Student Feedback
on Laboratory Experience
Students were asked after each of
the two laboratory days to provide feedback about the session for each of the
following items:
- Three Best Things about the Lab
- Three Worst Things about the Lab
- Three Lessons Learned as a result
of the Lab
- Three Suggestions for Improvement
of Future Labs
Student feedback about each of the
building elements has been included in the discussion of the three walls and
roof. Overall comments for the laboratory as a learning tool are shown below.
Best Things about the Laboratory:
- Fun
- Learning to use skilsaw
- Getting construction experience
- Building with free materials and
human power
- Free food
- Unity
- No accidents!
- Opportunity to try alternative
building materials
- Used almost all recycled materials
- Hands-on experience!
- Teamwork!
- Relaxed atmosphere
- Seeing the complete structure
- Having experience, it was easier
the second time (after 2nd lab)
- Learning to use the nail gun
Worst Things about the Laboratory:
- Time required for such small sections
of wall
- Our skills
- Number of people (small)
- Took longer than we thought
- I got dehydrated
- Bottle wall didnŐt turn out like
I wanted it
- Lack of preparation
- Weather - It was cold & rainy
in the beginning
- Bad morale in beginning (second
lab)
- Delays due to tool unavailability
(second lab)
- Wet clay
- Mixing material by hand
- Pain in my arms for the next 3
days
Lessons Learned via the Laboratory:
- Working together
- Schedule more time than expected
- Communication is important
- Practice first
- More food should be present
- Students can educate each other
- Estimating time into construction
and planning
- How to use the power saw
- More people would have been too
many
- Get the right tools
- Have lunch delivered
- How to work together as a team
- Materials - property & appearance
- Sustained effort is difficult
- Change in quality was obvious
in dirt wall
- Dirt is hard to mix with concrete
- Things get harder in the rain
- Necessity of a schedule/plan
Suggestions for Improving the
Laboratory:
- Rotate everyone to do every job/use
every tool
- Provide water
- Time and labor estimate can be
improved
- Estimate time better
- Get a bigger crew of help
- Plan construction ahead of time
- Time to start
- Anticipate problems
- Prefabricate layout
- Get tools laid out earlier
- Have all the necessary tools
- Have a more defined schedule
- Find an automated way to mix soil
- Have more people in the class!
- Try working with clay in mock-up
- Get tools laid out earlier
Project Details: