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I've spent the past 6 weeks evaluating over 100 simulations for use in my intro lab course this fall. I think I've found some good stuff.
So, a thread of my process, and what resources have been most useful.
So, a thread of my process, and what resources have been most useful.
1. Treat the whole thing as an exercise in backward design. What are the most important learning goals? What would be a reasonable way to assess if these have been met? How can you structure the learning to best hit these targets?
The curriculum coordinators for my course took the lead on that aspect, though with input from the instructional team. That helped narrow down my search criteria substantially. It also helped me understand what would be done outside of class time, and what in.
2. Focus on simulations. Videos and text are useful. They're also easy to find, and, if need be, make yourself. Simulations are harder, so it's worth more time investment finding those, and figuring out if they meet your goals.
Also, much of the point of a lab course is in the students learning skills they can transfer to a research or clinical setting. Having the students work controls very similar to an actual microscope/pipette/inoculating loop has value.
3. When possible, pick options where the students can do something wrong. For example, we teach Gram staining. We found a simulation where if the student doesn't heat fix the slide, or adds the reagents in the wrong order, they get the wrong results. In ways that make sense.
4. Pay attention to cost. If I found two simulations of similar value for my learning objectives, and one was free while the other cost the user a subscription fee, I would absolutely prefer the free one for my students.
Fortunately, my experience has been that I generally found better free simulations than paid ones. The free ones came from universities. The paid ones came from ed tech companies.
5. Plan for less than ideal scenarios. If a student loses their internet connection, or their browser quits, how long will it take them to get back to the point they were? There's a big difference if it costs them 5 minutes vs 25.
6. If the simulation has embedded questions, are the "correct" answers actually correct? If the students are asked to make predictions, are they given enough information to do so? Sadly, these aren't always the case.
7. Pay attention to accessibility. For example: if there's a tutorial video, are there captions and/or the full text written out? If you're going to make a video, are *you* doing that? Answer: you need to.
8. Get good at searching. A lot of good resources are found in various aggregator sites. I'll link to a few, which pull from some trusted sides like the Concord Consortium, Khan Academy, etc. But there are also a lot of good ones I found by googling.
Tips for searching for simulations:
- Relevant key words: simulation, virtual, on line
- Search for combinations of one of the above and the technique
- Also search for common applications
- Use wild cards
- Relevant key words: simulation, virtual, on line
- Search for combinations of one of the above and the technique
- Also search for common applications
- Use wild cards
So, for example, I wanted a simulation to cover PCR / gel electrophoresis. So I searched for PCR + simulation, PCR + virtual, PCR + online. Then those key words + electrophoresis. Then those key words + genotyp* . Then bacter* ident* .
If you don't think you're great with Google: ask a librarian. They are masters at this, and faculty coming to them *now* and asking for help on how to find these resources are going to make their lives a lot easier than faculty doing so on Aug 27.
9. Consider what sources your students already have access to. Do you use a textbook, either in your course, or in a pre- or co-req lecture course? Many textbook publishers offer at least some simulations. Your students might already have access.
The best free aggregator sites I found for my purposes:
LabXChange ( https://www.labxchange.org/ ), and MERLOT ( https://www.merlot.org/merlot/Biology.htm)
LabXChange ( https://www.labxchange.org/ ), and MERLOT ( https://www.merlot.org/merlot/Biology.htm)
My course specifically was looking for simulations for micropippetting, isolating bacterial colonies, culturing bacteria on plates, using a microscope, Gram staining, PCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis. So those are the ones I can give the most details on.
And special shout out to my favorite laboratory simulation I've found: the University of Delaware's virtual microscope. (Flash required): http://www1.udel.edu/biology/ketcham/microscope/scope.html
@markowenmartin Here's the thread of my simulation evaluations for teaching this fall.
