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Moderator: Princy Quadros Mennella, Westfield State University

Remote Practices Inform a New Approach to Teaching the Skills and Concepts of qPCR in the Laboratory

Louis Roberts, Associate Teaching Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Insitute

Teaching students how to conduct impactful gene expression studies within an authentic research paradigm typically relies on hands-on experience to develop skills at the bench, coupled with conceptual understanding of the experiments and their analyses within or outside of the lab setting. The unexpected shift of our gene expression laboratory course during the spring term of 2020 to a remote model provided the opportunity to assess how student learning of these skills and concepts would be affected in an entirely online environment. Our data suggest the reduced learning gains for skill-based techniques came with increased student learning of concepts and analysis, which may have aided stimulating student interest in gene expression studies. With the return to in-person learning we aimed to employ the strategies developed for remote learning to prime the students' interest in, and preparation for, analyzing their own qPCR data generated from their experiments they performed hands-on in lab. We will report on how deploying the "remote" module as a prelude to the in-person experience altered student learning. Our data is derived from analysis of university course evaluations, as well as our novel Skills and Concepts Inventory (SCI) and the standard Laboratory Course Assessment Survey (LCAS).

Embracing Pandemic Teaching: General Chemistry Lab Changes Worth Keeping?

Dana Emmert, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Findlay

When the pandemic struck, like many others, we at the University of Findlay were forced to design a modified lab experience for our general chemistry students. Instead of using commercial kits, we decided to adapt our current labs due to the pandemic. To accommodate for social distancing, each section was divided into two halves, and students worked independently. Each half-section met in either the first or second half of their regularly scheduled lab time. To make up for the reduced in-lab time, we introduced out-of-class prelab discussion videos and quizzes and streamlined lab procedures. Additionally, hybrid lab reports were adopted to allow students to take notes during class while allowing electronic submission and grading of reports. All labs were pre-recorded to allow quarantined students to observe experiments and collect data. While this lab design required intensive planning and preparation, instructors have observed a strong improvement in student lab skills across the semester. Furthermore, many students have acknowledged that the format increased their preparedness and confidence in lab. Based on instructor and student feedback, we are considering “embracing pandemic teaching” and adapting this format for upcoming semesters.