Abstract
Secondary and post-secondary science and engineering educators share common class arrangements with both a laboratory and lecture component, coordinating both components so they build upon each other to create meaningful learning experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic forced educators to convert lectures and exams to online delivery. Doing so came with trade-off decisions about sacrificing laboratory experience goals of hands-on practice, problem-solving, and learning concepts at a deeper, tactile level. Due to rapidly changing conditions, educators faced course redesign to accommodate social distancing and virtual learning requirements. In this study, a team of undergraduate college students including one secondary science preservice teacher planned a set of lessons for STEM outreach to a K–12 audience. The team faced challenges in planning meaningful learning experiences in the face of COVID-19 uncertainty. Options for secondary and post-secondary educators to consider are provided in this article.
Highlights
Science and engineering educators at both secondary and post-secondary level share a common class setup as one having both a laboratory and lecture component [1]
Educators must coordinate the components of a course so that they build upon each other to create a holistic experience that works for all students and fits the confines dictated by term length, school breaks, and standardized testing [1,2]
Educators were forced to react quickly, converting lectures and exams to a remote format, and perhaps cutting out lab components altogether. This was necessary as physical facilities closed, but it often came at the price of not meeting long-established laboratory experience goals of hands-on practice, problemsolving, and learning content at a deeper, more tactile level [3]
Summary
Science and engineering educators at both secondary and post-secondary level share a common class setup as one having both a laboratory and lecture component [1]. Educators were forced to react quickly, converting lectures and exams to a remote format, and perhaps cutting out lab components altogether. This was necessary as physical facilities closed, but it often came at the price of not meeting long-established laboratory experience goals of hands-on practice, problemsolving, and learning content at a deeper, more tactile level [3]. By the summer of 2020, many educators found themselves in a perplexing situation: there was time to plan for the fall term, but the social-distancing conditions of that term were still widely unknown. Does an educator open this lock, to plan for adaptations and redesign contingent on developing local conditions and likely to change at any time with little warning? The key is that educators must prioritize delivery methods according to purposefully chosen learning objectives in line with preferred instructional strategies
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