WRITING LABORATORY
REPORTS
Chem 351 and 353 are 2nd
year University courses, so we will be expecting more from you than
your High School or
your first year courses did. Most importantly, we will expect you to
think, be thorough and to scientifically analyse your work.
Many students spend too
much time on writing laboratory reports. It is
important to think about the laboratory work and
put it into context in terms of the big picture, the course as a whole.
A student with PERFECT laboratory and CAL marks
would have a maximum of 35 coursemarks. That
isn't enough on its own to get a "D".
It is important that students do well
on examinations in order to get good grades in Chem 351 or 353. The
examinations are the part of the course
where we find out what an individual is capable of and it is the
examinations in general, and especially the key performance indicator,
the
cumulative FINAL examination, that have the most significant influence
on the course
letter
grade.
So for
example if you spend 5 hrs working on a
laboratory report worth 1.5 course marks, you should be spending about
(40/1.5)
x 5 hrs = 133 hrs preparing for the FINAL !
What does
this mean ?
- PUT
THE
MOST EFFORT WHERE IT IS MOST CRITICAL !
- MOST
STUDENTS SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THE LABORATORY
REPORTS AT THE ULTIMATE EXPENSE OF EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE.
- MOST
STUDENTS ARE MORE ANXIOUS ABOUT
LABORATORY MARKS THAN THEY ARE ABOUT MAKING SURE THEY CAN DO WELL ON
THE
EXAMINATIONS.
When writing reports :
- Think scientifically about what you are writing, analyse your
results
- Don't expect to get "excellent" marks
for "average work"