Dyspraxia and lab work

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DanAu96
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Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by DanAu96 »

So, I'm studying for a chemistry degree, i'm in my 3rd year. for one of our practicals we had to make 3 different chemicals each. when doing the analysis we had to run tests on each of them when i did this i got confused (due to my short term memory and general disorganisation and people were waiting to use the machine) between what i had run and what i hadn't, i thought at the time i had done it properly. when i went home i realised I had run one of my samples twice ](*,) i was really upset. I don't get any adjustment for lab work, the only adjustment i get is for written work for spelling ect. I am thinking about going to my university's disability advisory service. does anyone think they will be sympathetic?. I do not want to be penalised for this mistake
Tom fod
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by Tom fod »

You can always ask but you may just have to draw a under the episode and resolve to looking at ways to avoid making similar errors again. I think it's a mistake anyone could make and is likely quite a common one. Was it a timed exercise and might there have been/could you have asked to do it with just you/fewer people in the lab/at a quieter time? Could you have a chat with your lecturer about your concerns about what this error means?

You'll have to forgive my general ignorance, I attempted Chemistry at A level and was pleased I somehow managed an AS. The maths around the calculation of moles and 6 x10 to the power 0f 23 confused the hell out of me! I'd have been equally upset with myself had I made the same sort of mistake.

Fleming's discovery of Penicillin came out of disorder though he had a hard job convincing others about his discovery.
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DanAu96
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by DanAu96 »

Tom fod wrote:You can always ask but you may just have to draw a under the episode and resolve to looking at ways to avoid making similar errors again. I think it's a mistake anyone could make and is likely quite a common one. Was it a timed exercise and might there have been/could you have asked to do it with just you/fewer people in the lab/at a quieter time? Could you have a chat with your lecturer about your concerns about what this error means?

You'll have to forgive my general ignorance, I attempted Chemistry at A level and was pleased I somehow managed an AS. The maths around the calculation of moles and 6 x10 to the power 0f 23 confused the hell out of me! I'd have been equally upset with myself had I made the same sort of mistake.

Fleming's discovery of Penicillin came out of disorder though he had a hard job convincing others about his discovery.
Thanks for the nice response, I have been thinking about this one, in the future i think i will make lists of the things i need to do so i am not stressing myself trying to remember weather i have done something or not. in previous years i did everything with my lab partner and he would help me with writing labels, remembering where stuff was and keeping everything organised. this was the first practical where we were doing separate things. next year i will be in a more research lab environment with fewer people and a lot more time to get stuff done and i fi do something like this i can just do it again which i didn't have the luxury of.
DanAu96
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by DanAu96 »

So i went to see the disability advisory service who said that some arrangements could be made to help organise my self in the future. she also said that the person marking this piece of work will be notified about my condition so that i hopefully wont be penalised for it.
skyebison
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by skyebison »

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Last edited by skyebison on Fri Jan 05, 2024 4:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
DanAu96
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by DanAu96 »

skyebison wrote:
Great news! How are you doing in the class now?

For the record I have a BSc in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. After university I worked in a chemistry lab for five years. My recommendations are to RECORD EVERYTHING in your lab notebook, mark samples carefully, and take your time. If someone is giving you a hard time about taking a long time on the machine, I would just brush it off and say "Sorry, I really don't want to screw this up, I'm sure you understand."
I'm doing great thanks, I haven't done any lab work for a while now, but next year when i will be working in the lab a lot more I plan to buy a label printer so i don't have to write labels by hand since i struggle with this. one major problem is my lab book is always a mess my hand writing is horrible, i write everything I can however i am worried whoever examines it next year will not understand, I plan to talk to whoever my supervisor will be about this before starting anything.
skyebison
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by skyebison »

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Last edited by skyebison on Fri Jan 05, 2024 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
tpmitch
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by tpmitch »

I'm doing great thanks, I haven't done any lab work for a while now, but next year when i will be working in the lab a lot more I plan to buy a label printer so i don't have to write labels by hand since i struggle with this. one major problem is my lab book is always a mess my hand writing is horrible, i write everything I can however i am worried whoever examines it next year will not understand, I plan to talk to whoever my supervisor will be about this before starting anything.
Label printer might be a good idea. Only problem is that proper lab suitable labels (at least for biology labs) can get expensive as they have to be, for instance, solvent and frost resistant.

With regards to the lab book, you can get electronic lab books, and it might be worth talking with your supervisor/course leaders about this option. If it costs too much or they demand handwritten, maybe consider typing up your lab book each week (while you still remember what you did) and asking the supervisors/organisers to explain to the marker. That way you could hand in the handwritten book, and also a typed version for reference if your handwriting isn't readable?

With regards to the original post - firstly mistakes happen all the time in science. It's why your project work will probably be done in duplicate or triplicate and with more time. If you have to submit your results I'd just say, 'due to an error, one sample was processed twice'. Not totally sure of the circumstances but could you even ask the instructors for an example result to discuss, or to use someone else's with permission and open acknowledgment?

Secondly something I find useful is set up physical 'to do', 'working' and 'done' areas for each step of an experiment. So I might put all the samples into one rack ('to do'), pick one up to add the reagent ('working'), then immeadiately place it in a second rack ('done'). And just add additional areas if there are multiple steps.
DanAu96
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Re: Dyspraxia and lab work

Post by DanAu96 »

Since i created this post i started working in a research lab, it's much less busy and I can go in at any time so i can do things at my own pace and write things in my lab book when i want, no rush. i haven't bought a rebel printer yet as i fear the labels wouldn't be solvent resistant, the hand written ones they have are not at all solvent proof. preparing NMR tubes are still a problem, a new problem I am having is TLC plate cutting, they always come out bent and wonky. I am going to talk to the disability rep for the department on wednesday.
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