CHEM 353 GENERAL LABORATORY INFORMATION

The general purpose of the Chem 353 laboratory component of the course is to:

• teach basic laboratory techniques (e.g. how do carry out a reaction under reflux ?)
• improve laboratory practical skills (e.g. product extraction and purification)
• provide a "hands on" learning environment (e.g. perform an experiment to investigate reactivity)
• allow for discovery based learning (e.g. investigate something you don't know the answer to)
• allow for inquiry based learning
• improve general problem solving skills (e.g. work through results scientifically) 
• improve analysis and scientific writing skills (e.g. writing reports and presenting your results)

Advice :

• Treat the laboratory component and the other course components as a single entity, don't treat the components as being separate.
• They all inter-relate.  Some material is covered in the lecture alone, the CAL alone or the laboratory alone, but most of the material is relevant to all components.
• If you don't see the relation, then come talk to us!  Some students poor marks relate to this.
  
• In particular, it is therefore important that you consider the laboratory work in relation to the material covered in lecture.
• Work carefully and precisely and think about what you are doing.

One of the thrills of science should be carrying out an experiment where you don't know the answer beforehand and then being able to take your results and realising that you can explain them.