Pre-lab assignments are tasks
or homework that students complete before arriving in class for the lab
period. Pre-lab assignments motivate students to prepare for the lab and
help students connect theory with an experiment.
There are several advantages
for students in using a pre-lab assignment:
They are better prepared
for the lab exercise.
Experiments and exercises
themselves go more smoothly, since students are familiar with the processes.
Their understanding of the
material is heightened.
There are advantages for the
instructor as well:
It streamlines the process
of writing a pre-lab introduction (see related
section).
It can make it easier to
teach the theory behind the lab, since students will have a firmer understanding
of the principles behind it.
The only disadvantage of using
pre-lab assignments is that they take time to write and grade.
For many of the lab classes
you will teach, the professor may already have pre-lab assignments written
for you to give your students. However, in cases where there are no pre-lab
assignments written into the course already, you may choose to create
and implement your own.
B. Concepts and Types of
Questions
First,
think about the concepts you feel are important to address in a pre-lab
assignment. What do you want your students to have understood or thought
about before they arrive in lab?
Some of the topics you might
ask your students to think about in a pre-lab exercise include:
concepts and theory
procedure and methods
troubleshooting and other
experimental issues
prediction of trends in
data or other qualitative questions about data
quantitative questions
such as calculations with simulated data
interpretation of simulated
results
C. Connection with Pre-Lab
Introduction
It is important to consider
how you will introduce the lab on the day of the lab section. It is most
common to give a short pre-lab introduction (see
related section).
Connecting the questions
and concepts addressed in your pre-lab assignment with those that you
plan to address in your pre-lab introduction helps make certain that
these two aspects of lab preparation complement each other.
Use discussion of the pre-lab
assignment as a starting point for the pre-lab introduction and as a
tool for introducing the lab. In fact, you should go over at least some
part of the pre-lab assignment at the beginning of the lab period. This
ensures that students have understood the material and concepts therein
before the lab exercise begins.
D. Format
Several ways you may format
your pre-lab assignment, each with advantages or disadvantages depending
on the material, your class, and the outcomes you wish to achieve from
the assignment:
Worksheet done before
lab (handed in at the beginning of lab): This format works well
if you can create well-defined questions to help your students consider
some theory or concepts related to the lab. Sometimes giving students
sample calculations, data, or experiments on a worksheet is also helpful,
if the lab material lends itself to this approach.
Assignment worth a few
points (handed in at the beginning of lab): This is useful when
preparing fully for the lab requires students to research information
on their own prior to the lab period. You can also make this a small
group assignment that a lab group or lab partners can do together to
prepare for lab or to think about important concepts relating to the
lab.
Quiz at the start of
lab: This is most useful if you want to ensure your students are
preparing for lab on their own by reading the lab or background materials
in advance. Again it works well if you write a quiz that can be a starting
point for discussion or introduction to the lab.
Preparation of lab notebook
(checked at the start of lab): This can work well if having a comprehensive
lab notebook is crucial to the students' understanding of the lab material
(anatomy courses involving dissections and labeling structures, are
one example). Checking the students' lab notebooks can help confirm
that students are making the best use of their lab time and taking away
the most valuable information from the lab. It also is an incentive
for students to organize their lab material well, thus maximizing the
benefits of the lab period.
Quiz on the web to
be completed before class (currently implemented in Chem 1A at Berkeley):
Pre-lab web quizzes can be an excellent way to use technology to help
your students prepare for lab. Having students take the quiz on the
Web before class will alert you to problems that students are having
in understanding the materials. You can then take this into consideration
when introducing the lab on the day of section.
First,
think about the concepts you feel are important to address in a pre-lab
assignment. What do you want your students to have understood or thought
about before they arrive in lab? 
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