Online Labs

Designing interactive online chemistry labs

Suzanne Boniface
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
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​In Short

Is it possible to teach students chemistry laboratory skills online? Suzanne set out to design an inquiry-based, online electrochemistry lab which fulfils the same learning objectives to a real face-to-face lab. Qualtrics will be used to host and collect student responses in guided activities online. The activities include videos of actual chemistry experiments, interactive simulations, and macros which enable students to balance equations in real-time. This case explored the development process including the use of existing resources. Though these labs are high resource to build, students can work at their own pace, complete them from off campus, and revisit the materials for study purposes.
As part of the wider efforts to improve L&T resilience in SEAD, Suzanne Boniface (SCPS) and team are developing an online version of a 100-level lab to replicate a face-to-face experience and to explore how much time and resources is used during the process. The motivation is twofold: to have some lab activities be completed online, in the event of a disaster, but also to create more flexible options for learners (e.g., an illness or needing to work from home). 100-level labs have high student numbers and high resource use due to the set-up and facilitation by demonstrators, and marking of weekly labs. If several of the 9 mandatory labs were offered online, then during a disaster the curriculum could be sustained for several weeks or a month while finding alternative facilities to run the face-to-face labs. It is important to note that our intention is not to completely remove physical lab time, as this is crucial to becoming a chemist, but to reduce barriers and provide flexible options so that more students can succeed. The work in this case study is ongoing, but we feel that the lessons learned so far are very valuable for academics and staff that support lab teaching.
Project Team
Suzanne Boniface (SCPS), Jacqueline Dohaney (Resilience coordinator), Sarah Hoyte (Learning and Teaching Technology Specialist)
​Project Aims
To develop an online chemistry lab experience which supports the same intended learning objectives and skills learned in a face-to-face experience.
​Case Study Design
We began by developing goals, milestones, and a three-part plan for developing an online chemistry lab. Throughout the process (Parts 1-3), the resilience coordinator recorded how much time and resources were used and thought about how this may be different/similar with other physical science disciplines (e.g., biology, physics, and geology labs).​

Part 1

In part 1, we aimed to develop a deeper understanding of what happens in the face-to-face chemistry lab, identify the core components of the learning experience (i.e., the skills, knowledge and attitudes), and assess whether they were critical to the learning objectives. This was achieved by Jacqueline observing several chemistry labs and debriefing with Suzanne to discuss what she observed.

Part 2

​In part 2, the project team met and discussed the pedagogy and technology options which are needed to build the online lab. Most importantly, we discussed the existing resources available and what elements would need to be customly built, and by whom. We also discussed long term sustainability of the elements, and how much maintenance and support would be needed to sustain the online lab.

Part 3

​(still ongoing) In part 3, we aim to build the lab and its constituent parts, and trial the lab with a group of learners or support staff. The next step would be to use the online version in a summer offering of the course which would potentially have higher interest in taking the lab from off campus, and to gain feedback from learners, instructors and demonstrators.
Results
When examining the lab sessions and discussing the learning objectives in part 1, we determined there were several important parts of the lab experience.

Learners

  1. ​Discuss the health and safety implications for every chemical and process in the lab in question
  2. Setup and tear-down the experiments
  3. Visually observe reactions and measures, and record those in a lab notebook
  4. Do calculations
  5. Make predictions
  6. Synthesize what is observed with what is predicted/expected
  7. Collaborate with and support peers during lab time
With these aspects in mind, it is possible to replicate an online experience which includes 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, but doesn’t include peer interaction (though students could go through the online lab together) and the actual physical set-up of the experiments.

Key lab design elements

  • Build an online space for the content which allows us to capture learners’ responses. We chose Qualtrics because it provided flexibility for the features that we wanted to include.
  • Filmed videos of the experimental setup and a series of reactions that students would typically perform in the lab.
  • A built-in tool that allows students to build and balance equations.
  • Incorporate an existing electrochemical cell simulator, which learners could experiment with in real-time.
  • Reflection and synthesis questions which could be exported for marking purposes and formative feedback.
Successes
  • With careful consideration, most parts of the lab can be replicated for the online space.
  • There were several existing features which could be adopted from online spaces, such as simulations. There are many physical sciences simulations found at the research-informed PhET Simulations site.
  • In-house knowledge from Sarah (our learning technologist) meant that building the framework for the lab would not be challenging.
  • Student responses would easily be captured by the Qualtrics survey tool, and could be exported and imported back into Blackboard. Overall marking time would be reduced because several questions within the lab could be automated. Longer responses could be printed/viewed online and marked.
  • Some learners will really embrace doing the labs online, and will find value in setting their own pace, exploring the novel tools, and taking the lab from home.
Major Considerations
  • Filming and editing the experiments would not be time-intensive, but it does rely on the academic to be organised and ask the AV and ITS staff to help support this process.
  • Building the online content, with all the features discussed, would take a staff member with expertise. This burden is placed ether on support staff (in our case, Sarah) or the academic.
  • This process was facilitated by a coordinator (Jacqueline). It would be helpful for staff to have this kind of support when building an online lab for the first time. If building online labs became more popular within the university, staff support would need to be increased to meet the demands.
  • Long term maintenance of the online lab will be up to the academic and support staff.
  • Some learners and instructors may not feel that this is a “real lab” and have some aversion to doing it online.
  • Peer interaction was not incorporated in this lab design. However, if this is a key learning objective, other tools can be used to encourage peer support and collaboration.
​Ethical approval for this research was granted by the human ethics committee of Victoria University of Wellington (#22950, ‘Perceptions of Academic Resilience: Experiences from the Academic Resilience Steering Group and Resilience Pilot Studies’).

Educational Research

Educational research publications relating to this case study.

​Reproduce this in Your Own Teaching

This is a quick-start guide for how to build your own online lab. If you would like additional support, contact one of our learning and teaching team 

Step 1

Develop aims and scope.
  • What is the style and nature of your current labs?
  • What do you want to achieve?
  • Have a fellow academic or demonstrator come and observe one/several of your labs. Get them to help you define the key parts of the learning experience: What are the key learning objectives? What do the students do during the lab time? What do the instructors do? Do your students use software, tools or other equipment? What are the working parts that are needed to replicate this experience online?
  • Work with a member of the learning and teaching team to discuss the key elements.

Step 2

Identify and discuss design elements.
  • Work with a member of the learning and teaching team or other support staff (e.g., a senior tutor) to identify what elements need to be included in your online lab.
  • Which parts need to be "real" and which parts can be simulated?
  • Are there existing tools or resources which could be adopted into the online lab?
  • How will you host the online content? A website? Through blackboard? Another tool? Discuss your options with a learning technologist.
  • How will the tools/hosted content survive over time?
  • Try out different tools and see what works, for your purposes.

Step 3

Build version 1 of the online lab
  • Build a basic structure, which includes the tools and learning tasks.
  • Work with a member of the learning and teaching team or other support staff (e.g., a senior tutor) to check for alignment between your objectives and the tasks which will occur in the online lab.
  • Storyboard/write a narrative that links all the elements together. Discuss the flow of the lab with colleagues/support staff.
  • Film, build, write, and edit the content.
  • Have a colleague/support staff help you edit it for clarity and brevity.
  • (recommended) Have someone help you record and identify all of the resources and steps that are needed to build the lab. This is important for scaling-up and replicating the process. Note down the elements which are more difficult/require more time.

Step 4

Beta-test the lab
  • Organise a trial online lab with your graduate students and/or colleagues.
  • Audio/video-record the trial (with everyone's permission) to review later for further feedback.
  • Revisit the recorded sessions. Think about what needs to change, and what doesn’t.
  • Identify any limitations of the technology.
  • Work with a member of the learning and teaching team to adjust and adapt the design/the tools.

Step 5

Run the online lab with learners
  • Support learners with clear instructions on how to do the lab, expectations, and FAQs.
  • Have some learners try it at home, and some try it in a cyber commons, or a shared space on campus with computers.
  • Be available, and get support staff to address any major questions/issues that occur.
  • Be sure to collect the student responses and trial marking, so that all aspects of a normal lab are considered.

Step 6

Get feedback and adapt.
  • Deploy a short survey to your students. Ask the learners how they feel it went.
  • What are the benefits to online labs? What are the challenges?
  • Discuss the session with the learning and teaching team or other support staff.
    Adapt your pedagogy to suit the context, and be responsive to student needs.

​​Resources

​Helpful resources related to this case study.
Related Technology
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Getting Help

​Contact one of our learning and teaching team to discuss these ideas further and for support using the technologies.