Resumen de Student Satisfaction with Synchronous Online Organic Chemistry Laboratories: Prerecorded Video vs Livestream
Riley J. Petillion, W. Stephen McNeil
The widespread transition to online teaching as a result of the global pandemic moved chemistry laboratory experiences online. At UBC’s Okanagan campus, organic chemistry laboratory instruction was delivered synchronously to maximize student interactions with their teaching assistants. Two methods of online delivery were employed: (1) students gathered with a teaching assistant via Zoom to watch a prerecorded video of the laboratory procedure and (2) students gathered on Zoom to watch a livestream of the teaching assistant performing the experiment in the laboratory. A single TA implemented both methods, one in each of two laboratory sections. Student satisfaction with the two delivery methods was compared using a survey and semistructured interviews. Overall, the livestream section received significantly more positive feedback in all aspects, including student investment, perceived conceptual gains, understanding of glassware and techniques, ability to make proper experimental observations, engagement in critical thinking and problem-solving, and general satisfaction with their online lab experience. However, students expressed the belief that the primary role of a teaching laboratory is hands-on experience with chemistry equipment and techniques and that their experience was lacking in this aspect regardless of the lab delivery method. Students described two principal advantages of the livestream delivery. One was the inclusion of opportunities to witness mistakes or unexpected outcomes and then having to take part in the development of a resolution to address those errors; such opportunities were absent for students watching a prerecorded and edited video with a predetermined conclusion. A second aspect was that waiting periods inherent in the live performance of an experimental procedure allowed for unstructured interactions among students and the TA, both to discuss the experiment and to simply socialize. Overall, students believed that neither pedagogy compared favorably to a traditional in-person teaching laboratory experience, but the livestream method proved to be a highly superior approach for a synchronous online laboratory.
