Interview

Bernard Drumm, Ph.D, a lecturer in Biochemistry & Biotechnology at DkIT, and his colleagues, conducted a large-scale longitudinal study involving 600 students across multiple undergraduate science disciplines and dozens of faculty. While the national project spans five institutions, their published research focuses specifically on students at DkIT who used Labster.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face when preparing students for hands-on lab work, and how does Labster help address those challenges?

“We serve a commuter campus where students come in, do what they need to do, and leave. They don’t always have time for extended lab practice outside of scheduled hours. Virtual labs gave them a chance to prepare in advance, so when they arrived in the wet lab, they already had a foundation to build on.”

How did you decide which virtual lab platform to use, and how did you integrate it into your courses?

"Virtual labs complement the wet labs. We chose Labster because it offered the best platform to meet our needs. We explored multiple programs, but Labster’s diverse catalog made it the right choice. However, using it every week would be too much. Instead, we carefully selected two to four simulations per course and maximized their impact over the semester."

How did having students complete Labster simulations before the physical lab affect their preparedness and confidence?

"Often, this was the first time they were encountering a technique, so by doing Labster beforehand, they were seeing terms and versions of techniques that primed them before coming into the lab, inevitably increasing their confidence."