Ideas portal

Make things more virtual

As someone taking the 100% online version (Org Chem I), I find the labs a little too divorced from reality. Part of performing experiments is doing things wrong, in the wrong order, etc.

While I'm not advocating anything high tech, I think you could pursue some more low tech solutions. For example you could have tiles on the screen representing pieces of equipment which you would have to string together in the proper sequence. If you had to mix or stir something you could have a functionality to do that. The amounts you arrive at would be randomly determined (you'd have to perhaps move the tile on to a scale or eyeball a meniscus). [Currently when given a range of acceptable values to pick from, I usually take the easy way out by picking round numbers.] If a substance changed color, you would see it rather than just getting a screen with the color already written out.

This would contribute greatly to the student understanding the processes better rather than doing just a couple of calculations per lab. The reinforcement would help to remember the procedures in the future.

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  • Jun 28 2021
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