Helpful Teaching Resources
March 14, 2020 / Bill Reynolds, PhD / Tags: Labs, Performance, Links, Tips, Teaching, Resource, Learning, Covid
One of the most pressing issues for faculty in the sciences is how to handle labs and other hands-on course requirements. Faculty from around the country have been sharing tips, suggestions, and resources, and we have compiled some links below that are related to these topics. There is no perfect solution and, in responding to the abrupt transition to remote instruction we’re faced with, it’s important to keep in mind that the perfect is the enemy of the good (enough).
In choosing your responses to the dilemmas you face, it can be helpful to think about the objectives of your course and the ways that particular activities, like labs, help students achieve those objectives. There are always multiple paths that will lead to the achievement of a general objective, and if circumstances require you to abandon or dramatically alter one activity or assignment, it is likely that there are others that are viable and “good enough,” even if they are not ideal. We hope that you will find some of those alternatives in the links and resources below.
Resources for faculty teaching psychology courses and lab-based courses, in particular:
- The American Psychological Association maintains an Online Psychology Laboratory, in which you can have your students engage in experiments, or have them use available data for analysis: https://opl.apa.org/
- You may also find useful the Teaching of Psychology Idea eXchange (ToPIX) at http://topix.teachpsych.org/w/page/19980993/FrontPage.
- The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) also has lots of other free resources that may be helpful: http://teachpsych.org/.
Resources for faculty teaching natural science and mathematics courses and lab-based courses, in particular:
- Geology resources:
- Online simulations/virtual labs
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18iVSIeOqKjj58xcR8dYJS5rYvzZ4X1UGLWhl3brRzCM/edit?usp=sharing
- Harvard’s LabXchange offers a suite of lab simulations with assessments that focus on basic molecular biology techniques.
- MERLOT offers a collection of virtual labs in a variety of science disciplines.
- PHET offers interactive simulations that allow students to vary parameters (science and math).
- You might have your students watch videos of experiments and ask them to first make predictions and then discuss the results. The Journal of Visualized Experiments offers thousands of videos of experiments.
Resources for faculty teaching foreign language courses:
- Suggested Best Practices and Resources for the Implementation of Hybrid and Online Language Courses (ADFL)
- Online Language Pedagogy (NFLRC)
- Pandemic Prepping in the Language Class (IALLT webinar)
Resources for faculty teaching performance-based courses:
- Ideas to Deal with Coronavirus and Distance Learning for Ensembles (and Conducting Class) – CBDNA – College Band Directors National Association
Share Post
