Online Laboratory Teaching

HCAS Online Learning for Laboratory and Field Experiences

In preparation for the Return of the Sharks, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences has developed a plan for teaching virtually for both the laboratory and for the field. It is important that the students have the chance to experience the virtual equivalent of a hands-on lab component, an immersive field experience, or a computer laboratory element in their coursework. Virtual laboratory and field course experiences have been developed by faculty and staff to ensure that students will achieve the required learning outcomes. Using a combination of HCAS faculty recordings, faculty expertise, online video, field kits, and datasets, a plan has been developed for both the graduate and undergraduate programs. The following is a list of links and protocols to achieve a positive result by the college department:

Department of Biological Sciences

Resource	Description	Location
Faculty Made Laboratory Videos	Over 10 laboratory examples were created over the summer of 2020 by the HCAS Biological faculty. Each video can be embedded into the courses CANVAS pages. One example is listed here.	https://sharkmedia.nova.edu/media/DNA+Cloning+Part+2/1_gq3nbocd
JoVE	JoVE publishes peer-reviewed scientific video protocols to accelerate biological, medical, chemical, and physical research. The videos enable the comprehension of complex STEM subjects to increase student engagement and learning outcomes.	https://www.jove.com/
HHMI BioInteractive	HHMI provides data-rich activities and case studies as well as high-quality videos and interactive media in biology. Additionally, the BioInteractive website provides educators with professional learning materials and opportunities.	https://www.biointeractive.org/
Pearson Products for Higher Education	Pearson’s interactive learning and assessment products create meaningful connections with students. With a strong foundation in science and design, their technology will help engage students and enable them to better apply what they’ve learned and achieved better results.	https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/products-services-teaching.html
Zoom	Online students are then able to observe how experiments are conducted in the college’s laboratories. They will be able to answer technical questions on Zoom, as well as get a copy of the dataset collected by on-ground students to use in completing their assignments. All labs begin with a short demonstration of the experimental techniques and equipment by the instructor.	https://nova.zoom.us/meeting

Department of Chemistry and Physics

Resource	Description	Location
Faculty Made Laboratory Videos	The Department of Chemistry faculty have created a series of laboratory experiments. They are currently being recorded in Panza Science Annex. Each video can be embedded in the courses CANVAS pages.	https://sharkmedia.nova.edu/media/1_dngopd0k
Zoom	Online students are then able to observe how experiments are conducted in the college’s laboratories. They will be able to answer technical questions on Zoom, as well as get a copy of the dataset collected by on-ground students to use in completing their assignments. All labs begin with a short demonstration of the experimental techniques and equipment by the instructor.	https://nova.zoom.us/meeting
Pearson Products for Higher Education	Pearson’s interactive learning and assessment products create meaningful connections with students. With a strong foundation in science and design, their technology will help engage students and enable them to better apply what they’ve learned and achieve better results.	https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/products-services-teaching.html
JoVE	Housed in the Alvin Sherman Library, the department is currently using some videos from the JoVE Video Journal supplemented with experimental data collected in the laboratories as well as pre- and post-lab assignments to teach online labs. JoVE publishes peer-reviewed scientific video protocols to accelerate biological, medical, chemical and physical research. The videos enable the comprehension of complex STEM subjects to increase student engagement and learning outcomes.	https://www.jove.com/
Pair and Share	Students will work in groups where online students are paired with on-ground students. The groups will work together on various projects and assignments. Communications will be through the Zoom platform.	https://nova.zoom.us/meeting

Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences

Resource	Description	Location
Field Excursions	Students will be provided kits relevant to the course. They will receive guidance on how to use, evaluate, and identify the samples or equipment provided. Field trips will be substituted by artificial data, modeling exercises, films and documentaries.	TBD
Dissection Laboratory	The laboratory sections will require students to buy a whole fish at the grocery store. Dissections will take place over Zoom. The students will share the morphometric and diet data with the rest of the class.	https://nova.zoom.us/meeting
Global Information Systems (GIS)	GIS courses learning objectives are supported through the ESRI software. The software for this course is already available through an online platform offered by ESRI. Additional instruction will be offered through Zoom.	https://www.esri.com/en-us/home
Virtual Geology Laboratory	Students in the geology laboratory will receive rock and mineral specimens. The instructor will carry out the virtual experiments using Zoom.	https://www.carolina.com/earth-science-rocks-minerals/basic-geology-collection/GEO115.pr
Zoom	Online students will be able to work together and in breakout groups with in-house students as well as the instructors on various problem sets, datasets, and other marine and environmental issues.	https://nova.zoom.us/meeting