CHEM 102 and 104 Lab Kits
Introduction
Carolina Labs customized lab kits provide students the opportunity to participate in authentic science labs from their homes in a safe manner. Carolina has a library of experiments and accompanying laboratory materials that can be curated to create custom laboratory kits specific for a Unity DE laboratory course. Students are required to order a kit that includes laboratory materials (ex: beakers, burners, chemicals, gloves,etc.) for them to conduct experiments at home.
Ordering Kits
Unity is covering the cost of kits for all students in CHEM 102 and 104. Students will, however, have to order their individual kit and have it sent directly to their home. Students will see a formstack link to order kits in the syllabus. This link will stay the same term to term. They just fill out the form and the kits get shipped.
In the event that students have issues ordering kits or receive damaged and/or incomplete kits, they should call or email the Carolina service department distancelearning@carolina.com / 1.866.332.4478. This information should be included in all syllabi that have a Carolina lab kit component.
In the future: Students who are taking both CHEM 102 and 104 will be able to order a combination kit. This eliminates duplicates of certain items like safety glasses. However, at this time, Carolina is only providing kits for 102 and 104 individually.
Syllabus Statement
If you are building a course that utilizes a Carolina Lab Kit, put the following statement (or similar) in the materials section of the syllabus. Make sure the link is up to date.
This lab course uses a physical lab kit. While Unity pays for the kit, you need to order it to be shipped to your residence as soon as possible. You should order the kit before the first day of class, if possible, as shipping can take a week or more. Follow this link to order your kit.
Safety
Safety information is included in the instructions for each individual lab; this includes safe set-up and disposal of leftover materials.
There is also general lab safety information and a lab safety contract that applies to all Carolina labs. Students must read this information and sign the contract before completing any Carolina labs. Consider setting this up as an assignment in Week 1 that unlocks access to the rest of the course. See CHEM 102 and 104 for setup examples.
Lab Instructions and Lab Report Templates
Carolina sends these through Dropbox as PDF and docx files, respectively. These files are housed in the course development folders of their corresponding courses. For simplicity’s sake, Unity opted not to use Carolina’s online integration, Gateway. The instructions and lab report templates are made available in the course as files in Canvas. Some of the instructions in those files may be customized/augmented/supplemented by instructions in the associated assignments.
Lab Report Answer Keys
Answer keys are also sent via Dropbox by Carolina. These should be housed in the instructor orientation and linked to an unpublished module within the Canvas course for instructors to view. For more information on how to do that, see this page.