1. Enhancing the Teaching and Learning of Laboratory Sciences through a Virtual Learning Environment Glynis A. Robinson, Nóirín Nic a' Bháird and Vincent P. Kelly School of Biochemistry & Immunology Trinity College Dublin

2. 700 students from Science, Pharmacy, Dentistry & Medicine take Biochemistry practicals 70 students at a time in the lab 1 lecturer and 4 student demonstrators

3. The challenge of the laboratory science practical Students perform a laboratory experiment -new equipment, new techniques, Teachers How to teach practical techniques effectively?

4. Instructional design of the practical pre- VLE  Teacher encourages students to read the laboratory manual before coming to the lab –but they don’t!  Compulsory, assessed, paper-based MCQ exam at start of practical, corrected manually  Lecturer delivers pre-lab talk describing experiment to be carried out  Student carries out laboratory experiment, writes report and submits

5. Teaching objective: foster student engagement improve preparedness improve learning outcomes Why introduce a VLE? Students are not prepared- poor learning experience

6. Virtual Learning Environment Hosted on the College’s Blackboard VLE platform  Electronic Practical manual  Video of laboratory exercise provided online –key element!  Practice and assessed MCQs provided online  Glossary of biochemical terms online  Online discussion forum  Automatic tracking of student activity and grades

7. Instructional design of the practical post- VLE Students  watch video online several days before practical  read practical manual online  do practice MCQs online  do examined MCQ online (available for set time only)  attend practical, carry out experiment  write up practical report (with help from forum if necessary) submit electronically Student online activity and results in MCQs logged automatically

9. Subcellular fractionation video 1

10. Subcellular fractionation video 2

12. Online practical resource

13. Evaluation of the MCQ exam resource

14. Learner control over pace, arrangement and content is a pivotal factor in student learning and self-efficacy (Milheim & Martin, 1999) Impact of VLE on class grades in assessed elements of laboratory practicals

15. Impact of VLE on non-examined elements of laboratory practical  Student feedback: overwhelmingly positive! ‘It definitely provided a more accessible and clear set of instructions than provided in the manual’ ‘I had a clear idea of what had to be done when I walked into the lab’  Students engaged more with material  Administrative burden much reduced  Informed changes to teaching material possible

16.  Video of laboratory techniques provided online before practical  Download video to smart phone for reference during practical  Interact with online discussion forums  Automatic monitoring of student interaction with online material  Make informed changes to the practical material following feedback from VLE Transformation of learning experience

17. Conclusions  This was a successful pilot scheme  Students like it!  Staff like it!  It improves learning outcomes!  We will expand it to the rest of the course