Author: Michael Itshakov

After taking two other IDC courses, I realized that I can’t go into my future seminars with any kind of expectation. Usually the seminars have broad titles and not such a rigid mandated structure/syllabus. This leaves a lot of room for the professor to decide in which direction he/she wants to teach the class. In retrospect, I think not having any expectations coming into the class was the best thing for me.

Coming into the class I didn’t have much of a science background from high school. I was honestly a little worried that I would be at some sort of disadvantage or fall behind the remainder of the semester. After the first few classes, I realized that was not going to be the case. Any topic that was covered in class was usually given a huge introduction beforehand so that the class could fully understand what was going on, regardless of anyone’s individual abilities. I also really liked the fact that a big part of every class was taking time to get our feedback. I think that led to me being more engaged and feeling that the material being covered was something that I had a part in.

While the degree of difficulty may be vastly different, the purpose that labs hold in our schooling, whether from elementary school to college, never really changes.  Whether it is the creation of static in the first grade or the synthesization of aspirin in college, labs have always been used to give students a practical understanding of the topic that was covered in class in a first hand vantage point. They enable students the ability to feel connected to the specific subject since they have an active part in creating it. I think that it is because of the role labs play in students understanding and involvement in the material that is they are currently learning that they should be introduced and used in non specialist science courses.  If one views labs as simply a way to get a better understanding of a certain topic or subject, than there is no reason it should be introduced to all types of science classes. Furthermore, I don’t think that labs should be limited to strictly science courses , but should be used in all subjects where the lab would be conducive to the students learning of the subject.