possible outcome for lab #5”.
Occasionally, use the equipment from the student laboratories for lecture demonstrations. Try to schedule the demonstration before the lab, so that you may tell the students that they will soon have the opportunity to use that equipment themselves to explore the concepts more deeply. If you cannot bring the actual equipment to the lecture, consider videotaping the demonstration in the laboratory or using a commercially available video or DVD. Some recently available “virtual laboratory” software may also be useful for this purpose if you have an adequate computer display in the classroom. Whatever medium you use, the demonstration should correspond as closely as possible to the laboratory experience. The idea is to establish a memorable point of reference that students will recall once they are in the laboratory.
Although it is useful for students to observe and apply first-hand some of the abstract concepts they have encountered in class, sometimes this does become logistically impossible. A laboratory or problem-solving session can offer a valuable opportunity to explore ideas beyond the scope of the classroom that doesn’t clearly relate to a lecture. If you have decided to supplement the subject matter instead of simply illustrating it in the laboratory, it is critical to make sure the students know what the point of departure is and what the goals of a particular laboratory or exercise are. I think you’ll find that most students appreciate the value of such activities and will not feel lost if they understand in advance that they are undertaking an independent exercise.
Good Luck,
Jonas