key: cord-0730531-v61a3zer authors: Sweeney, Meredith O.; Farkas, Johanna E.; Homan, Erica P.; Raytcheva, Desislava (Dessy) A. title: Customized Virtual Simulations Provide an Interactive Lab Experience date: 2022-04-04 journal: Journal of microbiology & biology education DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00331-21 sha: 7a4c29c135ee506712af8aeda4e35729d1d85405 doc_id: 730531 cord_uid: v61a3zer Although various resources exist for facilitating online laboratory courses, stitching together disparate elements from multiple sources may not be sufficient to meet the learning goals of a given course. For example, our Biology Project Lab course introduces students to an array of fundamental laboratory techniques, and the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the development of virtual laboratory options for remote learners. We anticipated that the logic and application of the course material—a multiday sequence of connected experiments—would be lost if we combined prefabricated labs from a variety of sources. Moreover, we wanted students to familiarize themselves with our laboratory equipment, while providing interactive experiences rather than passive video demonstrations. Therefore, we used Storyline 360 to create a series of interactive lab modules to accommodate students who were remote or in quarantine. These online labs were integrated with our learning management system (LMS) and included exercises such as video demonstrations, short answer responses, image selection, drag-and-drop activities, and organizing procedural steps. Our simulations can be shared with instructors and customized for their own interactive labs, or instructors can build course-specific modules from scratch using the Storyline 360 platform. Although the simulations could not fully replicate the in-person learning experience, students appreciated being able to watch and participate in lab activities and recommended that the labs be retained as supplemental activities in future semesters. Storyline 360 thus offers an effective platform for developing virtual laboratory modules which may be widely adapted to suit the specific needs of a variety of laboratory courses. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated major changes for all modalities of teaching, particularly instructional laboratories (1) (2) (3) (4) . Virtual laboratory options were explored as an affordable option by some instructors prior to the pandemic (5, 6) , and several prepackaged virtual laboratory tools are available across multiple platforms (https://www.labster.com/, https://praxilabs.com/, www.labxchange.org/) (2) . However, drawbacks to assembling virtual laboratories from multiple sources include student confusion with using a variety of learning formats, a lack of content continuity across sessions (7) , and an inability to customize the experience toward course-specific topics and outcomes. We faced these challenges with our course, Biology Project Lab (BPL), a 200-level course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) (8) that teaches laboratory and research skills to second-year undergraduate life science majors. We gauged that existing virtual packages would prove insufficient for guiding our remote students through the multiday, techniquesbased "miniproject" portion of our course. In order to provide remote students with an interactive introduction to the course material along with the specific equipment and organisms available in our lab, we developed a series of customized online laboratory simulations using the program Storyline 360. These simulations, which are available upon request, were well-received by the students and have been used in subsequent semesters as makeup work, prelabs, and review materials. More broadly, we believe that this strategy could be widely adopted by other instructors to meet the specific needs of remote laboratory courses across a broad range of topics and levels. Because hands-on laboratory skills are an essential aspect of our course, we aimed to simulate the laboratory experience with as much fidelity as possible. Our chosen program thus needed to allow students to visualize techniques and virtually interact with tools, while replicating the mistakes and pitfalls of laboratory work. Storyline 360 provides many visualization options, offers a variety of interactive tools that can help students make decisions and learn from common lab mistakes, and facilitates automatic credit upon lab completion. Extensive tutorials are available via LinkedIn Learning (https://www.linkedin.com/learning/), YouTube, and Articulate discussion boards. Although PowerPoint is more widely available (3), Storyline 360 allows embedded quizzes and can interact with a variety of learning management system (LMS) gradebooks. The Storyline 360 modules remain accessible after license expiration, and students do not require a subscription to complete the labs. To begin building our simulations, we recorded images of lab instruments and videos of instructors performing laboratory techniques both correctly and incorrectly (see Appendix S1 in the supplemental material). Errors included pipetting to the incorrect stop, erroneous DNA gel box setup, and leaving contaminated tools on the benchtop. We then cropped the videos, added voice-overs, and removed background noise. The structure of each simulation was built using PowerPoint, then imported into the Windows-based Storyline 360 program. Interactions were added, such as dragging and dropping an item onto a scale, clicking a part of an image to simulate turning on equipment, and choosing the correct tool from a lineup of photos (see Appendices S1 and S2 in the supplemental material). Students were prompted to follow along with lab protocols consistent with those practiced by on-the-ground participants. Audio clips were added to provide background information on laboratory techniques or as narration for procedural videos. To ensure accessibility, Storyline 360's integrated audio editor can be used to add closed captions to videos and narrations. A completion screen facilitated grade reporting in the LMS, and full credit was granted based on completion of every activity in the simulation. We also added an option to generate a performance report, which could be submitted if the autograding did not work. Once constructed, simulations were exported as SCORM 1.2 files, uploaded into the LMS, and assigned to remote students. The students were instructed to launch the simulations using Firefox for reliable grade reporting. We created 12 lab simulations with topics ranging from aseptic technique to microscopy and gel electrophoresis (see Appendices S2 and S3 in the supplemental material). Ultimately, the simulations provided an interactive online lab experience that aligned satisfactorily with our course objectives and content. In brief participation-graded surveys and anonymous end-of-semester course evaluations, the students described the simulations as effective and immersive. They appreciated the wide array of interactive activities, such as clickable questions, ordering procedural steps, and identifying mistakes in procedural videos. The students also praised the detail of each module, noting that the video narrations and feedback slides were especially helpful for learning and reviewing the material. Even students who attended the class in person credited the simulations as an invaluable study tool. Suggestions for improvement focused on technical glitches, uniformity across simulations, and alignment with concurrent on-the-ground lab protocols. Students requested additional feedback for incorrect answers and the ability to click between module slides at will. Limitations that we experienced while constructing the modules included the lack of software compatibility with Mac computers, the learning curve of the software, and the time commitment required to create multiple labs. Overall, we and our students agree that although the virtual experience is not a full substitute for in-person lab experience, it has some significant merits. Others have reported similar impressions of online labs, preferring face-to-face activities on measures of perceived learning effectiveness and enjoyment, while still recognizing some value in virtual options (4, 5) . Online labs allow students to work at their own pace, reinforcing concepts learned in class in a distraction-free environment (3). Virtual labs can also allow students to familiarize themselves with equipment that is too expensive or complex to maintain in a teaching lab (1). Finally, virtual options can make a laboratory experience possible for students who are ill, need more flexible learning opportunities, or attend underfunded schools. Although nothing can truly replicate a hands-on laboratory experiment, the ability to create custom virtual lab experiences enabled us to persevere with our educational goals during extenuating pandemic circumstances, and these virtual labs have become a useful supplement upon our return to the classroom. Instructors at other institutions can follow our workflow (see Appendix S1 in the supplemental material) to create their own labs from scratch, or they can email any of the authors for access to any editable Storyline 360 files encoding our modules (see Appendix S3 in the supplemental material). Other instructional laboratories may benefit from this approach, which allows instructors to customize the virtual lab experience to fit the needs of their own course. Supplemental material is available online only. SUPPLEMENTAL FILE 1, MOV file, 17.7 MB. SUPPLEMENTAL FILE 2, PDF file, 0.3 MB. Pandemic teaching: creating and teaching cell biology labs online during COVID-19 Using virtual simulations in online laboratory instruction and active learning exercises as a response to instructional challenges during COVID-19 Development of gamified, interactive, low-cost, flexible virtual microbiology labs that promote higher-order thinking during pandemic instruction Transitioning cell culture CURE labs from campus to online: novel strategies for a novel time Virtual labs in the online biology course: student perceptions of effectiveness and usability Teaching lab science courses online resources for best practices, tools, and technology Innovations in teaching undergraduate biology and why we need them Course-based undergraduate research: educational equity and high-impact practice