Conceptual checkoffs
Contents
What is a conceptual checkoff?
After you have completed a problem set and recorded your responses in your lab notebook, you and your teammate will meet with an instructor in class or at office hours for a discussion of the main concepts.
You will be asked questions about
- the key ideas found in the reading associated with the problem set,
- the purpose and design of the virtual experiments you conducted, and
- the results you obtained and recorded in your lab notebook.
The purpose of these meetings is to assess your level of mastery of important concepts. These interactions can also be a lot of fun, both for the students and the instructors!
Instructors will generally do conceptual checkoffs for both members of a team at the same time. Questions are usually directed alternately between you and your partner, so that you both have some time to talk.
You will receive full credit for the conceptual checkoff if you demonstrate a full conceptual understanding of the reading, the virtual experiments, and your results.
| Checkoff Criteria | Percentage of Points Earned |
|---|---|
| Able to correctly answer and discuss all concepts in detail | 100 |
| Can correctly answer all questions, but needs prompting | 75 |
| Understands general concepts, but still needs some explanation | 50 |
| Little or no conceptual understanding | 25 |
| Absent | 0 |
What is the final deadline for my conceptual checkoff?
Completing the problem set in your lab notebook is a prerequisite for meeting with an instructor for a conceptual checkoff.
Ideally, you should be able to complete your lab notebook and show mastery of the concepts in a conceptual checkoff during the class in which you are working on the problem set, as listed on the syllabus. If you run out of time in class, you must finish your lab notebook entry outside of class. Once your lab notebook entry is complete, you and your partner may meet with an instructor
- at office hours before the next class, or
- during the next class.
The final deadline for a conceptual checkoff is the end of class following the final deadline for the lab notebook entry.
More concretely, the following is true unless class meets only once during a particular week:
- If a problem set is listed on the syllabus for Tuesday, the final deadline for the lab notebook entry is 7 PM Wednesday, and the final deadline for the conceptual checkoff is Thursday at the end of class.
- If a problem set is listed on the syllabus for Thursday, the final deadline for the lab notebook entry is 7 PM Monday, and the final deadline for the conceptual checkoff is Tuesday at the end of class.
You must complete the lab notebook entry before you can complete your conceptual checkoff. Because participation in a conceptual checkoff depends on your making a sincere effort to complete the problem set, students who fail to submit a lab notebook entry that exceeds a minimum satisfactory level by the deadline will be barred from completing the conceptual checkoff.
What should I do if I had an excused absence?
If you had an excused absence (see the Attendance policy for the definition of an excused absence), please make sure that you complete your conceptual checkoffs as soon as possible, and that you send an email to all the instructors so that we can arrange a time to do this.
If your absence was not excused, you are welcome to arrange a conceptual checkoff with one of the instructors, but you will receive no credit for it.
