Recommendation report

Most STEM students at the University of New Mexico are required to take a beginning
level Chemistry course and concurrent lab. Students often have a difficult time proceeding
through these courses due to several issues in the Chemistry program. The process can be rough,
stressful, and more often than not, it leaves the students confused and frustrated. Some of these
issues include TA inconsistencies, students struggling to make accurate pre and post-labs without
proper examples, a lab manual that can be difficult to understand, and not having the lectures
directly synced up with the labs. This process could be made a lot easier and more enjoyable for
students if these problems were fixed or improved.

Methods:

-A survey was made and given to classmates. These surveys were used to gather information
from other students to find what they thought could be improved upon in the labs. With
this information, we were able to find out what the most glaring problems were according
to the students.
-TA policies were research and collected. These policies can be compared to what the TA’s are
actually doing in class. This is when a lot of the TA inconsistencies were identified.
-Personal experiences were taken into account. All members of this recommendation proposal
are currently taking or have previously taken a beginning level chemistry class and
concurrent lab.
-Syllabus was collected to compare grading scales and the information that was given to
students. A new syllabus and grading scale was written that was easier to understand.

Data and evidence collected:

Policies: After looking at the policies of different TA’s from both Chem123L and Chem124L
labs, it was found that each TA had very different policies and teaching methods. One Chem
123L TA offered assignment examples, while another offered no examples. The students with
examples reported being much more satisfied with the class, while those who didn’t reported
being frustrated and confused about lab format.

Viewing Grades: All the students in the chemistry labs reported an inability to view their grade
throughout the semester. They were also never given a method to calculate their grade. All the
students reported that they were unhappy with this and wanted it fixed.

Assignment Grading: Students in both the Chem123L and Chem124L labs reported
inconsistencies with assignment grading. Students in the lab were not given a grading rubric until
after the first assignments were graded. The format of some assignments were also modified
throughout the semester, creating confusion and misunderstandings.
Communication: The level of communication between TA’s and students varied from class to
class. Most students in the Chem123L and Chem124L reported poor communication between
them and the TA. The biggest problem for the Chem123L students was a lack of response to
discussion questions. The biggest problem for Chem124L students was a lack of understanding
for resubmission, as well as what equipment was to be used in the labs. In the event that the
wrong assignment was submitted, the instructor would not allow students to resubmit the correct
assignment.

Lab Notebook: The lab notebook was also found to be a problem for both Chem123L and 124L
students. The problem for Chem123L students is the lack of relevant information and a lack of
discussion of material. Much of the core information for the lab was not covered, or covered very
briefly. The Chem124L lab notebook does not state all the required pieces equipment needed for
the lab. Students in Chem124L are allowed to experiment with greater freedom than Chem123L
students, but not given the variety of equipment to do so.

Pre/Post Lab Grading: A majority of the students in both lab sections reported wanting a better
explanation of how to write pre and post labs. Many received no explanation, and/or the format
of how to write one throughout the semester. A rubric of how the labs are graded was given after
the first pre and post labs, but never any feedback on what to fix.
Discussion Questions: Many students from the Chem123L reported that discussion questions
were never answered. The questions were due right before class, meaning the TA most likely
never read them. Unless the TA was emailed, questions regarding the material were never
answered.

QCEJ: Students from both the Chem123L and Chem124L reported confusion with the QCEJ.
Many stated that it was just a condensed post lab. Others said the format was repetition of the
same material.
 Graphics, graphs, and tables:
Samples of pre/post labs given to some students but not others. Pre-lab on the left and post-lab
on the right.

Costs of solutions:
There would be no cost to these solutions if the training that is already being completed by the
TA’s was revised. The cost to for the revisions of the lab notebooks is already applied to the cost
of the new lab notebooks every year.

Discussion of results:
Solutions:
Grading policy: The same grading policies will be used throughout every chemistry lab. This
grading scale clearly states what percentage of the class each assignment is worth. It also
includes a brief breakdown of each assignment and how to get full points for each one.

Chemistry Lab Grading Scale

Assignments Percentage of Total points

Grade available

Participation 10% 100 points

Pre Labs 20% 400 points

Post Labs 20% 400 points

Quizzes 15% 300 points

Post lab 10% 50 points

presentation

Lab Practical 25% 400 points

● Participation: Participation in class and in the labs themselves is crucial. You will want
to ask questions to get a full understanding of the labs and their procedures before
conducting them. Also, to receive full participation points, you must contribute to your
group while performing in the lab. If you are seen not doing anything, and watching your
partner(s) do all of the work, you will have participation points deducted.
● Pre-labs: Before every lab, you will be required to turn in a pre-lab. In order to receive
full points on your pre-lab, you must meet all of the requirements, which are stated in the
 pre-lab section of the syllabus. Pre-labs are worth 20% of your grade, so you will want to
have all of the information needed in this document. Your lowest pre-lab score will be
dropped.
● Post-lab: Post-labs will be turned in a week after you conduct the lab, at the beginning of
class. You will also need to meet all of the requirements on this document; again, this
information is stated in the post-lab section of the syllabus. This too is worth 20% of your
grade, so you will want to fit as much information into this paper as you can. Your lowest
post-lab score will be dropped.
● Quizzes: Quizzes will be held at the beginning of every class, besides the first week.
Quizzes will be roughly around 5 questions and are 20 points each. The quizzes will be
over material that is relevant to the labs, so you will want to make sure that you
understand the lab procedure. The quizzes will also contain information that you will
learn in lecture. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped as well.
● Post-lab presentation: You will be required to come up in front of the class and
reporting your procedure and data after a lab. You will only need to do this once. It will
last anywhere from 5-10 minutes and is an easy way to receive points.
● Lab practical: Now, the lab practical is going to be on your last day of class. You will
have to perform a number of different labs to prove you retained the information you
learned in lab. There will be around 4-5 different stations with a set of directions. You
will have 15 minutes at each station to complete your lab and record your data on a sheet
of paper. Once you have finished all of your stations, you will turn in your data to your
T.A. It is very important to study the material and procedures from your lab notebook and
lab manual to ensure that you do well on the practical.
General Outlines For All Assignments: Every chemistry lab will have the same assignment
outlines for students to follow. Rather than some instructors having examples and some not,
every instructor must use the same examples and have an example for every assignment. Every
assignment will also come with a rubric that will be used for every assignment. For example, a
post-lab example will be given at the beginning of the semester along with a rubric that will be
used for all post-labs during the semester.

Revisions to Solve TA Inconsistency

● Develop a standard grading scale that every TA must follow to make sure that the work
the students do is fairly graded.
● New system for deciding who gets to become a TA based off of stricter requirements to
ensure that the TAs teaching are competent enough to do so.
● Have the laboratory professor put together general outlines for the lab reports so that they
are uniform throughout every single lab class. This allows students to be graded fairly as
well as making it easier for the TAs to grade.
● Normalize the process for turning in material so that every lab student is expected to do
the same thing.
 ● Stricter training. Every TA must go through the same training in order to become a TA.

Revisions to General Chemistry 1 Laboratory

● For labs 1, 2, and 3 having a direct question that has to be answered instead of trying to guess
on what needs to be answered.
● Having a list of equations that need to be used for that lab instead of a unnecessary ones
that are in the reading so that there is a guessing game with if the TA does not explicitly
tell you what you need to use or using the wrong one and failing.
● Having examples of how to write the lab reports that are needed especially since this will
need to be carried out if other chemistry labs are being taken.
● More condensed version of the information since there seems to be a consensus that there
is too much information in the lab notebook.
● An understanding of why QCEJs are necessary and if there is not a logical explanation
except that it is a required document, then can they not be used instead of a final lab
report and vise versa.
● Earlier discussion post due date and answers to discussion questions. Earlier due dates
allow TA’s to read all posts and create an in class discussion consisting of answers to the
discussions.

Revisions to General Chemistry 2 Laboratory Experience

● Create a list of all materials needed from the Lab assistants for every lab. There are
multiple ways to measure pH, and multiple ways to measure the titrant added to a
solution. Explicitly state what tools we will be receiving from the TA’s to clear up
confusion in creating a procedure, or allow the students to decide what speciality
equipment they want for the experiment. The procedure is part of our grade, and
designing an experiment when the required materials are not known only detriments our
experiment. For example, in experiment 8, Design Your Experiment, needs to indicate
that Phenol Thaline will be used to determine the equivalence point of the reaction. It is
unclear what indicator or if a pH sensor will be used.
● For Lab Report sections, explicitly lay out what section of the report the calculations
need to be. The Data Analysis Section calls for a determination of experiment variables,
while the experimental results and discussion questions also say to include the same
calculations for the experiment variables. It is redundant and unnecessary to include
calculations for the same problem multiple times in the same report.
● Include websites or official sources for the Chemical List and Safety.
 ● Explicitly label a hypothesis question or statement for the lab. It is unclear in Labs 1, 2, 6,
7, 8, 9, and 10 what the hypothesis is for that lab. These questions are too specific and
cannot be assessed before a lab. For example, in experiment 9, the lab questions are only
capable of being answered once the experiment is done. The specific nature of the
question makes it difficult to develop a hypothesis.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, our findings clearly state that students were having trouble with
writing the pre and post-labs without clear examples, felt as if there were TA
inconsistencies, and agreed that the lab manuals were not as clear as they could be.
Putting the all of the TAs through a strict training and revising the lab manual would
make a huge difference and allow the labs to run smoothly. As well as this, it is important
that all TAs are taught to grade the student’s material in the same manner. Having this
TA consistency would allow students to feel confident in the grading, knowing that it is
the same in every class. To add on, these problems within the chemistry department are
easy fixes and would improve many individual’s lab experience.