Online Education Committee, Parkland College, ILHeidi Leuszler - BiologyToni Burkhalter - KinesiologyDave Wilson – Chemistry / ForensicsBrett Coup – Distance and Virtual Learning

Parkland College faculty will host a one-hour webinar focusing challenges unique to online science education as well as issues that all online courses face. Lab topics such as lab kits, critical thinking dry-lab questions, and photo journaling will be discussed. Next, the webinar will investigate the logistics of setting up an interactive and engaging online class with appropriate assessments. And lastly, loopholes the faculty experienced will be touched upon while providing possible remedies. It should provide helpful hints to new online educators as well as more experienced faculty.

Parkland College Why online lab classes? Online lab diversity

Lab kits Photo journaling Physics online laboratory activities Kinesiology lab development

Designing an engaging online course Loopholes / problems and possible remedies Discussion

Founded 1967 delivered vocational-technical and

academic instruction to over 210,000 people

54 communities in the district 100 degree and certificate programs

designed for career and job placement or for transfer to programs at four-year institutions

approximately 18,000 students enrolled / yr

Why fully online course? Delivery system changes to meet student

needs On campus Telecourse Accelerated Learning community Hybrid or blended Honors Fully online

Meet needs of diverse student body Shrinking budgets (but not quality) Shrinking lab space, but desire to grow

enrollment

Labs on campus

What is a lab?Most agree:

Hands-on Student-centered learning Mimics or teaches process of science May serve a variety of roles

Expand on lecture material Teach and provide practice for simple laboratory skills and use of scientific equipment

Illustrate or demonstrate known phenomena

Identify and observe materials (rocks, plants, insects, etc.)

Follow established or standardized experimental protocol properly

Internship or apprenticeship in science

Allow discovery of known phenomena

Critically analyze data (graphing, statistics, and forming conclusions)

Train and provide practice in experimental design

Train and provide practice in scientific method and inquiry

Johnstone & Al-Shuaili, 2001, Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004, Ma & Nickerson, 2006 , Dickerman, 2000

Expand on lecture material Teach and provide practice for simple laboratory skills and use of scientific equipment

Illustrate or demonstrate known phenomena

Identify and observe materials (rocks, plants, insects, etc.)

Follow established or standardized experimental protocol properly

Internship or apprenticeship in science

Allow discovery of known phenomena

Critically analyze data (graphing, statistics, and forming conclusions)

Train and provide practice in experimental design

Train and provide practice in scientific method and inquiry

Johnstone & Al-Shuaili, 2001, Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004, Ma & Nickerson, 2006 , Dickerman, 2000

How can we do these things when students do

not meet us in the classroom?!?

There is no “best practice”; each solution is best for the unique situation and course

Saya, Japan’s First Robot Teacher

Must an instructor be present for a lab to occur?

“Yes” (n=40), “No” (n=11), “Sometimes” (n=25)

DirectionsLiabilityMSDS

sheetsChoice of

materialsExplain to

students

What do you expect of the students? Time on task & devotion Online Learning Packet

What should the students expect of you? Availability, online office

hours, grading Assignments should

match expectations

Lab partners are important in the classroom

Peer-peer interactionStudent-teacher interactionGroup work

Design consistentBlack text on white backgroundFew pictures Amazingly clear & extremely conciseMust match kit exactlyLab summaries up frontAssignment box at endMany bullets and spaceFile format

How will you make the students accountable without overburdening them?

How will you determine if online students are meeting your aims and objectives?

How will you compare delivery modes?

Embedded assessment Work in progress

Lab kitsPhoto journalingPhysics online laboratory activitiesKinesiology lab development

Needed physical lab suppliesStudents could not obtain own materialsPacked own kits (4 sem)

Few materials Low professionalism Managing inventory Liability Time and financial constraints

Commercial custom kits

How do we ensure students are doing the labs?

Data collection Lab Quizzes Peer interaction/ critiques Unknowns in kit Photos- Shutterfly (show)

“Online sections exclusively use these lab simulations, but I also use them from time to time in my traditional sections.  They also work great as make up labs, when students miss a lab and the setup has already been taken down.” Curtis Shoaf Parkland College Associate Professor, Physics

2 Dimensional Momentum

Human Movement Exercise Physiology

Supplies needed HR monitor Flip camera (video) Pedometer Measuring tape Scale

PlanesAxis Joints involvedMuscles

involvedMovement

“The questions are, What do they need to know? And Did they learn it?  I'm as confident of my online students as I am of my on campus students.”

Robert L. LeopardInstructor of Biology, Anatomy and PhysiologyMonroe Community College