The COVID-19 pandemic has led to insights into new priorities for the efficacy of content delivery in higher education, emphasizing the importance of rich communication networks among peers and teaching assistants for improved student outcomes, especially in hands-on laboratory courses that provide real-world applications associated with lecture material. This poster describes the integration of supplemental instructional videos scripted and directed by former students into an upper-division biochemistry laboratory course. Using short (3-5-minute-long) videos embedded into corresponding sections of the course ELNs, the set-up and analysis associated with protein concentration determination and enzyme activity assays were described based on challenges and observations reported by former students. This mode of instruction was successfully adapted for a de-densified environment and partially restored the lost community-learning component through the use of student voices. Feedback from current students at the end of the semester reflected that these videos were equally or more beneficial in comparison to generic or instructor-made video supplements because they provided course-specific context and visual tutorials for instrument-use that improved efficiency in the lab setting, addressed challenges on an approachable level for undergraduate students, and were short and relevant to the conducted experiments.

Made for students, by students: Integrating former-student-directed videos into a de-densified biochemistry laboratory

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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