Electronic Laboratory Guide for Microbiology Instruction

California State University-Fresno Foundation, Fresno CA

Investigators

Abstract

Biological Sciences (61) Although research suggests that investigative laboratories are more effective in teaching science process skills and in achieving higher order learning than are traditional cookbook laboratories, and even though microbiology is especially suited to investigative laboratories, microbiology laboratory manuals are generally quite traditional. This may be because laboratory skill acquisition is central to the microbiology laboratory. We are developing a multimedia electronic laboratory guide that provides students with a "first exposure" to new laboratory techniques outside of class time. The guide is not a laboratory manual, but an integrated, hyperlinked presentation of essential methods and equipment used in microbiology laboratories. The guide is used to introduce new, investigative, laboratory activities into the courses on our campus. Video clip demonstrations of many basic techniques and instruments are being incorporated into a web-based electronic guide that contains, in addition to the videos, information about the theory behind basic laboratory practice and techniques, helpful hints related to laboratory methods, safety instructions, and questions to assess student readiness to perform the technique in the laboratory setting. Our institution is a Hispanic Serving Institution, with a majority of students of color and a large proportion of first generation college students. We feel that this application of instructional technology increases students' confidence in their laboratory skills, their willingness to work independently, and their ability to perform successfully in the laboratory setting such that they can focus more on the research and the data and less on the mechanics of performing basic laboratory techniques.