<p>I have a hard time being fully immersed into lab groups for my Physics class. One week, everyone was moving quickly without me and I ended up having to work by myself. My lab teacher was mad at me and I wonder if I'm going to get a lower grade because of this.
The next week I made sure to get into a group, but they still moved so quickly that I had to hurriedly copy everything and ended up getting in the way more than anything.</p>
<p>Do my lab partners want to work with me? I usually sit in the front and it would be awkward to move to the back for partners, if it turns out that the girls next to me really did not have a problem working with me. I sit at the front because I want to focus and understand as much as possible as science is not my strongest subject.</p>
<p>How can I tell if my lab partners want to avoid me? Or if there is something I should change to be more approachable and immersed into the group? I'm not good at nonverbal cues, but they do seem nice when I'm talking to them albeit distant.</p>
<p>I have lab tomorrow and I don't want the same situation to happen again.</p>
<p>maybe you should read the lab beforehand so you’ll have a better sense of what you need to do for the lab and you can work faster? note-to-self: take my own advice.</p>
<p>I know how you feel because I had the same situation in a HS food prep class. I’m very undomestic and got stuck in the class because it was all that fit in my schedule. We had kitchen groups and the other people in my group were BFF’s and although they were technically nice to me, they talked freely about their inside jokes in front of me, made no strong attempts to include me in conversation, etc. Made worse because I was the only one who didn’t like/wasn’t good at cooking and domestic stuff. I switched into Law Studies for 2nd semester and had a much more fun year.</p>
<p>I feel stupid, I spelled “third” wrong. Thanks for your replies everyone. It did seem like they already knew each other before they took the class. I guess I shouldn’t take it so personally and read everything ahead of time to catch up.</p>
<p>Is there any way I could get the moderators to change the title?</p>
<p>I didn’t even notice.
As long as people can recognize the first and last letters in a word, the rest of the letters could be out of order and it wouldn’t matter.</p>
<p>I didn’t noticed the misspelling either until you mentioned it. Isn’t there some psychology principle behind that (as in something formalized of what dramakitty said)?</p>
<p>I move along in labs as fast as possible. Especially morning ones. I have found all the labs I have taken so far to be incredibly pointless. In my labs people tend to not understand anything. Rather than explaining every little thing to them and making more work for myself by asking them to do something I just quickly go through it (I’m more than happy letting other people participate, but the people I’ve encountered simply don’t). I’m not their tutor. I don’t have much of a tolerance for people who can’t do intro things and are science majors. I would say they just want to get out of the lab, and I wouldn’t take it personally. If someone asked me to slow down I would - and not be mad. But most of the time my partners just ask dumb questions to make it seem as if they’re participating when they just want answers.</p>
<p>If you’re just quiet, your partners may assume you don’t want to do anything, or don’t understand anything. I would try to be a little more assertive if you’re not already. If you need them to slow down, just ask, or at least ask them to explain what they did/are doing.</p>
<p>I really don’t think your lab partners are deliberately leaving you behind. Rather, they probably get so caught up in trying to get things done that they don’t realize they’re not involving you. Perhaps, like you said, more adequate lab prep will make it easier for you to stay up to speed. Also, you can try being more assertive, like asking if you can do part of the procedure, and if you think they’re doing something wrong or have misunderstood a concept, you should certainly speak up with your own interpretation.</p>
<p>In my physics lab, the reports must be turned in at the end of the lab period, so the schedule is very tight. I try my best to help lab partners if they seem lost or confused, but it is frustrating to have to try to make up for a lack of understanding and/or preparation in so little time. Also, if my lab partners don’t say anything but simply go along with the procedure, then I assume that they understand everything.</p>
<p>It’s good that you’re trying to remedy things now. Otherwise, it could turn into a cycle of misunderstanding. You feel left out and confused, so you just stay quiet. Because you’re quiet, they either assume you understand everything (and therefore don’t need to slow themselves down) or you’re a slacker (in which case there’s no need to consult you), so they just don’t bother making sure you’re on the same page. Then you feel more left out, etc.</p>