Physical science lab and affective domain survey

The physical science laboratory and affective domain survey saw an underwhelming response with only six of twenty students responding. There were fourteen laboratories.

Lab 01 Density of soap
Lab 02 Velocity of a rolling ball
Lab 03 Gravity and the acceleration of a falling ball
Lab 04 Conservation of energy with a marble on a banana leaf
Lab 05 Force of friction on sandpaper
Lab 06 Cooling curve for hot water
Lab 07 Conversion factor for arcminutes to meters
Lab 08 Geology lab with rocks and minerals
Lab 09 Drawing a cloud
Lab 10 Speed of sound using resonance and tuning forks
Lab 11 Color of light RGB and HSV
Lab 12 Reflection in a mirror, refraction and apparent depth under water
Lab 13 Ohm's law, resistance, and electrical circuits
Lab 14 Floral litmus solutions, acids and bases
[Lab 15 Site swap mathematics: no report, not on survey]

Every laboratory had someone who liked that laboratory. Density of soap, banana leaf marble ramp, cloud drawing, and the color of light were favored by five of the six respondents. The coloring clouds exercise has a history of being favored and is one reason the laboratory remains in the mix despite the laboratory being a tad lightweight. Note that the laboratories renumbered circa 2022-2023 when a geology laboratory was added. 

When asked to pick a single most favored laboratory, nine and fourteen took top honors. Fourteen has a history of being the most favored laboratory. Part of this popularity may be a recency effect, but students comments suggest that the laboratory also makes the students feel like chemists in a laboratory.

Why did you like that laboratory the most?

• 01: Because I like soaps and it was a good experience for me to learn about different kinds of soaps. 
• 04: It was fun and easy 
• 09: because I like drawing
• 09: It was simple and fun even though my drawing was ugly. I had the best time during this laboratory. 
• 14:I liked and enjoyed all the laboratories, but my favorite one was the site swap. It was not on the list but I enjoyed it the most. I always wanted to learn how to juggle and thanks to this laboratory, I was able to learn a little bit of juggling. 
• 14: I like the lab 14 the most because it gave me more ideas of learning more about colors and mixing and in addition I love all about our lab activity because we work together as a team work.

This term I released the survey ahead of laboratory 15. Some students completed the survey after laboratory 15. 

While laboratory two was resoundingly disliked, laboratory fourteen - a favored laboratory - is also on the list of disliked laboratories. 

That laboratory 14 was also the most frequently disliked laboratory suggests a love-hate relationship. Students either love fourteen or they hate fourteen. 

Why did you dislike that laboratory the most?

• I don't dislike any of the labs. In fact, the most enjoyable part of this class is the laboratories. 
• 05: Because I really did learn about friction but mostly I don't have any idea on what the lesson is mainly about. I just participate in this lesson's activity for earning my grade.
• 07: I chose this one because out of all these labs, this is the only one that I don't remember what we did and what I learned. 
• 11: it hurt's my eyes doing this laboratory*
• 14: because I hate chemistry since I was in elementary school
• 14: Because it was difficult to know which one is acid and which one bases or neutral. I get confused with the three if finding out which one is which. 

* This comment is concerning. The laboratory involves having the students explore the RGB and HSV color spaces by using an app on their phone to produce colors from those color spaces. I am unclear how this would hurt a student's eyes. 

Affective Domain

During the first day, I remember thinking... because...

• This is my first time taking a lab class.
• I remember thinking that I will pass this this course because I always pass any science class. 
• about why I took the class 
• that this will be a very difficult course that I might dislike and I was afraid I might fail because science is a very difficult subject and it is one of my least favorite subjects in school. 
• That I took this course because it require for major.
• I should've not taken this course because it looks hard, and I don't enjoy anything math and science related. 

What I think I will remember five years from now is... because...

• In five years, I believe the feeling of learning the Pohnpei's sinking will stick in my memory. My interest in this topic was attracted by the statistical analysis required as well as its environmental significance. [This is comment from a student who is in statistics and physical science this term]
• What I think I will remember five years from now is that I need to focus more on science or not to think of it as a boring subject because it can help me through anything. 
• the excitement of doing the experiments 
• Man, I wish I could take Professor Dana's Physical Science class again!
• I learned many things from this course, for example how to use themometer, compass, stopwatches and some of the measurements.
• the laboratories that we did because they were really fun, and I learned a lot from them. I was always getting confused with the topics, but after each lab I can confidently say that I understood said topics. 

Attitude towards science at term start and term end

I have always been puzzled by courses that convince a student that they do not have the aptitude for the subject matter. Courses that turn students off to the subject matter. No young child dislikes science or has a negative attitude towards the natural world around them. It takes years of science teachers to drill the joy out of science for students. By the time students arrive in my class they do not think that they can do science, they dislike science, and they do not even want to give science a second chance. Students here are reticent to expose that they feel negative towards a subject area. Some of the neutrals are probably reticent negatives. That the course shifts some students towards having a positive attitude towards science is an aspiration in the course. Not a learning outcome, just an aspiration. In a good term students learn that they can do science and some students discover that they like science.