tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685224604900439299.post638527029405607749..comments2023-04-02T10:16:49.059+01:00Comments on The Boiling Point: The Woes of Demonstratingamonkeywithatypewriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723749603101629656noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685224604900439299.post-76972941566756816022011-02-17T15:51:28.955+00:002011-02-17T15:51:28.955+00:00I have had some of the worst groups of students in...I have had some of the worst groups of students in my demonstrating days. One that sticks out in my mind was a lab on cross-linking polymers. Not a hugely difficult experiment; one simply takes a bunch of thermoplasts and thermosets, heat them, bend them, see how they behave and decide which they are from a list. To be fair to the students, they had not finished this lecture of material, so to make the whole scenario easier on both them and myself, I simply wrote the answer on the whiteboard and then told the class that this was the correct answer. All they had to do was copy it down word for word, and they would get full marks.<br /><br />When marked, only 20-30% of the class got this last question correct.<br /><br />The average (median) class mark was 4.5 out of 20.Corsairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07010144778732141435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685224604900439299.post-40309089540616117152011-02-16T09:42:06.438+00:002011-02-16T09:42:06.438+00:00Elliott Smith was about all I could handle by that...Elliott Smith was about all I could handle by that point in the evening!<br /><br />I think this post may have put me in the wrong light. I would like to think I am patient, helpful and understanding about 95% of the time and that I am actually a pretty decent demonstrator. I know exactly what it is like to wash an afternoon's work down the drain or drop it all over the bench so I know what they're going through when it goes wrong but it's just that odd time (like on Monday) when I'm really not in a great mood that a select few of them begin to grate on me.<br /><br />I'll have to remember your tips though. Talking to people about chemistry like I would a six-year old sounds like it could work!amonkeywithatypewriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09723749603101629656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685224604900439299.post-74629955590516436532011-02-16T04:44:45.874+00:002011-02-16T04:44:45.874+00:00You get some points for listening to good music th...You get some points for listening to good music though Elliott Smith is likely to only make you even more depressed.<br /><br />With freshmen labs you have to be very patient and expect that some people in your lab are sloppy/unmotivated/retarded. You have to be extra cautious when people under your command work with bromine because bromine on skin promptly causes burns that are every bit as nasty as those caused by mustard gas - they are excruciatingly painful and take forever to heal.<br /><br />It does not help to fly into rage. Explain things patiently as if you were talking to a bright six-year old, without condescending tone, but with the necessary detail. Don't be a dick, try to talk to people in a pleasant way that does not insult them, but if someone persistently does stupid dangerous things in the lab, just ask him to leave and come again some other day.milkshakehttp://orgprepdaily.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685224604900439299.post-41440257836827051882011-02-15T13:32:21.832+00:002011-02-15T13:32:21.832+00:00In my first year when my research was dead in the ...In my first year when my research was dead in the water, demonstrating was enjoyable. I was actually doing something useful. These days it's just an interference. Thankfully physical chemistry is low on practical concerns but there are three phrases that are now drummed into my psyche. "Did you read the instructions?", "Why aren't you wearing goggles?" and "LOOK AT THE EQUATION!".<br /><br />One of my friends, who is organic-y, had to deal with first years. One of them couldn't light a bunsen and went over to get him, waiting five or so minutes, without first switching off the gas tap. Sometimes you just have to despair.Sennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685224604900439299.post-12524829238692975422011-02-14T21:37:05.775+00:002011-02-14T21:37:05.775+00:00Demonstrator plus
18 year old ass. (First years a...Demonstrator plus<br /><br />18 year old ass. (First years are upsettingly tidy here- why couldn't rdg have had a similar proportion?) <br /><br />No columns for an hour and I can put off titrating that grotty old n-BuLi for another week.<br /><br />A tenner an hour.<br /><br />Demonstrating minus<br /><br />What does aqueous solution mean? (add water)<br /><br />Why isn't my steam bath working? (put water in it)<br /><br />Why dont I have crystals? (you've used ethyl acetate instead of water)<br /><br /><br />Some suprisingly hydrophobic undergrads here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com