Written by Victoria Guzzo • August 12, 2024 • 2 min read
Table of contents
Andrew’s Online Lab Experience
As an active-duty marine juggling the responsibilities of serving with home life for his family, taking courses online is necessary for Andrew. If the lab courses he needed weren’t offered online, he probably would have tried to find late-night courses or options at a satellite campus — neither scenario ideal for this working father and husband.
While unsure of what to expect, since his last lab course was back in high school, this natural sciences chemistry course soon became one of his favorites. “I wondered how this would even work since it was natural sciences, but as the course progressed, and we started doing the labs, it’s been my favorite because of the hands-on aspect.”
| ????Light Bulb Moment???? The hands-on aspect of this course was key for Andrew. “I don’t do well just sitting there reading a textbook. Yes, I read everything, but while I was taking in the information, I didn’t have anything to apply or connect it to. But when I could manipulate the things and physically see it during the labs, that was the biggest game changer for me. If people can’t get to an on-campus lab, you still want them to get that deeper understanding of exactly what’s taking place — the science behind it all. Using hands-on labs gives you that face-to-face experience to see how things actually work.” |
In the end, Andrew felt like he had gained the knowledge and skills the course aimed to teach and was able to apply them to the real world.
“Whenever I’m doing anything, I like to be as much of a sponge as possible. At the very least, what I can 100% guarantee you, is that after having the opportunity to visualize concepts in real time through the hands-on labs, I have gained perspective on why certain things are happening the way they are in our environment and that gives me a deeper appreciation for it.”
| My Most Memorable Lab: Photosynthesis “I’m really into chemistry and when there were reactions that had a physical attribute to it — where you could actually see something happening, — those were really intriguing to me. The one that stood out the most was the photosynthesis lab. Cutting the spinach leaves and getting all the oxygen out so it didn’t float on its own helped me see photosynthesis happen.” During this lab, students investigate the roles of carbon and light availability in photosynthesis, using separated pigments from plant tissue using paper chromatography. |
Drawing Conclusions
Like any good experiment, you work your way through the scientific method to analyze the results, reflect on your findings, and draw your conclusions so you can move forward with new knowledge and ideas.
So now that you’re at the end of your online lab course, tell us: what did you learn and what advice might you give after your experience?
To students…Try to take a lab that uses Science Interactive. I can’t overstate how nice it was to be able to touch and do the lab yourself. And to do it on your own time …so this way you can go at your own pace and get the fullest understanding of the concepts. While there’s a cost for the kit, you can’t argue with the value. If you really care about your education and you want a valuable experience, this is completely worth it.
To instructors…If you’re considering offering labs online, do it! The value added is there. If I had to take another science course, I would want Science Interactive as a part of it.
