Abstract
• Laboratory components are a common barrier to offering science classes online.
• The Zoom platform may be utilized to provide virtual laboratory (lab) to give students an interactive way to understand the experimental procedures and record their observations.
• The proposal aims to design virtual labs for a Pharmaceutical Chemistry course (when face-to-face class is not feasible or to serve as self-learning module before attending on-campus labs).
• We plan to prepare videos and photos for lab simulations. Both optimized experimental procedures/end-points and their deviated versions (with built-in missing or defective steps) will be made available.
• A pilot virtual lab and focus group interview will be conducted on a small cohort of Year 1 students to identify possible hiccups and collect feedback. Afterwards, a revised virtual lab will be provided to regular class.
• When working on virtual labs, students join the Zoom event at designated time slot and complete the interactive lab assignments in small groups. Students will view introductory materials, follow the instructions to use the online simulations, record their observations and discuss data analysis. Student-to-student interaction is facilitated by the “group discussion” function.
• Instructor will use the “share screen” and “poll” functions and ask students to choose a video-recorded procedure to conduct virtual experiments. “Chat room” function will be used to allow students and instructor to discuss various lab activities and to reinforce key concepts. Thus teachers are around to provide real-time supervision and direct assistance.
• Key performance indicators, including students’ satisfaction, % participation in polls, group discussion, and chat room discussion, will be collected for analysis.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
The project aims to design virtual laboratory classes for a Pharmaceutical Chemistry course (when face-to-face class is not feasible or to serve as a self-learning module before attending on-campus labs)
There are three major objectives:
1. Prepare videos and photos for lab simulations
2. Conduct pilot virtual lab session via Zoom to a small cohort of students
3. Run the revised virtual lab to regular class
Activities, process and outcomes
Preparation work: Videos (about numerous experimental procedures) and photos (of different experimental data/end-points) were prepared for lab simulations. Both optimized procedures and their deviated version (with missing/defective steps intentionally built in) were simulated.
Pilot virtual lab session via Zoom: A small cohort of students to participate in a pilot virtual lab session and provide feedback in a focus group interview.
Provision of revised virtual lab to regular class: Instructor used the “share screen” and “poll” functions and asked students to choose a procedure to conduct the virtual experiments. Students were asked to form small groups and conduct the virtual labs using the “group discussion” function in Zoom. “Chat room” was used to allow students and instructor to discuss the activities and reinforce the learning of materials. Using the developed Zoom platform, students viewed introductory materials, followed the instructions to use the online simulations, and recorded their observations and discussed data analysis.
Deliverables and evaluation
Favorable learning outcomes from the virtual labs were reflected by a few key performance indicators: (i) Over 90% students rated their learning experience in our survey “excellent” or “very good”; (ii) Positive comments from students in focus group interview; (iii) 100% students participated in online poll during virtual labs; (iv) 95% students participated in chat room discussion for at least one time; (v) Average marks from student lab assignment were not significantly different from historical data from traditional on-campus labs in previous 3 years.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
The project outcome has been presented as an ePoster in CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2021 (ePoster #008) in July 2021. There are a few science courses within the Pharmacy Program. Some of these courses will also consider making use of a similar Zoom-based platform to conduct pre-lab session for the students before they come back to the campus for face-to-face lab classes.
Impact on teaching and learning
Due to the similarity in the nature of most lab classes in basic sciences subjects, our virtual lab arrangement can be readily applied to other biomedical and basic science programs.
