When Covid-19 first shut down the world in March of 2020, lab instructors across the country had to scramble to figure out how to adapt their in-person teaching methods to ones completely virtual. Many instructors turned to commercially available solutions, while some took on the initiative to create their own! Here are our top three innovators and what they did to stand apart from the rest.   1st Place Ed Lee & Alicia Altemose, Texas A&M University “Tik Tok Lab Final Exams”   Ed Lee knew the pandemic had heavily impacted the learning process of so many students. From suddenly being sent home, to beginning a new form of education, one that is completed while never leaving your house, Lee recognized the struggle that students were facing. And so he found a way to transform finals into a fun expression of creativity and knowledge! Students were to create a video using Tik Tok, Youtube, or another video format, and submit it to showcase all they had learned throughout the semester. The results? An overwhelming wave of support and enjoyment from students and audiences from the platforms alike!   2nd Place Sajan Silwal, Southeast Missouri State  “Lab Simulations by Powerpoint”   Professor Sajan Silwal understood that transferring labs to an online format was difficult. Labs were a completely different experience pre-pandemic, so it begged the question of how do we create something for students that will further them academically in these new and unprecedented times? Professor Silwal created three lab simulations from scratch using Powerpoint and custom made animations to help students better interact with the material given. In fact, each simulation was created with a hands on component alongside the visual component, so that students could get the most out of their lab experience.    3rd Place Andrew Scherbarkov, Georgia Institute of Technology “Lab Kits, Experiments and Videos for Remote Learning”   How does one reinvent the wheel when so much change is happening all at once? That is what Professor Scherbarkov did for his students over at Georgia Institute of Technology. He created lab kits, procedures, and videos from scratch for his students to complete experiments. They worked on over 50 Electromagnetism experiments over the course of a semester with the assistance of the iOLab device. These labs contained a variety of different elements, including an Introduction, Models, a pre-lab activity, the actual experiment itself as well as an optional post-lab challenge. All of this served to help students absorb the material just as well as if they were in person. To learn more about the 2021 Lab Innovator Awards, you can visit https://go.macmillanlearning.com/Lab-Innovator-Award-Winners.html ... View more

Teaching lab at the start of the pandemic was a challenge, to say the least. The shutting down of schools, the lack of student engagement due to the more pressing issues of health and safety, it all shook the foundations of reality as we knew it. So what does teaching look like in a post-pandemic world? More specifically, how does this apply to labs? We asked instructors at our 2021 Virtual Lab Summit for their thoughts, let’s take a look at a few different disciplines and the knowledge they have gained through experience.   Physics Instructors found that when comparing in-person classes to those that were fully online, grades were comparable and there wasn’t too much of a difference between the sections! There are several practices that are going to be continued moving forward, especially since online lab sessions are actually growing and demand for them has increased in many courses. They will continue to host online pre-labs, which have been found to be really helpful and are a good use of time and resources to give students more in-lab time. Additionally, they are going to use online course management more, which allows for more transparency for students and in what TAs are doing. Lastly, they discovered how important it is to use group chat tools to keep students engaged and connected.   Biology   Biology labs learned pretty quickly that lab sessions should be synchronous and not asynchronous. They found that it keeps students on task and paying attention better. A tool that helped them with this goal was utilizing jamboard and breakout rooms to have higher participation. Because students didn’t have the opportunity to take advantage of open lab time, online resources really helped to supplement their learning. Online resources proved to be a good alternative for make-up labs as well. New hires and TAs found that it helped them to set expectations for the lab, where they flipped lecture sessions and included things like clicker questions. Now that they are back in person, they really appreciate the online resources that they can use outside of class.   Microbiology Microbiology labs found that there has been a serious disconnect since the pandemic with students that makes it more difficult to discern when they are struggling. This has continued on into in-person studies. Through utilizing studies done at Boston University, they learned how office hours attendance had gone down pre-pandemic, but the pandemic caused a surge in attendance, most likely due to the fact that virtual office hours appear less intimidating for students. Moving forward, it was realized that digital tools can give instructors more insights into how students are doing regardless of if that learning is remote or in-person. Temperature checks were also discovered to be an important part of teaching and learning that gives insights to the instructor on things that need addressing or improvement. Chemistry Instructors realized early on that some of the things they usually incorporated into their class, like forgiveness policies, were difficult during pandemic teaching. The LMS gradebook didn’t always cooperate even though they wanted to give students an incentive or reward. One thing they learned from the experience was to use fewer labs and be very intentional about the labs that were being chosen to make sure students get the skills they need. Additionally, instructors started using videos and simulations in the pandemic that they will continue to use moving forward, as it really helps with student preparedness and increases understanding in the lab. Some resources they found extremely helpful in connecting best with students were jamboard, slack, and piazza.   Ultimately, it will take some time to process everything we have done during remote/pandemic/hybrid teaching. Instructors have learned to be more understanding and give more flexibility and grace to the students. Fostering community in the classroom through case studies and discussion allows students to feel more comfortable and able to identify themselves as scientists. And now the real innovations from these lessons we have learned will begin. ... View more

Josie Nardo, now a Post-Doc at Stanford University, is an expert in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts in Chemistry Education. The below videos will help you understand the history of DEI in Physics, Strategies to increase DEI in your classroom, and further resources for exploring these concepts.    The History of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Discipline of Physics   Strategies for Including Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Physics Lab Classroom   Resources for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in STEM classrooms   We at Macmillan Learning are committed to be leaders in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in education. To learn more about our mission and philosophy on DEI, you can visit our Diversity & Inclusion website here: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/our-story/diversity-and-inclusion ... View more

Wendy Riggs talks about creating community in her online A&P lab by encouraging peer to peer communication via discussion boards. ... View more

In Fall 2020, Ed Lee at Texas A&M University found himself pondering giving 6,000 final exams in a pandemic environment that had his students spread across hybrid, in person and online lab courses. How could he keep his final exam consistent across all of the courses and keep his students engaged in the process?   The answer he came up with was to meet them where they are online - TikTok.    Lee and fellow instructor Alicia Altemose challenged their students to produce a TikTok video explaining an everyday concept they learned in their lab or lecture course during the Fall semester. Naming, the project #GIGCHEM, they went to work filming a sample video of Lee measuring the speed of light with a microwave and bar of chocolate. Most students responded enthusiastically, although there was an understandable amount of apprehension about such an innovative final project.    Though students weren’t mandated to use TikTok for their project (they could also use YouTube), most students did. Rising to the challenge, Lee’s students showcased their creativity alongside some of the most important Chemistry concepts they learned over the semester. The results were overwhelmingly positive with over 6.8 million views on TikTok and rave reviews from TAMU Chemistry students.    Not only did this project provide students a fun break from the traditional final exam stress, but it provided a connection between their lives and their studies. Watching their classmates demonstrate real life applications of Chemistry provided students with a connection to both the discipline and their classmates that many had not experienced before. It is unknown whether this will be a permanent addition to the TAMU First Year Program Chemistry curriculum, but they will certainly be doing it again this Spring! Learn more about the TAMU #gigchem project with quotes and feedback from students here and watch their favorite videos on the TAMU TikTok page. ... View more