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ERIC Number: EJ1277964
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Sep
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Converting an Environmental Sampling Methods Lecture/Laboratory Course into an Inquiry-Based Laboratory Experience during the Transition to Distance Learning
Journal of Chemical Education, v97 n9 p2992-2995 Sep 2020
In mid-March 2020, due to the novel coronavirus, my 300-level Environmental Sampling Methods lecture/laboratory course transitioned to distance learning. After this move, the primary focus of the course became the laboratory. To do this, I revised my three remaining laboratory exercises (i.e., water quality, soil quality, environmental microbes) and created two new ones (i.e., toxicology, ultraviolet radiation). For the students to complete the experiments, I shipped low-cost equipment and supplies to them; this shipment included Petri plates and sampling swabs, sterile water, a pH meter and associated calibration powders, a total dissolved solids meter, clay and sand samples, conical tubes, sampling baggies, cyanotype printing paper, and lettuce seeds. I justified this shift toward being primarily laboratory-focused by requiring all the experiments to become inquiry-based, increasing the rigor of the experiments but also keeping the students engaged by allowing them to design their own projects. To keep a sense of community within the class, discussion boards were utilized. To ensure a safe environment at home, each project required preapproval. The discussion below focuses on the details of how the course was modified, how the course was managed, some of the pitfalls I encountered, and how the students exceeded my expectations with the projects they created.
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A