Chemistry Lab, section AEvery Tuesday afternoon, this is where you can find me. The lab is divided into 6 sections, each with about 3 rows of counters, and approx. 16 students per section, roughly 100 students in total. My role is to stay attentive, for at any moment I might need to capture for the client/student announcements made over the PA system, instructions given by the TA (Teaching Assistant), or questions posed by other students. I've usually finished editing the morning's classes by the time I arrive at the lab. I tell you, three hours of virtually no typing pass by very slowly indeed. Ah, well, I'm being paid--and there are only two more Chem labs to go!
I arrived a half hour early today so I could inconspicuously take a photo; that's why the chairs are still overturned on the counters. The large cabinet-like object against the wall is a fume hood; there are 4 fume hoods per section. Last week's lab required students to work with strong chemicals in the fume hoods, so as not to knock us all out or subject us to unintentional
skin peels. I'm always a bit concerned: not so much for me, but for my laptop. Usually at some point during the lab one can hear glass shattering--someone dropping a flask, burette, or graduated cylinder. So far my student's group has had no such accidents (let's hope they continue on that positive streak), but I can't help fearing that my non-scientific presence is somehow working against them, for they've had less than stellar results at least three times.
How do I convey Greek symbols when typing for these science courses? Unfortunately, I never took any language course in Classics, so the first time a new symbol turns up, I guess at the English spelling of the Greek name, according to the prof's pronunciation. I indicate it's a symbol in brackets. Then once I'm home, I consult a site that lists the
Greek alphabet. Using MSWord's "Insert/Symbol" menu and "AutoCorrect" features, I arrange it so that when I type the word
delta, I'll get ∆;
epsilon gives me ε,
sigma is ∑ (uppercase) or σ (lowercase),
tau is τ. Just a little prep is all it takes. Actually, I program shortcuts for many other words like
stoichiometry,
thermodynamic, and
potentiometer. Anything to save keystrokes when I'm trying to keep up with people who speak 200 wpm. :)
troublemaker #1
troublemaker #2
