This session will share feedback gathered from students regarding their online learning experience in a virtual chemistry lab. Specific examples will get shared regarding the perceived transferability of the skills mastered online with those required in a physical lab.
As research emerges on the impact of transitioning to an online learning environment for activities that were typically taught in person, an essential element of the student perspective cannot get overlooked. Through the adoption of a virtual lab software, students were still able to participate in lab activities that aligned with the curriculum without having to visit a physical location on campus. As the large number of students began participating in the activities, the importance of a well designed curriculum surrounding the activities, which included clear guidelines and expectations remained a key component.
Course Background
The course is an introductory chemistry course, which has around 400 students enrolled each semester. The students are from a variety of majors (mostly non-STEM), and it is often the first chemistry course enrolled in. The course transitioned all labs that were taught in-person to an online environment. The focus is on the experience of students enrolled during fall 2020.
Project Description
A survey will get administered to students during the fall 2020 semester. The emphasis of the survey is to capture the student experience and skill development as it pertains to transferring knowledge beyond a virtual lab. In addition, levels of confidence and comfort will get measured as it relates to achieving the course learning objectives.
Interactivity
As the presenters share the project results, they will have built-in questions within the slides at key points. This will provide opportunities for participants to answer poll questions and share common experiences in the chat as the different topics of the presentation get discussed.
Takeaways
The information gathered through this project is relevant to the community as it can impact the curricular design for both the virtual lab activities as well as the pre and post lab activities. Although attendees may be from a variety of disciplines, the student perspectives can have instructional design practice recommendations that are interdisciplinary.