{"id":430242,"date":"2020-05-01T17:07:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T21:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=430242"},"modified":"2020-05-03T17:46:41","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T21:46:41","slug":"teaching-large-lab-class-virtually-430242","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/teaching-large-lab-class-virtually-430242\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching a large lab class\u2014virtually"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dragony
Dragony Fu, pictured with his cat, Oolong, pre-records lectures and \u201cmeets\u201d with students during regular class time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Rochester biology professors Dragony Fu and Alexis Stein have adapted a 250-plus-student class\u2014including a lab\u2014to Zoom.<\/div>\n

At the University of Rochester<\/a>, Dragony Fu<\/a>, an assistant professor of biology, and Alexis Stein<\/a>, an assistant professor of instruction in the biology department, have been coteaching a biochemistry class this semester composed of more than 250 students. How has the move online fared? \u00a0<\/span>Some technical aspects of the course have proven more easily adaptable than others. Fu, who develops and presents the lectures, pre-records lectures in his home office and posts the videos for students to view the day before the scheduled online class meeting. He holds office hours during his normal lecture hours so students can ask questions about the lecture immediately after watching it.<\/p>\n

But the lab component\u2014in which students would typically perform experiments, generate data, and provide their analyses\u2014has proven more challenging.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Stein has come up with a creative solution.<\/p>\n

Stein develops the content of the labs\u2014including video tutorials, handouts, and online assignments\u2014for the entire class and personally teaches a lab section of 20 students.<\/p>\n

Says Fu: \u201cI have been fortunate to have a wonderful colleague, Professor Stein, who is the lab instructor and has reformatted the labs.\u201d After she filmed herself performing the experiments, the students have begun to analyze the data Stein generated. \u201cWhile the students will not have the hands-on experience,\u201d says Fu, \u201cthey can see how modern science is performed, and perform the same analyses that would have been done anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Computer modeling offers head start on virtual labs<\/b><\/h3>\n

Stein, who is teaching from a workstation set up at her kitchen table in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford, has been moving the lab portion of the course toward computer modeling for the past two years. As a result, she had virtual labs already in place for many of the lessons.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne benefit to moving online is the students view these as labs,\u201d Stein says. \u201cWhen we met in person, they resisted the concept that computer modeling was a valid type of bench science. So, the students have been making predictions, running simulations, and answering questions. I think it has been fairly effective so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein records brief, 5- to 10-minute introductions in which she discusses the scientific question that will be addressed in the lab. But she wasn\u2019t able to pre-record all of the labs before the campus shut down in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had wanted to record a video of me doing one of my experiments at the bench before the University shut down, but I actually had a fever and wasn\u2019t feeling well that last week and stayed home in case I was sick with the coronavirus. I did not qualify for testing, so staying home was my only option,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

This particular lab consisted of \u201cfeeding\u201d yeast various types of sugar and calculating the rate of consumption. The students were then to determine how the metabolic pathways differed for each sugar source and to hypothesize what was happening at the enzymatic level. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince the students couldn\u2019t feed the yeast themselves, I just walked them through photos of the set-up and then provided them with data to analyze on their own, or with their lab partners virtually,\u201d Stein says. \u201cIf I had more time, I could envision the online version of this lab having animations that allowed the students to visualize the lab happening, and give them more of a sense of how the yeast were metabolizing sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein says the online teaching experience has allowed her to become a \u201cZoom expert.\u201d \u201cI am currently developing my summer genetics course into an online format, and I am learning new strategies about how to assess the material in less traditional manners, such as more small assignments and fewer big tests,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Missing face-to-face dialogue<\/b><\/h3>\n

Like professors around the globe, Fu and Stein have found that no adaptation can entirely replace what comes from face-to-face dialogue with students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I teach my labs in person, it is an active dialog with the students in my class and myself, and I like to have the \u2018story\u2019 of the lab unfold as a group together,\u201d Stein says. \u201cIn the virtual setting, it is logistically challenging to keep everyone together. Most of the students have completed the lab prior to the Zoom meeting\u2014which is great\u2014but the discussion becomes more question-and-answer, and less of a journey. I miss that aspect of teaching very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Fu has found that videorecording lectures isn\u2019t as easy as it might seem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I knew there was going to be an adjustment period lecturing in front of a screen, I have learned that recording a well-paced, coherent lecture is definitely different than lecturing in person in front of students,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s something he\u2019d like to say directly to the students: \u201cWe miss interacting with all of you, and are trying our best to provide you with the intellectual experience that you deserve!\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
\"MollyFaculty couple reflects on the challenges\u2014and surprises\u2014of pandemic life<\/strong><\/a>
\nFor history professors Molly Ball and Pablo Sierra Silva, adjusting to online teaching and caring for three young children has been a learning experience. <\/span><\/div>\n
\"screenshotFaculty members reflect on remote teaching<\/strong><\/a>
\nSince classes at the University moved online for the final six weeks of the spring semester, it’s been an adjustment for faculty, just as it has been for students. We asked some of those faculty how they are adjusting and adapting, and what lessons it has taught them. <\/span><\/div>\n
\"headshotsWe’re all in this together<\/strong><\/a>
\nA few of the undergraduates who have been studying remotely since March talk about the transition and what it\u2019s meant for them as students and members of the University community. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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