Title: Instructors - Read me first!
Course: Lab Safety > Section: Home Page

We want to give you a break down of the 6 days of the class that would typically run over a 3 to 4 week period.  Most content you can glean from the schedule and the syllabus.  Here is some additional information.

Day 1

Because this is a short course, the first day must have content.  However, don't forget to take attendance and introduce yourself.  Encourage the students to read ahead and keep up with the quizzes.

There are three power point presentations for Day 1.  The first is Foundations and the second is Regulations.  Foundations is taken mostly from Chapter 1 of the book.  Regulations goes beyond the book some to talk about the different regulations the students might see in their work. We have attached pdfs of the Lab Standard and the Hazard Communication standard.  It might be a good idea to print out one of these and read through it, or let the students use their laptops or one of ours and read it online.

The third power point is Emergency Response and follows Chapter 2 from the book.

Day 2

There is only one ppt for Day 2 and it is on Lab Hazards and SDSs, etc.  There is also a in-class activity for the students to get used to using SDSs and the Merck Index and other online resources.  This activity may be done in groups or as a class, but make sure everyone is looking up information.  The object is not to fill in the blanks, but to look up the information and consider the safety ramifications.

Day 3

Day 3 covers Chapters 4 and 5 in the book.  The two power point presentations are Toxic Chemicals and Physical Hazards.

The 5.3 Section Presentations should be assigned on this day.  Each student should pick one of the topics covered by one of the 5.3 sections (example 5.3.1 Gas Cylinders and Cryogenic Liquid Tanks).  A rubric is included in the Grade Center.  The thought behind this is so the students have a chance to give a presentation and also to expose the students to some of the important topics in this section.  Students could work in pairs if there are more students than sections.

Day 4

This is a very important session covering Risk Assessment.  There are 5 procedures attached to this day as well as the Risk Assessment Tools (RAT), one for chemicals and one for procedures.  Take the class time to work through these procedures using the RATs.   These could be collected and graded for completeness or not graded at all.

Day 5

The last two chapters are presented on Day 5, Risk Management and Chemical Management.

Day 6

The last day is saved for the Section 5.3 presentations as well as evaluations and perhaps a final exam.

General comments:

- Know what is what – Familiarize yourself with all the files and content before opening the course to students. If any changes need to be made, be sure the Objectives, Assignments, Experiments file reflects those changes as it is the “go to guide” for students.
- Syllabus & Calendar - Highlighted areas need to be personalized for the instructor and term. Other areas can be modified based on instructor preference.
- Objectives, Assignments, Experiments – Actual due dates should be added for the items in the assignments list, as well as the experiments. Also, the Experiments section is a good place to include any known changes to the published procedures.
- Quizzes - The syllabus indicates 2 attempts per quiz, thus be sure to adjust this setting in Blackboard (or other LMS) or to change the syllabus if only 1 attempt is preferred. Also, be sure students can review the quizzes after the due date in order to study for the midterm/final. Other settings to consider in order to encourage preparedness before opening the quiz and discourage cheating:
  - Set the timer
  - Force completion once attempt is started
  - Set questions and answers to appear in random order
  - Set questions to appear one at a time and prevent backtracking.
- Gradebook – Set up according to the syllabus percentages.
- Set due dates, points, and weighted percents – Set specific due dates for all assignments, discussion board items, and quizzes in each Experiment Set. You may adjust point totals for any and all items. The gradebook is set up for weighted percents, according to the syllabus. This can be changed.  Make sure the LMS gradebook settings and the syllabus agree.
- Set availability – Make sure all items (other than quizzes) are set to be available, or set them to become available on a certain date.