YOU CAN’T TEACH SCIENCE LABS ONLINE,
OR CAN YOU?
A journey into one college’s search to offer online Science with-lab
courses.
Presented by:
Louise Millis, Biology Faculty
Sheri Steinke, Director of Online Learning, Adjunct Computer Science
North Hennepin Community College, Brooklyn Park, MN
INTRODUCTIONS
Welcome to our presentation!
Poll
1.) How many are teaching online, in some
format, if not fully online?
2.) How many are teaching science with-labs
online?
3.) How many will be creating an online science
with-lab course this academic year?
HISTORY OF ONLINE AT NHCC
First classes offered in 1997
 Online AA preliminary-approved in 2005, with final
official approval in 2007.
 Spring 2008 we launched our first online science
with labs courses.
 Louise Millis and Tina Wade, now taught by
Eugenia Paulus.
 Instructional Design dissertation for Sheri Steinke
was based upon online science with labs research.

STUDENT PROFILE
PSEO students to 55+
 Unemployed adults
 Employed adults
 Veterans
 With families
 Need a flexible delivery of classes
 Motivated students

GRADUATION REQUIREMENT
Minnesota requires a science with-lab course
to graduate
 AA Online requires
 Few science courses are offered online in the
system
 what is being taught in relation to ground
based skills

TWO COURSES SPRING 2008
For Non-Science majors
 Open to traditional and non-traditional students
 Delivered asynchronouslly
 Includes a hands-on lab

REPLICATING THE CLASSROOM
Methods to replicate the classroom online
 Kits
 Kitchen Sink
 Simulations
 Remote labs
KITS

Pretty amazing companies to provide the kits
1.) LabPaq, At Home Science
2.) eScience Labs Video Presentation
 Allowed us to demo the kits. Some included
extensive videos to correspond with the kits.
 Customizable
KITCHEN SINK
Tina Wade and now Eugenia Paulus
 Louise Millis

1.) Ordinary science
2.) Use materials readily available to students
SIMULATIONS
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Physics Education Technology The University of Colorado, Boulder,
has an excellent simulation lab to review.
EMSL Collaboratory The EMSL Collaboratory is a Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory is virtual collaboration space for the sciences. .
CASPIE The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education for
women and minorities retention.
STaRBURSTT Youngstown State University Department of Chemistry.
NMR Collaborative Training Partnership is a National Science
Foundation grant partnership for two and four year institutions using
the Fourere Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer.
Second life operating room.
http://www.educause.edu/EQ/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/
VirtualWorldLearningSpacesDeve/163851
REMOTE LABS
MIT iLab The MMIT and Microsoft Alliance is for
remote online labs in an outreach initiative to
expand online science education.
 Remote Labs
 ILN project web site (Join the ILN community)
Integrated Laboratories Network is a working
group to provide remote instrumentation labs.
Sponsored by a National Science Foundation
grant. View the presentation about the Integrated
Lab Network. You need flash to watch.

INTRO TO PHYSICAL SCIENCE 1030
Originally Developed by Tina Wade
 Utilizes Plato Learning video content
 Non-science majors-Physics or Chemistry
 First time offered, we had students from Tanzania
and Washington State enrolled
 Primarily students in our own campus area
 Tina Wade Presentation Developing this Class
 Now taught by Eugenia Paulus
 24 Students maximum

Louise Millis
Non-majors and Majors
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Start small, start simple, start with what you know
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Class mangement tools help with all your classes
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Convert an existing face to face class to an online format
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Web supplemented
Web enhanced
Audio recording
Breeze presentation
Webcam presentation
Wet & Dry Labs – created/reworked, textbook provided or websites
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Use the gradebook, calender, dropbox, discussions
Instructional software - Softchalk, Moodle
Simulations
Videos
Still not sure – “Shadow a Class”
Interactive
Natural Science – 1999 Lakeland College
Test piloted as Principles in Science @ NHCC 2008 with a “wet” lab
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A First Step
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Fully online science course with a “dry” lab
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All inclusive science course covering the physical and biology sciences

Non-science majors - completion of BA degree
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Students from across the United States
Life Science 1000 – Currently Taught @ NHCC

Biology for non-science majors

Face to Face conversion to Online
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Lecture material interactive
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Presentations
Instructional Software
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Active Learning in Discussions, Labs, & Group Projects
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“Labs brings the topics alive, seeing is believing
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Dry Labs
Wet Labs
Karyotyping
Carbohydrates
Coin Toss DNA
Liver & Bile
Link
Lipids
Other Classes – Not a Total Conversion

Non-science majors and Majors
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Human Biology
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supplement lab or non-lab version
Core classes
 Supplement
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The Heart
Heart Rate
Pre-lab assignments
Protein Detection