Jawad Mona Noor, Bhattacharjee Abhishek, Lehmann Riley, Busza Anna, Perez-Pinera Pablo, Jensen Karin
Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2021 Mar 31;22(1). doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2399. eCollection 2021.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has fundamentally transformed our educational system. The need to protect both students and instructors from exposure to viral infection has required the implementation of remote instructional models. Although this alternative delivery approach can be successfully implemented to teach the theoretical foundations of multiple disciplines, teaching technical skills poses a major challenge, particularly in various biology fields, where observation of biological safety guidelines and the high cost of analytical equipment represent major impediments for remote instruction. To overcome this problem, we have developed a laboratory exercise to teach students how to use micropipettes that can be completed remotely using materials that can be purchased at a fraction of the cost of the instructional equipment normally reserved for in-person instruction. Our evaluation of the effectiveness of this remote lab indicated that the majority of students who participated in a survey believed they attained the learning objectives and felt confident in their lab technique after completing the exercises. The simplicity, relatively low cost, and effectiveness of this approach makes it highly adaptable for other classrooms and educational settings.
新冠病毒病（COVID-19）的迅速传播从根本上改变了我们的教育系统。为保护学生和教师免受病毒感染，需要实施远程教学模式。尽管这种替代授课方式能够成功用于教授多学科的理论基础，但教授技术技能却构成了一项重大挑战，尤其是在各个生物学领域，因为遵守生物安全指南以及分析设备成本高昂，这对远程教学来说是主要障碍。为克服这一问题，我们开发了一项实验练习，教学生如何使用微量移液器，该练习可通过远程方式完成，所使用的材料成本仅为通常用于面授教学的教学设备成本的一小部分。我们对这个远程实验室有效性的评估表明，参与调查的大多数学生认为他们在完成练习后实现了学习目标，并且对自己的实验技术有信心。这种方法的简单性、相对低成本和有效性使其非常适合其他课堂和教育环境。
