Course Context

This course is required by students in the HSCI Bachelor of Sciences, Life Sciences program. They must take one of three 4th year lab courses to complete their degree. I have taught this course twice in the last four years. 

Fall 2020 - Hybrid Laboratory Course

In the Fall of 2020, Mark Lechner and I were assigned to teach one section each. I had only ever taught one lab course, and it was 8 years prior. My lab skills felt rusty. The lab was originally developed and designed by our colleague Frank Lee, whose field differs from mine; some experiments were familiar, and others were entirely new. I find it challenging to adopt someone else's instructional model completely, and it takes me time to get used to it. In addition, we had to make a series of modifications because of the pandemic. 

Before the lab ran, Mark and I worked together to create COVID-19 safety protocols for a hybrid-style class, with masks and social distancing. We planned to alternate groups of 12 students through the lab and online sessions. Due to limited lab time, we developed a series of 10 laboratory demonstration videos for students to watch before class (see examples below), and 5 online companion sessions to provide remote learning in the weeks when students were not in the lab. We also worked with a student research assistant hired by Mark to embed student tips and feedback into the lab manual. 

Online Companion Sessions Developed

• Virtual Bradford assay

• Virtual TUNEL assay

• Guidelines for writing a lab report

• Lecture and activities on cell differentiation

• Methodology in Literature - use 5-step reading method in the context of a lab course (see below)

Laboratory Demonstration Videos Developed

1. Pipette Technique

2. Centrifuges and Lab Equipment Safety

3. Tissue Culture Equipment

4. Bradford Assay

5. Cell Culture Basics

6. SDS-PAGE

7. Western Blot

8. MTS assay

9. RT-PCR

10. Assays on Motility

 Mark planned and demonstrated the techniques for the videos, and I filmed, edited, narrated, and posted all of them. It was my first time doing any videography work. 

The videos were very well received, though the students did observe some inconsistencies with the lab manual.

 I cannot thank Dr. N enough for these demonstration videos! I have had bad lab anxiety with my past few lab courses, but these videos really helped me prepare myself by being familiar with all the reagents and equipment used, what they look like, how to use them etc. It helped me be mentally prepared for lab and made me feel much more calm when entering lab. The videos also helped me visualize how the protocol in lab is supposed to go and Mark's commentary was super helpful in terms of why we use certain reagents and what leads to common mistakes; which also had a profound impact on my learning as these videos helped me understand the theory of the protocol before actually performing the protocol. Unfortunately, this is the last lab course that I have to take, but I definitely wished I had these kinds of videos provided to me in the past. Thank you, Dr. N!

Videos were a great addition to the course! It helped to clarify some steps in the lab report but sometimes it also created questions because it differed from the lab report (either because of the reagents used or the amount used)

The videos provided prior to the lab were very helpful and allowed me to go into the lab more prepared and with less technical questions. I would have preferred if this was available in all lab courses as an extra step of preparation

Spring 2023 - In-Person Lab

I experienced a bit of whiplash from changing the course format. The way the experiments were done was different in both offerings.  I am still working on developing my style and comfort in this course. I have included syllabi for both courses to show the lab schedule differences. 

One challenge in this class is that there is very limited time for lectures or discussion. Some students resist having to do homework to investigate some concepts on their own, though, in my view, that's part of the pedagogy. I need to be transparent about this. 

I will be teaching this lab in the future. I want to give students better guidance on data analysis and writing their lab reports and spend more time connecting theory and practice within the lab. A lot of what I need is just familiarity with the lab content, and that has come with time and practice. 

General Feedback From This Course

I did not include the course experience survey results. The response rate was low and biased towards students who had a challenging time in this course. In 2020, this was among the first back-in person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone was stressed and not their best selves.

I still feel a bit new to teaching lab courses. It's a bit different from seminars and lecture courses. Ironically, I had extensive experience teaching students one-on-one in the lab during my research career. Still, those were experiments I had developed and not a lab manual in which I had no input. 

Student observations and my plans to address them :

• The companion sessions in Fall 2020 could have used more support; these won't be present in subsequent years - but I will create more communication and support around online components and some in-class follow-up.

• There was some inconsistent messaging from students between me and the TA - I will work with the TA more consistently in future to prevent this.

• I could have clarified the assignment expectations - Many of the descriptions for the assignments were online, and we reviewed these in class. However, I might show them some model assignments and be more transparent about where I expect them to take charge of their learning.

• Students would appreciate more bridging between theory and practice - I plan to generate the expectation that some independent work will be necessary but include more lecture tidbits in the class. These have to be short because lab time is extremely tight.

• Some students indicated that they did not know how to use Excel for generating lab report figures - a brief tutorial video can assist with such issues.

I need to work on several things to enhance the learning experience for students in this course. However, I think there is also a student expectation that they will be supported in every tiny detail of their learning process. In a 4th-year lab course, I expect students to take the initiative to learn certain things themselves. I need to make this expectation a transparent part of my pedagogy. 

One was I can shift this expectation is to the "First Day in a Research Lab" assignment that I developed for HSCI 441 - Virology Laboratory. I also think there are some misalignments between how I teach the course and the assessments I use. For example, some of the quizzes I wrote need to reflect better what I delivered in the lab as content. Overall, this is an interesting course, and I look forward to teaching it again now that I am more familiar with the course and its challenges.