Teaching Labs Online
We understand for some faculty one of the biggest challenges of remote instruction is sustaining the lab activities of classes. Below are some resources that we have found useful.
Considerations
Identify which of your lab activities can be delivered online
In some cases, a portion of the lab activities that are usually delivered through orientation/pre-lectures and demonstrations of techniques can be recorded via Kaltura or Powerpoints. Students can be asked to familiarize themselves with procedures. You can also host WebEx live sessions to do demonstrations if it is possible.
Provide students with raw data to analyze
If your course involves data collection and analysis, consider walking your students through/demonstrating the data collection yourself, and then providing your students with data to analyze. You can also record a screen recording to demonstrate your process of data analysis.
Promote Interaction
Conducting lab activities together is a way for students to interact with instructors and their peers. Consider using other communication tools to promote direct student interaction.
Access to software
Please check out UC’s MyDesk (link virtual desktop page here) to see if the software you plan to use is available via MyDesk.
Investigate virtual lab options
There are many online labs and simulations available. You may find some of the resources fit the needs of your instruction. Please check out the Online Labs and Simulations section below.
Useful Articles:
How to Quickly (and Safely) Move a Lab Course Online - The Chronicle of Higher Education
North American Network of Science Labs Online (scroll to bottom of page and look for "project summary")
Online Labs and Simulations
MERLOT Simulation Collection (California State University)
The MERLOT collection of Open Educational Resources includes thousands of free simulations on a broad range of topics. The database is searchable by keyword, and each item in the collection provides details including material type, authorship, brief description, peer review rating, and user rating.
Curated list of online lab lessons and resources
ChemCollective (joint project from NSF, Carnegie Mellon, and NSDL)
Free, online chem lab simulations for topics including Stoichiometry, Thermochemistry, Equilibrium, Acid-Base Chemistry, Solubility, Oxidation/Reduction and Electrochemistry, Analytical Chemistry/Lab Techniques
MIT Open Courseware Digital Lab Techniques Manual Videos
PhET Interactive Simulations (University of Colorado – Boulder)
Free online simulations and teaching activities for Physics, Chemistry, Math, Earth Science, and Biology (site has simulations for all grade levels; link takes you to simulations designed for university students)
Fee-based service that will work with faculty to create custom online and hands-on lab kits for your course
Fee-based service that will work with faculty to create custom online and hands-on lab kits for your course
Note: The content in this page has been created and modified based on the content we have found from the following website: We appreciated these institutions for their effort to taking courses online.
From Standford University: https://teachanywhere.stanford.edu/best-practices#run
From Middlebury University: https://dlinq.middcreate.net/digital-literacy/course-continuity-for-lab-courses/
From Montana State University: http://ato.montana.edu/learnanywhere/labs.html
From Indian University: https://keepteaching.iu.edu/strategies/index.html