Debunking the Myth: Science Courses with Laboratories Cannot be Taught Online. What do our students think?
Abstract
We have successfully taught online science prerequisite laboratory courses for the past twelve years. Our courses were designed for students that already possess a Liberal Arts degree, are currently undergoing a career change to one of the Health Professions, but lack the required science prerequisite courses. The aim of my study is to examine student perceptions of the helpfulness of online science laboratories in their understanding of the course subject matter.
A 20-question survey was designed and met IRB approval. The multiple-choice questions used a Likert response scale. 386 students responded to the survey (13.4%). Our data shows the students felt the laboratory helped them to understand the course material and further indicated it helped them to do better in the course overall. 72.7% (n = 280) of the students felt the completion of the laboratory exercises helped them with their understanding of the lecture topics, while 81.7% (n = 313) of the students felt the lecture material helped them with their understanding of the purpose of the lab experiment. 83.3% (n = 321) felt the lab experiments reinforced topics from the lecture and the textbook. 61.3% (n = 236) felt completing the lab assignments helped them to perform better on lecture assessments.
Location
Rooms 113 & 115
Recommended Citation
Rowe, Rebecca J., "Debunking the Myth: Science Courses with Laboratories Cannot be Taught Online. What do our students think?" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 39.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/39
Debunking the Myth: Science Courses with Laboratories Cannot be Taught Online. What do our students think?
Rooms 113 & 115
We have successfully taught online science prerequisite laboratory courses for the past twelve years. Our courses were designed for students that already possess a Liberal Arts degree, are currently undergoing a career change to one of the Health Professions, but lack the required science prerequisite courses. The aim of my study is to examine student perceptions of the helpfulness of online science laboratories in their understanding of the course subject matter.
A 20-question survey was designed and met IRB approval. The multiple-choice questions used a Likert response scale. 386 students responded to the survey (13.4%). Our data shows the students felt the laboratory helped them to understand the course material and further indicated it helped them to do better in the course overall. 72.7% (n = 280) of the students felt the completion of the laboratory exercises helped them with their understanding of the lecture topics, while 81.7% (n = 313) of the students felt the lecture material helped them with their understanding of the purpose of the lab experiment. 83.3% (n = 321) felt the lab experiments reinforced topics from the lecture and the textbook. 61.3% (n = 236) felt completing the lab assignments helped them to perform better on lecture assessments.
