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      Customized Virtual Simulations Provide an Interactive Lab Experience

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          ABSTRACT

          Although various resources exist for facilitating online laboratory courses, stitching together disparate elements from multiple sources may not be sufficient to meet the learning goals of a given course. For example, our Biology Project Lab course introduces students to an array of fundamental laboratory techniques, and the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the development of virtual laboratory options for remote learners. We anticipated that the logic and application of the course material—a multiday sequence of connected experiments—would be lost if we combined prefabricated labs from a variety of sources. Moreover, we wanted students to familiarize themselves with our laboratory equipment, while providing interactive experiences rather than passive video demonstrations. Therefore, we used Storyline 360 to create a series of interactive lab modules to accommodate students who were remote or in quarantine. These online labs were integrated with our learning management system (LMS) and included exercises such as video demonstrations, short answer responses, image selection, drag-and-drop activities, and organizing procedural steps. Our simulations can be shared with instructors and customized for their own interactive labs, or instructors can build course-specific modules from scratch using the Storyline 360 platform. Although the simulations could not fully replicate the in-person learning experience, students appreciated being able to watch and participate in lab activities and recommended that the labs be retained as supplemental activities in future semesters. Storyline 360 thus offers an effective platform for developing virtual laboratory modules which may be widely adapted to suit the specific needs of a variety of laboratory courses.

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          Innovations in teaching undergraduate biology and why we need them.

          A growing revolution is under way in the teaching of introductory science to undergraduates. It is driven by concerns about American competitiveness as well as results from recent educational research, which explains why traditional teaching approaches in large classes fail to reach many students and provides a basis for designing improved methods of instruction. Discipline-based educational research in the life sciences and other areas has identified several innovative promising practices and demonstrated their effectiveness for increasing student learning. Their widespread adoption could have a major impact on the introductory training of biology students.
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            Pandemic Teaching : Creating and teaching cell biology labs online during COVID ‐19

            The year 2020 will forever be remembered as a season of pandemic teaching due to rising COVID-19 infections. Institutions of higher learning abruptly changed from in-person to online in attempts to minimize COVID-19 spread. Due to this, we created and taught online cell biology labs in response to the COVID-19 campus shutdown. Our virtual cell biology lab course emphasized molecular and cellular biology methods that can be used to study cells. Our report includes cell biology lab descriptions, learning outcomes, skills learned, lab set up and format, virtual tools used, lab sources, and lessons learned. We show how creative online lab alternatives can provide students valuable scientific learning experiences when in-person learning is not possible.
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              Using Virtual Simulations in Online Laboratory Instruction and Active Learning Exercises as a Response to Instructional Challenges during COVID-19

              The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 thrust instructors into a world of frenzy, presenting unique challenges to delivering course content. A particular challenge was determining suitable substitutes for wet lab experiments that are often comprised in science labs. Recognizing that this problem was not short-term, I started to look into virtual substitutions to be implemented in the 2020–2021 academic year. Virtual simulations can replace labs, be incorporated as pre-lab assignments, or used as active-learning or experiential learning exercises in a traditional classroom setting while providing low-cost, safe, and acceptable solutions to the current problem. Virtual simulations were examined on different platforms, including Labster, McGraw Hill Connect Virtual Labs, HHMI BioInteractive, Learn.Genetics, Virtual Interactive Bacteriology Laboratory, and Biology Corner. The goal was to provide faculty around the world with a reference list of virtual simulations that are aligned to specific AAAS and ASM student learning outcomes. These simulations are discussed in terms of content, features, and advantages of use. A list of lab exercises aligned to biology courses (microbiology, genetics, and cell biology) is also provided.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                J Microbiol Biol Educ
                J Microbiol Biol Educ
                jmbe
                Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
                American Society for Microbiology (1752 N St., N.W., Washington, DC )
                1935-7877
                1935-7885
                4 April 2022
                April 2022
                4 April 2022
                : 23
                : 1
                : e00331-21
                Affiliations
                [a ] Northeastern Universitygrid.261112.7, , Boston, Massachusetts, USA
                University of North Georgia
                Author notes

                The authors declare no conflict of interest.

                Article
                00331-21 jmbe.00331-21
                10.1128/jmbe.00331-21
                9053056
                35496697
                7edac63f-b088-4bc3-8cce-ecd9f1635d2c
                Copyright © 2022 Sweeney et al.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

                History
                : 9 December 2021
                : 11 January 2022
                Page count
                supplementary-material: 1, Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 8, Pages: 2, Words: 1753
                Categories
                Tips and Tools
                jmbe-opp-chal-instruc, Special Sections: Opportunities and Challenges of Online Instruction
                Custom metadata
                April 2022

                virtual lab,microbiology education,laboratory simulation,storyline 360

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