With her first year as chair of the biological and forensic sciences department under her belt, Dr. Danielle Graham wanted to take a read on faculty and student evaluations of Labster. She wouldn’t recommend renewing the subscription without seeing proof that FSU faculty and students used and valued the platform.
Read on to view the results of her survey and evaluation, including her plan to renew Labster and encourage more faculty to adopt it.
There are some faculty who feel very passionately that a lab shouldn’t be online, it only should be in-person. But I feel like that’s not realistic for today’s students. It can be a balance between the two. You can use Labster as a quiz, as a homework assignment, or just as something different — because students get tired of doing the same stuff all the time.
Dr. Danielle Graham
Chair, Biological and Forensic Sciences Department
“I know of quite a few faculty members who used to purchase lab kits for online students to do at home. But we have students with full-time jobs and a large military population. Oftentimes, we have students that may deploy or go into the field for training, sometimes a couple of times a semester. So think about it — if they had a lab kit with reagents that expire, they couldn’t complete it.”
“Especially in a biology course, the laboratory is really our bread and butter. That’s where a lot of students gain their skills — not just skills at the bench, but overall critical thinking skills and other translational skills that they need. We didn’t want to lose that kind of engagement when we offered courses online. And that’s why we chose Labster.”
“What I really like about Labster are the small detailed tasks they have to do or they can’t move on. Because I’ve had a lot of students following the pandemic that have never taken an in-person lab course before. So when they start working in my research lab or take my class, they’ve never held a pipette or they’ve never streaked a plate before. But they do remember doing that in Labster. They’ll even say, ‘Oh, this is just like doing it in Labster!’”
As department chair, Graham conducted a survey of faculty at the end of the spring term to gather their input on whether to renew with Labster. “I’m a scientist, so I’m a big data person and I wanted to capture survey information to see the trends,” she said.
Graham said that she reviewed the annual student evaluations, including their feedback on Labster. “Everybody really likes like how realistic it is. I can see in the course evaluation comments that the students really do enjoy it.”
“There are some faculty who feel very passionately that a lab shouldn’t be online, it only should be in-person. But I feel like that’s not realistic for today’s students. It can be a balance between the two,” said Graham. “You can use Labster as a quiz, as a homework assignment, or just as something different — because students get tired of doing the same stuff all the time.”
Graham said she’s planning a meeting to encourage all faculty to try Labster. “Those that try it, use it. Those that don’t use Labster haven’t really looked into the simulations yet,” she said.
“I’m a big visual person, so I’m going to bring everyone together to see what Labster really is. I think it’s important to show everyone that it doesn’t have to be a big change. You can literally just put in one simulation or use it as extra credit. Just try using it in some capacity and see how it goes.”
“I feel like with the importance of tech now, it should just be the standard. When you’re taking an online class, you shouldn’t be just reading a worksheet and answering questions. That’s not a lab,” said Graham.
“The next best thing outside of a real lab is really a virtual reality simulation that you can do on your computer or iPad.”
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