Discussion of labs in course descriptions. How do you handle this?

[cintinative]

Do you mention the types of labs that you completed (in a general way? specific?). Do you mention how many labs were completed?  

We are looking to finish with over 36 labs between dissections, other hands-on, online simulations, etc. I am wondering if that is something worth mentioning as I know some courses don't include nearly that many.

TIA! Thank you!

Edited January 23, 2021 by cintinative

[regentrude]

I did not. I just mentioned that the course had a lab component.  I don't see anything wrong with mentioning the number.

Very likely noone will read your course descriptions. Any standard course, they'll skim at most. I can only imagine them looking up unfamiliar course titles. But I doubt any admissions person will read what exactly happened in a course titled "biology". So don't overthink. 

 

[Lilaclady]

Yes I did. Some of the schools here in our state require a homeschool portfolio with the labs detailed and assessment. I just completed it for my rising 11th grader for dual enrollment. It was mostly- biology- 12 labs completed including x,y,z. I listed the lab texts that was used and if a kit was used, I’ll list that as well. 

[lewelma]

I did for biology because we only did 1 big investigation rather than weekly labs. Also, one of his universities required 3 lab sciences so I thought they might read that description in particular as Biology was run by me. Chemistry and Physics were officially through a school, so I was less worried about them.

[EKS]

I did.  I said: "Laboratory investigations were conducted on the following topics" and then listed them (within the paragraph, separated by commas).  

[Momto6inIN]

I listed the names of the labs. I realize no one probably reads the entire course descriptions, but in the interest of complete record keeping I wanted it in there 🙂

[lewelma]

This was my course description for Biology. This was a homeschool course so I put more detail into it than for his other 2 lab sciences. Sorry for the poor formatting.

Biology with Lab. (1 credit)
This second-year Biology course covered cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, evolution,
ecology, animal diversity, plant diversity, and human anatomy. The laboratory component
included a large-scale investigation focusing on how biotic and abiotic factors affect competition
and predation in the rocky intertidal zone. It required familiarity with the ecological literature,
identification of an interesting question, and the design of appropriate methods. This course had
a strong statistical component and results were analyzed using R (The R Project for Statistical
Computing). The course also included a unit on human manipulation of genetic transfer
including recombinant DNA, amplification with PCR, recombinant plasmids, transgenesis,
CRISPR, gene therapy, and cloning. This course included a research paper, a scientific paper,
and short essays.

Textbooks: Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life, Cecie Starr and Ralph Taggart

Handbook of Biological Statistics. by John McDonald
R Programming, by Wikibooks

Edited January 25, 2021 by lewelma

[lewelma]

Here are my descriptions for Physics and Chemistry that were run through the New Zealand national exams and assessments.

Physics with Lab – NCEA level 3. (Te Kura, 1 credit)
This course built on concepts covered in a first-year Physics course. Topics included
mechanics, electromagnetism, wave systems, and modern physics. This course had a strong
written component in addition to quantitative problem solving. The lab component focused on
data analysis and error analysis, with instruction provided through Te Kura. Lab reports required
data transformation, error measurements, and identification of mathematical relationships.
Variation of results from expected values were discussed in terms of both theory and data
collection.
Texts: Materials published by Te Kura
NCEA level-3 exams and assessments: 19 Excellence credits earned. 4 in progress

Chemistry with Lab – NCEA level 3. (Te Kura, 1 credit)
This course built on concepts covered in a first-year Chemistry course which was self-studied.
Topics included thermochemical principles and the properties of particles and substances,
equilibrium principles in aqueous systems, and oxidation-reduction processes. A detailed unit on
spectroscopic analysis of organic compounds focused on analytical skills in interpreting complex
graphical data. The lab component focused on data collection and quantitative analysis using
lab equipment provided by Te Kura. More advanced labs were completed at the Laboratory at
Te Kura and at Victoria University of Wellington.
Texts: Materials published by Te Kura
NCEA level-3 exams and assessments: 16 Excellence credits earned

[lewelma]

Notice that with all these descriptions I'm focusing on skills learned in the lab rather than on the content of the lab.

[Farrar]

I literally just had a client with an interview with admissions where they had clearly read the course descriptions. If you apply to a certain sort of school, someone is at least skimming them.

I tend to say something about how it had a lab component and give some examples of the labs. However, if it was a lab intensive course, I think it's fine to brag about that and say that it had weekly labs or more than 30 labs or something.

ETA: Adding that I realized I do what Ruth suggested as well and have included things about the lab skills, such as that the labs focused on observations, data collection, practical skills with the microscope, etc. etc.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Farrar

[lewelma]

My guess is that if a school *requires* lab sciences, they will be reading the course description for any homeschool lab course. The goal is to demonstrate that what you provided was on par with what is done at school, and not some stereotypical 'we did cooking and called it chemistry' type of homeschool lab.

[Farrar]

I actually assume there are probably a few schools out there that *just* read the science descriptions to see what the labs were and some sense from the descriptions that the labs existed and that they don't look at anything else in the descriptions. Which is silly, but I'll bet there's a small number of schools doing that. If the labs came from a kit, such as QSL or were included in the course or done with a teacher or in a lab setting, I usually put that as well.

[SoCal_Bear]

I know of more than one privately homeschooling family who was asked to substantiate their science courses and provide the specific labs completed with lab reports. The large state unis were asking for this information.

[cbollin]

side issue/rabbit trail here.... "cooking and just called it chemistry" (let's make a cake with baking soda and vinegar and clap our hands to the homeschool deity) is different from "used cooking to learn scientific principles of chemistry".  This was a fun but not easy chemistry lab with food developed by someone at Harvard https://www.edx.org/course/science-cooking-from-haute-cuisine-to-soft-matter,  and of course there is a high school Gourmet Lab: scientific principles behind your favorite foods published by national science teacher's association.  But the point remains that even in those food based inquiry approaches real labs with real skills were done and deserve proper write up so that it doesn't sound like bake a cake and call it chemistry in high school.

Arizona State University has a template they want to see for lab discussions for homeschoolers : https://admission.asu.edu/sites/default/files/general/science_form_home_school_applications-fillable.pdf

disclaimer: I wrote simple paragraphs for "course descriptions" and no one asked for them - not even with oldest who was STEM.  But she wasn't trying to get into super elite places. 

I just wanted to share the link to ASU if it would help others to see a range of possibilities.  I know with our labs we sometimes substituted household items (liquid measuring cups) for "graduated cylinders", but I would have called it a graduated cylinder during "science class."  but then again, my scientist husband was ok with that.  I'm not suggesting lowering standards.

 

 

 

[lewelma]

6 hours ago, cbollin said:

side issue/rabbit trail here.... "cooking and just called it chemistry" (let's make a cake with baking soda and vinegar and clap our hands to the homeschool deity) is different from "used cooking to learn scientific principles of chemistry". 

You are right! There are some really good chemistry of cooking classes, but I'm glad you knew what I meant.  🙂 

I've had people watch their kids play on a seesaw and tell me "see, they are doing physics." And I'm like, no, they are playing and they are children and they don't have to do physics. But when they do, please study some real physics. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by lewelma

[lewelma]

12 hours ago, calbear said:

I know of more than one privately homeschooling family who was asked to substantiate their science courses and provide the specific labs completed with lab reports. The large state unis were asking for this information.

I was definitely aware of this, and did keep all his lab reports. Interestingly, no one batted an eye at his Biology lab - which was a single large scale investigation. I made sure to write it up carefully so they knew that although we were doing the lab component in a non-tradition way, it was a strong lab experience. Different but equal.