Designs

[CellarDoor]

The IB "strongly reccommends" that the designs be done under exam conditions, so as to avoid copying and similar experiments amongst students from the same group. However, how do you do it at your schools?

For chemistry, my teacher allows us to research around the topic and even write out our design, but we have to write the real thing out during class time without any access to notes.

I was wondering if any of you are given the topic only on the day or if anyone is allowed to do it at home?

[__inthemaking]

We're given the topic in class and then given one night to do it at home. The next day we perform the lab at school.

[dexter]

Wow, talking about strict, my school gives you the topic and you research and write out a lab print it for the teacher (around 5 days later) then she reads it she gives to Lab technician and she prepares your apparatus and then next week the whole class goes down to the lab with each independent labs.

[biochem]

the design must be done before hand. This is a omnipresent rule in IB, that part of your preparation the design needs to be well thought-out and drawn/sketched. They are trying to mimic scientific standards - where scientists do the work before hand and then just come and finish the experiment.

[1-2-3]

We usually don't actually carry out our design labs.

For the write-up, we get the topic like 2 days before and get one class to finish the write-up.

i.e. The write-up happens IN CLASS.

However, mostly, we're allowed to keep our books open.

Anything taken off the internet must be printed and attached to the lab...

[hanz]

Wow, talking about strict, my school gives you the topic and you research and write out a lab print it for the teacher (around 5 days later) then she reads it she gives to Lab technician and she prepares your apparatus and then next week the whole class goes down to the lab with each independent labs.

Hey Dexter, so i think we go to the same school ? because we do the same exact thing in Designs !

[meh]

We haven't done too many self-designed labs yet, but it's pretty lax. Our teacher usually gives us general guidelines, then we have about half a week to brainstorm ideas, then half a week after we do the lab to do the write-up. On top of that, we do all our labs in partners....I'm pretty sure IB is strongly against that or something, but with a full class of students and limited labspace that's all our school can really do. So we perform the lab in partners, but our write-ups have to be done individually.

[Tilia]

I have my first design lab due tomorrow and we were given a general aim and then had 3 weeks to write it. It's hard writing a lab report on something you haven't done and aren't going to do. Usually we have two weeks regardless of which part that is assessed, but since we had another chemistry lab report and there was an easter break, we were given more time.

[hermine0817]

The only subject where we could design an experiment so far (and I mean really independently) was in physics, and there, he gave us three hours to design an experiment and finish it. When he saw that we couldn't manage, he gave us two more hours.

Besides, we have to set up every apparatus on our own.

[Forester]

We do it in class in a double period. No notice of the topic until the actual class. We have to research and write it up in 1 hour and 20min.

[Capa]

we work in pairs

[exploretheworld]

We get given a topic then some 'advice', after that we have about a week to do a design, she looks at it then gives it back to us with some class guidlines on how to improve, with another 2 weeks or so to make a good copy, as we give the final copy in she gets us to do the practical, which we then write up as well whilst she marks the design.

We prefer it that way, and it seems to be how the teachers at my school get us to do designs.

Thankfully they aren't too strict on us as you can see

Edited April 21, 2009 by exploretheworld

[sweetnsimple786]

...

We find out the topic the day we do the design.

30-49 minutes. No resources whatsoever.

They aren't super long. Mine are usually 1-2 pages, front and back.

[Chelleee]

oh wow,

this is the first bio ia that we've attempted (and yes, i am in 2nd year - but this is our 3rd bio teacher, they just don't like us *)

basically we got ours on monday and we got told, create a design, do the experiment and write up the prac. you've got 2 weeks, go.

but the problem is that we have to order in some of the chemicals etc so some of us are in a bit of strife

*pssst, im kidding!

[Tilia]

The "strictness" seems to vary a lot between the schools

Are there really no rules about them?

[godofib]

We actually do it exam style for our bio labs but out teacher does mark extremely hard and we get about an hour to do our design labs. But we have no idea what the topic is up until the day we actually do the lab.

[Sandwich]

There really are no rules Even within the same classes, I swear!

For instance our Chemistry teacher for one design let us "adapt" one from a book (so we pretty much were doing an experiment with a very slight modification) and then for another design literally told us "voltaic cells" and gave us 24 hours to think something up. We had loads of help with our design from our Biology teacher, and then the Chemistry teacher comes along, looks over my shoulder, tells me something which I was actually going to get round to doing anyway and then informs me she's docking my mark for "help from the teacher" @___@

Designs are ridiculous.

I also agree with everybody who says it's annoying not actually carrying out the experiment. I actually did a "preliminary experiment" for most of mine to use for adaptation of my method in terms of weights, masses, timescales etc., which made it waaaay easier to write up, but we did have to do two of them without ever even moving off the lab stools and that was just strange. I made up all the numbers ;

Edited July 16, 2009 by Sandwich

[godofib]

IB should really clarify the rules regarding design labs because there is not sort of structure while we actually do these labs which is ridiculous.

[biochem]

We had a week of research and getting ready, access to lab to prepare. You were given an hour and half to perform experiment, but if you asked you got longer.

then a mere 3 days to write it, and we all complained about the short time. hoping to convince the teacher to delay it out longer this year.