Handbook Table of Contents > Teaching Methods > Managing Laboratory Sections
Indiana University Teaching Handbook
Teaching Methods
Managing Laboratory Sections
Adapted with permission from Farris, 1985
Labs are sometimes offered in conjunction with large lecture courses so that students may acquire technical skills and apply concepts and theories presented in lecture. Labs, however, are often “stand-alone” classes with no connection to a parent course. Even where they are related to another course, they often have their own agenda that may not be related to the lecture. This hands-on experience encourages students to develop a spirit of inquiry and allows them to live for a semester as practicing scientists. It may sound trite, but you really do have an opportunity to help students develop some appreciation of the mysterious scientific method.
You needn’t overwhelm them with the Heisenberg “Uncertainty Principle” on the first day of class, of course. In fact, to realize your full potential as a laboratory instructor you’ll have to recover some of the neophyte’s enthusiasm for mastering fundamental principles and techniques of the discipline. Think of yourself as wearing bifocals so that you can examine a problem from the professional’s and the student’s points of view simultaneously.
