See How Dr. Travis Clark of Wright State Uses LabRight For His Chemistry Class…
September 15th is National Online Learning Day, a day celebrating how far we’ve come in digital learning since the early days of electronic instruction. And maybe one of the more remarkable aspects of digital learning is how it has segued from something that busy, transient, and inquisitive adults could do online to earn college credit (University of Phoenix) or learn more about an interesting subject (MOOCs) to a mainstream means of teaching adults and now even children.
Online Learning Has Infiltrated All Our Lives
At a minimum instructors rely heavily on their schools’ LMS to disseminate information and to keep a gradebook. Class syllabi are probably online. Instructors post links they want students to explore and discuss, pre-lab material, virtual labs, post-lab assessments. Online learning, in some shape and form, is here to stay. The question you, as the instructor or administrator, wrestle with is how to balance digital instruction with in-person learning. That balance will be determined by your audience, the class purpose, your resources, and either your preference or your directives. Having a platform that is responsive to those forces is key.
How Dr. Travis Clark Uses LabRight Chemistry
Digital learning isn’t one-size-fits-all. You should have the ability to choose the parts that work for you, make your life easier, and benefit your students. Just like Dr. Travis Clark did with his Elementary Organic Chemistry course at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Clark, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, spearheaded the university’s effort to publish department labs for their CHM 1020 course. Since 2016, Travis had been submitting their organic chem labs for that course to us for layout, illustration, design, and proofing. The color manual consisted of learning objectives for each lab, pre-lab questions, background material, procedures, and perforated data sheets. However, Travis decided he wanted to move much of the manual online for Fall 2021, following his experience in the new world of remote teaching.
He knew he wanted some of the manual to stay in print—the component students would bring in to the lab with them—learning objectives, lab procedures and data sheets. This much smaller print manual was published in black and white with a code inside the front cover for students to access the online portion of the manual. Travis began his digital journey by having us transfer his print manual to digital and interspersing the background and procedure sections with a variety of pre-lab question types: auto graded, essay, and uploads. The manual is integrated into his school’s BrightSpace LMS (called Pilot) so that auto graded questions transfer immediately into his gradebook.
Now that the basic work is done and the Fall Semester is upon us, Travis plans to direct us on how he wants to see the pre-labs evolve for future semesters. He has the option of including audio, video, Power Points, simulations, and evolving the format of his questions to include ICE tables, graphing tools, endless questions and partially graded questions among others. There was no need for him to have a perfect solution from the beginning, rather he will evolve his digital resource into something that serves the needs of him and his students specifically.
What Travis Has To Say About Working With LabRight
Travis say “I look forward to taking advantage of the digital tools in LabRight Chemistry to not only enhance the students’ learning objectives in pre-labs and post-labs, but also to streamline the submissions and grading of all lab materials. I am confident that with the Van-Griner team backing my efforts, a dramatic transformation can be made to the CHM 1020 lab experience.”
Our LabRight Platform Is a Great Solution For Chemistry Labs
LabRight, an all-in-one seamless digital platform, is ideal because it is customizable and offers simple, lab-specific digital tools. We set it all up for you and provide training. LabRight turns the challenges you’re facing into new teaching and learning opportunities. LabRight is so flexible it can be used for face-to-face, virtual or hybrid labs, and is ideal for pre-, in- or post-lab work.
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Van-Griner Learning
Van-Griner Learning is a full-service, affordable, publisher of digital and print solutions. We unlock the power of publishing by designing affordable digital and print solutions to meet your specific needs. We provide Labs, Textbooks, Worktext, Homework, OER, Readers, Courseware and more!
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