Chemistry Department, University of Southern Maine

Grading, Goals, and Policies
Laboratory Techniques I, CHY 116

Your Goals in Chemistry 116

• To see how chemists do chemistry.
• To become a competent and safe laboratory worker.
• To learn to record, analyze, and interpret data.
• To learn to report lab results clearly and consisely.
• To deepen your learning in CHY113 with related practical experience.

Evaluation

• Lab reports, unknowns, and lab performance: 60%
• Pre-laboratory quizzes (at least 4): 20%
• Lab notebook: 10%
• Final exam Qualitative Analysis: 10%

Laboratory Policies

• Prepare for each experiment by reading the online procedures, translating them into a procedure outline, and printing the report form. Bring your procedure outline and the printed report form to the laboratory. You may also wish to print and bring the procedure itself.
• Most of the time, you will work independently in lab. If you work in pairs or groups to obtain data, be sure that you perform some of each technique.
• Even if you work with others in lab, analyze and report all work independently.
• Keep the laboratory neat and clean. Wash your bench area with paper towel and water at the end of each session. Clean the bench and reagent bottles immediately after any spill.
• Before leaving lab, ask your instructor to check your work area and to check and initial your data.
• As you work, record data in ink in the data/observations sections of the report form. Do not record data on scratch paper.
• Adhere to all safety rules, or you may be dismissed from the course. Of special importance is the requirement that you wear safety goggles at all times. Goggles should be the first item you remove from your drawer and the last item you put away.

Attendance and Reporting

MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET FULL CREDIT FOR YOUR WORK.
Observe the following policies on attendance and deadlines.
All instructors are asked to apply these policies to the letter and without exceptions.
In fairness to all students, do not ask your instructor to make exceptions.

• Attendance is STRICTLY REQUIRED.
• You must perform the work as scheduled. We cannot provide time for making up missed experiments.
• You must attend the pre-laboratory lecture in order to be admitted to lab for the experiment.
• The only way to get full credit for your work is to turn it in on time.
  Turn in on-time or early reports to your instructor or put them in her or his mail box in Science 161.
  ** Late Report: Grades on late reports are reduced by 5% plus an additional 5% per 24 hours late, up to a maximum reduction of 40% if more than one week late.
  ** Partial Report: If any part of the report is late, the whole report is late.
  ** No Report: If you attend lab and complete the experiment, but fail to turn in a report, your grade for that experiment is 40%.
  ** Absence From Lab: If you miss lab, obtain the data from a classmate and complete the report by the normal deadline. The grade on this report will be reduced by 20%.
  ** Final Deadline For Late Work: Late work will not be accepted after the last lab meeting.
  ** Turning in Reports: The best and safest practice is to turn in reports directly to your instructor. If reports are on time or early, you may also put them under your instructor's office door or in your instructor's mailbox in Science 161. If you turn in a LATE REPORT at Science 161, put it into the Report Box or under the door. Reports in the Report Box will be time-stamped at specified times by the office attendant. Please do not ask the attendant to stamp your report immediately.
• NO EXCEPTIONS to these policies. Notice that these policies make no distinction between excused and unexcused deficiencies. However, you can also see that running afoul of these policies only rarely has very little effect on your final grade.

Lab Manuals