Remote Laboratory Exercise to Develop Micropipetting Skills

Abstract

With students learning remotely due to COVID-19, it has become imperative to find novel ways to continue their education without compromising on the essential skills they receive from in-person learning. This is especially true in fields such as microbiology, biology, and chemistry, as laboratory equipment takes practice to use. In order to teach students how to use micropipettes, we developed an exercise that brought the lab experience to their homes. Lab kits containing glucose meters, a glucose solution, and other low-cost equipment were used to allow students to collect and analyze their own data. Overall student feedback about the activity was positive and the majority of students indicated that they felt they attained the learning objectives. The simple nature of this approach makes it highly adaptable for other classrooms and educational settings, both in current times and the future.