Friday 3 August 2018

The most enjoyable subject...

  In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they are not.
Albert Einstein

The career or profession of your life has always been an elusive, but important issue. As a young adult, my parents, friends, magazines, institutions in the city were the source of information. Nowadays, you find accurate information at home in front of a computer.

You click here and there to find information about the university that deserves your presence, the career that seems the most promising, that has the best study programme, one whose prestige might be helpful to find a good job, an institution with well-known researchers, an institution that ensures a brilliant future....

Chemistry Lab
Eventually, you find a suitable career and, filled with content, start attending classes waiting for the best class ever and, at the beginning, this seems to happen with most subjects. As time goes by, this excitement changes to a state of normality that persists until you eventually graduate and, on looking back, appreciate their contribution to your personal growth.

In your mind, however, you shall dearly keep a small bunch of subjects, activities in classrooms, in laboratories, activities that had a special flavour because of the contents... the classmates... the teaching staff... the season of  the year... and/or any other activity that made quite an impression on you.

Safety Chemistry  Lab
Laboratory activities demand most of our attention and usually strengthen team work, improving the desirable friendliness of students with a common goal. Thus, lab work becomes quite attractive, particularly to those eager to set up equipments to do, for example, simple distillations, solvent extraction.... Others feel satisfaction upon observation and study of optical phenomena, such as dispersion of white light  through prisms, reflection, diffraction. I actually enjoyed learning chemistry/physics/biology in the labs when I was in high school. The possibility of observing actual phenomena with the naked eyes and also doing with my own experiments gave me an indescribable pleasure that led me to observe with curiosity all the processes occuring in our daily life.

Yet, theoretical activities in the classroom also caught my attention; specially my teacher of biology who created an atmosphere of mystery to uncover the "truth" under common living processes, who made me dream of the varied "worlds" existing in our daily life. Thus, the theoretical data ranged from solid ground information in a particular issue to doing exercises, analyses, and other learning activities.

So, theory or practice? I say both.



Now it's your turn:

Write about your favorite subject this term.
  • Name of the subject:
  • Describe what you do in classes
  • Explain why you like the subject
  • State whether your classes are mostly theoretical and/or practical
  • What makes the subject interesting
Other considerations that you might use:
  • People participating in the teaching activities (teacher(s), auxiliaries, ...)
  • Importance of the teaching people in your choice.
  • Importance of the subject matter in your decision....
  • Approximate number of students of the class.
  • Main contents you have seen

Word Count: 180
Make comments on 3 of your patners' posts, plus a comment on your teacher's post

46 comments:

  1. The laboratory is not my favorite class, because I don't like how to work with classmates

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tomás,
      Team work is usually necessary to become better at what we study.... Sometimes it's not easy.
      See you,

      Delete
  2. I liked to go the laboratory. I feel so nice when I working there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Javiera,
      Lab activities are usually preferred over theoretical issues...
      See you,

      Delete
  3. The laboratory classes are terrible :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Matías,
      Why is that? Do you like teamwork?
      See you,

      Delete
  4. Laboratories are really interesting, and demandant. I don't love laboratories

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Graciela,
      There's a contradiction in your statements. Why is that?
      See you,

      Delete
  5. i love my career and all about it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Matías,
      Nice to know you have chosen wisely.
      See you,

      Delete
  6. i like work in the laboratory, because I am very focused on what I am doing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Matías,
      The empowerment gives some kind of pleasure.
      See you,

      Delete
  7. I am excited to be in the laboratory

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Katherine,
      That's nice...Practice over theory.
      See you,

      Delete

  8. the science in the laboratory is the closest we have to magic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diego,
      I do agree with you, magic is real...
      See you,

      Delete
  9. That what´s good with laboratory´s subject, it mix theory and practice, although much more practice I think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Camilo,
      Theory and practice depend on each other...
      See you,

      Delete
  10. I really like laboratory activities, because you learn many techniques and interestings facts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carlos,
      That's proper of an inquisitive mind.
      See you,

      Delete
  11. I prefer the theory more than the practice, because I'm very nervous in the laboratory.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bastián,
      Teamwork and patience seem to be the solution...
      See you

      Delete
  12. what I like of the University is to assist laboratories

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ana,
      Having lab activities is part of your strength at the Faculty.
      That's great.
      See you,

      Delete
  13. I love the chemistry lab, it's pretty entertaining

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ruth,
      Lab activities permit to understand abstract theoretical statements... that's good...
      See you,

      Delete

  14. the chemistry labs are very entertaining!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Trinidad,
      And there are so many varied experiments that can be made.
      See you,

      Delete
  15. I believe that laboratories are the most important branches in scientific careers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Renato,
      That's usually so... How will AI and virtual reality affect lab activities in the near future....?
      See you,

      Delete
  16. I love Chemistry laboratories❤

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Fabiola,
      You will have to make experiments in various kinds of lab....
      So enjoy...!
      See you,

      Delete
  17. When the theory goes hand in hand with practice, everything starts to be easier!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I also had a very cool teacher that showed me the world of books and philosophy!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karolay,
      You have been lucky... to uncover unknown worlds is amazing...!
      See you,

      Delete
  19. With the practice we can apply the theory, I also say the two!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Valentina,
      Theory and practice go together...!
      See you,

      Delete
  20. Theory and practice, both are important

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Geraldine,
      That's right...But do you prefer one over the other?
      See you,

      Delete

  21. I prefer the theory, for example to do mathematical calculations, because I stress in the laboratory always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Francisca,
      Laboratory activities should not be stressful... Good teamwork and patience... that's what you need... perhaps.
      See you,

      Delete
  22. The laboratory is very interesting, but sometimes some teachers make the subject of laboratory very hard and boring

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Iván,
      We all learn in a different way... perhaps you should ask for more information to understand better the activities that seem to be boring or difficult...
      See you,

      Delete
  23. Hi Nataly,
    Maybe, you need longer time to get used to lab activities...
    See you,

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think it's very important to know the theory to put it into practice

    ReplyDelete