Socializing during science lab work
August 24th, 2009
So what did you do in science class while you were waiting for all those chemical reactions to happen? Did you sit around and chit-chat with your lab partner? What did you talk about? Does it matter?
Del Carlo & Bodner think it does matter. They completed a participant observation of four chemistry classes over the course of a semester (one each of 100, 200, 300, and 400 level) focusing not on the on-task conversation, but on the seemingly off-task discussions. The types of categories that the talk fell into categories including:
- background talk – getting-to-know you kinds of conversations; happen more in lower-level classes
- chem classes – discussion related to either lecture component or other chem classes – more common in upper level classes
- non-chem class – discussion related to classes in other subjects- less in 400 level classes (because they are taking fewer non-chem classes)
- joking- more common in 200 and 300 level classes (either because of the tone of the classes or, as the researcher notes, the 100 and 400 level sections were at 7:30 AM)
- killing time – conversation that happens while waiting for experiment to run- does not occur in 100 level because of shorter labs
- social commentary – conversations of a personal nature about day-to-day life or society, politics, etc.- increases as number of courses increases
The researchers conducted focus groups and interviews with students to better understand the social nature of the classes. Many students claimed that the socializing during lab time first made things more fun, but second allowed them to feel more comfortable with other students, which then made them more comfortable asking peers for help.
The title of the paper is “The ‘Chemistry Mafia,’” a term which apparently came up in a focus group to describe a group of about 20 students who all worked closely together and through their interactions in shared courses developed relationships. Within the article the researchers describe the benefits to the members in terms of using each other as resources and providing confidence to the members. However, they also give a quote from someone who had transferred in from another major saying that he wasn’t part of that group. The authors don’t discuss the implications for those who aren’t in this group, but they do point out that students who are not a part of it feel they are at a disadvantage. To me, even the name “chemistry mafia” certainly has negative connotations… for all the popularity of The Sopranos, you don’t get into the mafia easily! In the end the authors are very positive about the types of social bonds created in class, but it looks to me like members of the “out group” might be worse off, observing all of those in the mafia.
The authors conclude that the seemingly off-task socialization is actually an important part of building bonds that likely do lead to more academic success. They suggest it might also relate to retention of students overall, although they do not have any evidence to back that up. They do recommend that instructors do not focus solely on keeping students “on-task.”
Del Carlo, D. I., & Bodner, G. M. (2009). The “Chemistry Mafia”: The Social Structure of Chemistry Majors in Lab Electronic Journal of Science Education, 13 (1)
Tags: science labs, socialization
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