Assessing Laboratory Performance

It is highly unlikely that in a real job you will be given responsibilities that are so well defined that all you have to do is follow instructions. It is equally unlikely that you will be solely responsible for an outcome. Undergraduate laboratory courses, laboratory components to lecture courses, independent study, engineering design courses, and the like constitute the experiential part of the curriculum. They give you the opportunity to apply your cumulative knowledge and experience to specific problems. In particular, experiential courses enable you to polish up and apply teamwork skills and to exercise critical thinking.

Expectations and performance criteria

You are expected to come on time, fully prepared and alert. You should be engaged in the work itself and be aware of your surroundings. You are expected to work efficiently, safely, and responsibly. Most of the specific criteria listed here characterize an effective member of a team.

Punctuality

All labs meet in Biology 141 at 1:00 PM, and labs will start on time. We will set traps for latecomers (live traps, of course). Showing up on time is a sign that you are fully engaged in a project, are responsible, and that you respect your supervisor and coworkers. When you are late your arrival is likely to be disruptive. For example, you will interrupt the prelab talk for at least some people if you come in after it starts. As you settle in you will distract both the instructor and students in the vicinity. You may miss key instructions and even become a liability, affecting the efficiency with which your team works, and possibly compromising safety.

Courtesy

Just showing up on time is a sign of courtesy. So is cleaning up your lab station and keeping common areas such as sinks, hoods, and side benches clean and neat. A student who asks questions that might be of interest to the class is appreciated as compared to one who takes up class time to ask about or comment on something that applies only to him/herself (e.g., "we're missing the 1 ml pipettor"). Be aware that there are others working around you, and think before you blurt out a question, possibly interrupting a conversation between instructor and student. Think before you drop a backpack in the middle of an aisle, take the last latex glove out of the box, or pour something into a sink ignoring the fact that the drain is clogged.

An exceptional performance might involve cleaning up a common area such as sink or side bench, or pointing out a major safety concern.

Attentiveness

During prelab talks listen carefully for changes to a protocol, for the locations of supplies and equipment, for pointers as to use of equipment, and similar details. Conversing during a prelab talk, fiddling with equipment, working on an assignment, or sleeping are not recommended behavior. Above all, be awake and alert. Occasionally a student shows up in lab nearly catatonic. It is impossible to learn when you are fighting to stay awake. Get a good night's sleep.

Preparation

Know the objectives of the day's work and how you will achieve them. Knowing how you will achieve them usually involves reviewing the writeup of the laboratory study and making an outline of procedures. Watch for opportunities to apply a skill that you have learned in a previous laboratory session. When the prelab work calls for calculations, have them ready to go when you arrive to lab. If you do have trouble with prelab planning or calculations, give yourself time to work it out before you get to lab.

Students are considered to be exceptionally well prepared, for example, when they respond to questions with informative answers. ask especially relevant questions, or are readily able to adjust to changes to a lab protocol or troubleshoot an experiment.

Responsibility & teamwork

Responsible students work safely and are careful about discarding materials such as broken glass.  Responsible people do not waste supplies or damage equipment, throw away the samples that they need the following week, forget to enter data for the team, or enter data incorrectly. Responsible people double check to make sure that they conduct procedures correctly, and watch for signs that something is wrong. They report when stocks are getting low instead of simply taking the last of something. They keep common areas clean, sinks and fume hoods clear of debris, advise others of unsafe or wasteful practices or report such practices.

Exceptionally responsible students focus on the overall goals of the teaching laboratory and not just their own work. People who can organize a group and keep the team on track are especially valuable.

Efficiency

Students who finish earlier than most while successfully completing their lab work are usually noted as being exceptionally efficient. Students who take an exceptionally long time usually do so because of some omission in a procedure, unfamiliarity with the protocol, inattention to a pre-lab talk, or in some cases they are simply too meticulous.  In any case we will take the effectiveness of a partnership into account. One important way to be efficient is to divide responsibilities so that one partner is working on one part of a study while the other focuses on another part. Efficiency requires that you take notes as you go along. You should not take more than five minutes to make the last entry or two, write a brief summary, and complete the table of contents.

It is especially inefficient to "trade" notes when you and your partner have finished the lab work. Such practice suggests that you've missed the whole point of timely recordkeeping. You are both equally responsible for a complete laboratory record. If you simply copy your partner's notes you miss the opportunity to ensure that the notes are complete and accurate. Communicating with each other during the lab session allows you to catch each other's mistakes, and helps you keep up with the recordkeeping as you go along.

Feedback

Along with feedback on the laboratory notebook and prelab assignments, you will receive comments, a weekly score, and a cumulative score on laboratory performance. Your teaching assistant will help the instructor to observe your performance and will send the actual feedback via e-mail. However, it is the instructor who decides on a score and provides the comments. Don't shoot the messenger.

Performance will be scored on a 10 point scale each week. A completely satisfactory performance recieves 9.5 points, equivalent to an A. A completely satisfactory performance requires that the group's performance be satisfactory as well. For example, if an "unknown individual" throws sharp glass or nondisposable items in a wastebasket and someone on the team doesn't catch it, everyone loses points. An exceptional performance will be rewarded with 10 or more points (any score above 10 includes bonus points). If you score 10 or more points or anything less than 9.5 points one or more specific comments will be provided. When you review the comments think about how you can keep up the good work or improve your performance the following week.