Hands-on Laboratory Research Articles

Core surgical field camps: a new deanery-based model for enhancing advanced skills in core surgical trainees through simulation.

Hands-on wet lab simulation training is a vital part of modern surgical training. Since 2010, surgical 'boot camps' have been run by many UK deaneries to teach core surgical trainees basic entry level skills. Training in advanced skills often requires attendance at national fee-paying courses. In the Wessex Deanery, multiple, free of charge, core surgical 'field camps' were developed to provide more advanced level teaching in the particular specialty preference of each core surgical trainee. After the COVID-19 pandemic, national hands-on courses will be challenging to provide and deanery-based advanced skills training may be the way forward for craft-based specialties. The experiences over 2 years of delivering the Wessex core surgical field camps are shared, giving a guide and advice for other trainers on how to run a field camp.

Educational modules and research surveys on critical cybersecurity topics

Cybersecurity comprised all the technologies and practices that protect data as well as computer and network systems. In this article, we develop four course modules on critical cybersecurity topics that can be adopted in college-level cybersecurity courses in which these topics are covered. Our goal for developing these course modules with the hands-on labs is to increase students’ understanding and hands-on experiences on these critical topics that support cyber skills development for college students. The hands-on labs are designed to enhance students’ engagement and provide them hands-on experiences with real-world cyber activities to augment their cyber education of both foundational and advanced skills. We also conduct research surveys on the most-recent significant research in these critical cybersecurity fields. These cybersecurity course modules with the labs are also designed to help college/university professors enhance and update their cybersecurity course content, activities, hands-on lab exercises, and pedagogical methods, as well as emphasize the cyber skills to meet today’s pressing cybersecurity education needs for college students. Our proposed cybersecurity modules with hands-on labs will also help building the nation’s cybersecurity workforce.

Online laboratory exercise on computational biology: Phylogenetic analyses and protein modeling based on SARS-CoV-2 data during COVID-19 remote instruction.

Suspended on-site instruction during the COVID-19 created an exceptional challenge for teaching hands-on laboratory classes. We designed an online laboratory activity using computational biology techniques to overcome this issue. This set of online exercises introduces bioinformatics skills into existing curricula in the form of guided tutorials based on molecular data on SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Epistemology, socialization, help seeking, and gender-based views in in-person and online, hands-on undergraduate physics laboratories

Undergraduate physics laboratory course structures have been identified in policy reports for novel design innovations to meet the needs of a diverse and growing student population. To this end, an online, hands-on laboratory option was implemented at a large, public university for introductory physics students using the iOLab device. To determine whether students in this new course structure had similar perspectives to their in-person counterparts in terms of select attitudinal measures, a quasiexperimental, observational quantitative study was undertaken to measure students’ epistemological views as well as their beliefs about socialization and help seeking in online and in-person laboratory environments. Undergraduate students who were enrolled in calculus-based introductory physics (N=998) were surveyed in the second half of the semester to elicit their epistemological beliefs about physics laboratory work and their views on social engagement and academic help seeking in the laboratory. Parametric and nonparametric comparisons of central tendency were employed to measure differences between students in the in-person and online laboratories, as well as gender differences and associated interaction effects. Students showed no overall differences in attitudes related to epistemological and help seeking beliefs. There were significant differences related to views of socialization; students taking in-person physics laboratories valued socialization more than students taking the course online. Gender differences in epistemological and help seeking beliefs were identified overall, however, these differences were no longer significant when examining the interactions of laboratory type and gender. This finding suggests that self-selection into laboratory type may diminish gender gaps in affective domains by allowing students to choose the laboratory structure that meets their learning and logistical needs. In terms of physics epistemology, socialization and help seeking in the laboratory may not be as important to students’ perceptions of physics knowledge acquisition as previously thought. This study provides insights into the feasibility of online, hands-on laboratory experiences to meet the affective goals articulated in in-person laboratories, as well as institutional recommendations for advising students to select courses that match their individual learning styles.Received 23 February 2020Accepted 15 July 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020116Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasDiversity & inclusionEpistemology, attitudes, & beliefsLearning environmentPhysics Education Research

Reflections on Three Different High School Chemistry Lab Formats during COVID-19 Remote Learning

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, education at all levels has temporarily shifted to remote learning, hobbling an integral component of chemistry courses: the laboratory. The chemistry lab is crucial for developing student engagement and learning with hands-on, relevant experiments in a socially dynamic classroom setting. The transition to remote learning consequently presents additional obstacles for chemistry educators and students, supplemental to challenges experienced by all disciplines. This article conveys preliminary indications about various remote learning laboratory scenarios by comparing three different formats for high school chemistry laboratories from the 2020 spring semester, with the aim of informing preparations for hands-on laboratory instruction in the fall. The results tentatively support that hands-on laboratory instruction should ideally occur in the classroom or, if necessary, by sending home all requisite supplies in order to promote effective, equitable learning, engagement, and performance.

BME Labs in the Era of COVID-19: Transitioning a Hands-on Integrative Lab Experience to Remote Instruction Using Gamified Lab Simulations.

The COVID-19 induced abrupt transition to online learning that occurred in the Spring of 2020 presented particular challenges to the adaptation of hands-on laboratory courses in biomedical engineering. This paper describes the transition of such a course in one undergraduate program, assessment of this transition, and how this assessment has led to the design of the Fall 2020 online delivery format. In the spring, instruction was delivered online via asynchronous lectures and recorded video demonstrations, while raw data was provided to students to simulate specific laboratory techniques. Additionally, synchronous and asynchronous forms of student support were offered, including office hours and discussions. Student feedback was assessed via an end-of-semester survey designed specifically to analyze the students’ perceptions of the Spring 2020 transition to remote learning, as well as a comparison of Spring 2020 and Spring 2019 (when the course was taught in-person) student performance deliverables. Student performance was comparable to (or even better than) that in 2019. Students responded very positively to the transition, with most students agreeing or strongly agreeing that they had the resources needed to succeed (4.43 on a Likert scale), although on average, the students also found that the shift made learning more challenging, with increased effort required to engage with the material. Students especially found the recorded demonstration of laboratory techniques, asynchronous lectures, the learning management system chat feature, and virtual office hours useful. Many students felt that even with these resources, they still lost some of the experience that comes with in-person hands-on application, and some students found working in teams to be more challenging. While the overall approach implemented in the abrupt transition was effective in terms of student learning outcomes, engagement and immersion in a more realistic experience is a concern moving forward in Fall 2020. Based on our outcomes and on data from the literature, we will add gamified virtual lab simulations, shown to enhance student experience and create a more engaging and effective learning environment in lieu of in-person instruction.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s43683-020-00015-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Chemistry in the Kitchen Laboratories at Home

As the need for online or virtual science courses grows, it is important to incorporate laboratory work into these courses. However, it is difficult to find cost-effective ways to integrate the laboratory work, especially as campuses across the world have had to quickly transition to the online learning environment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, hands-on laboratory experiments that can be performed safely at home without the need to purchase expensive commercial laboratory kits would be valuable. This paper presents a set of laboratory exercises that are utilized in an online nonmajor science course. Student and instructor experiences are also presented.

CityLab at Boston University - Thirty Years of Innovation and Partnerships.

Boston University's (BU) CityLab program was created in 1991 as a partnership between faculty members of BU's School of Medicine and School of Education in response to the first call for proposals under the Science Education Partnership Awards initiative of the National Institutes of Health. CityLab's founders recognized the need for CityLab, a centrally-located facility for pre-college teachers and students to explore the burgeoning world of biotechnology. The mission has always been to share the excitement of science with students and teachers by engaging them in hands-on laboratory experiences, thereby fostering the development of a robust pool of scientists and physicians and a scientifically-literate populace. In order to reach more schools, particularly those that could not come to CityLab's facility in Boston, the CityLab team pioneered the mobile science laboratory concept with the launch of its MobileLab in 1998. Both CityLab and MobileLab have been replicated in the U.S. and abroad. CityLab has sustained itself because it has benefited from stable leadership, built and disseminated models for hands-on STEM education, embraced innovation by creating new programs to serve additional populations, and developed diverse funding streams. The CityLab program has been remarkable in its outreach, success, and longevity.

Cadaveric Penile Prosthesis Workshop training improves surgical confidence levels of urologists: South Asian Society for Sexual Medicine course survey.

To analyze the impact of South Asia's first cadaveric hands-on workshop on urologists' training in inflatable penile prosthesis surgery. A total of 72 urologists/andrologists participated in the 2019 South Asian Society for Sexual Medicine Pre-congress Penile Prosthesis hands-on workshop. The workshop included 4h of lectures and 2h of hands-on cadaveric laboratory experience using three-piece inflatable penile prosthesis. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used on self-rated procedural confidence levels, which proved the normality. A non-parametric McNemar test was used to examine the change in the number of correct answers. Of those who attended the cadaver laboratory, just 45 who answered the survey both before and after the workshop were included for analysis. Significant objective improvements were noted in procedural knowledge test scores (44.30±0.027 vs 72.44±0.024, P<0.05) and median surgical confidence levels (4 vs 3 and 2, P<0.001) of the urologists after the completion of the workshop. Cadaveric hands-on workshop training improves urologists' procedural knowledge and surgical confidence levels in carrying out three-piece inflatable penile prosthesis surgery. The feasibility of such workshops should be considered in increasing the surgical expertise of general urologists in prosthetic urology.

Impact of experiential learning on dental students' training in nitrous oxide inhalation sedation.

Competence in nitrous oxide/oxygen (N2 O/O2 ) inhalation sedation is expected of dental graduates, but applying what is learned through didactic instruction to patient care can be challenging without firsthand experience. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of experiential learning on dental students' confidence and sense of preparedness for administration of N2 O/O2 . A biphasic, mixed methods study was conducted at a Midwestern dental school and included 2 cohorts of dental students. In Phase 1 (spring 2019), a cross-sectional study design was used to survey outgoing third-year and fourth-year students who received didactic N2 O/O2 instruction alone. In Phase 2 (summer 2019), a nonrandomized, preintervention-postintervention study design was used to survey incoming third-year students before and after a hands-on N2 O/O2 laboratory exercise. Of the 79 Phase 1 students (99% response rate), all believed a firsthand learning experience with N2 O/O2 during didactic learning would increase their confidence and preparedness when administering to a patient (both P<.001). Of the 41 Phase 2 students (100% response rate), after the lab exercise, all felt that firsthand experience enhanced classroom instruction and increased confidence and preparedness when administering N2 O to a patient (all P<.001). Fifty-six (71%) Phase 1 and 39 (80%) Phase 2 students believed classroom instruction alone was inadequate to prepare them to administer N2 O/O2 (both P<.001). Our results strongly suggest that experiential learning of N2 O/O2 inhalation sedation through a hands-on laboratory exercise should be incorporated into the predoctoral curricula of dental schools.

Stay at Home Laboratories for Chemistry Courses

Experiments written for students who were quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic are described. These were developed to provide hands-on lab experiences that students would not get due to the onl...

Adapting Hands-on Laboratory’s Materials and Embedded Systems from Local Use to Remote Experimenting through Internet

This paper presents the work of adapting hands-on laboratory’s materials of NI Elvis and Quanser from in-poste exploit to online access and remote exploit for online experimenting, after analyzing different aspects of adapting any hands-on laboratory’s material of in-place experimenting to remote exploit. This paper presents the work of developing a software multiplexing technique, and other techniques, to multiplex between different software codes and programs, in order to control different types of experiments in electronic of energy while using and sharing the same physical components and materials nearly simultaneously. In addition, this paper presents the work of creating web client interfaces; to use those embedded systems of NI Elvis and Quanser and their deployed experiments through the internet while relying on an e-learning platform of our remote lab to support their remote access. The principal advantage of conducted adaptations is sharing the same hardware and software resources between different experiments at the same time, while exploiting them locally and through the internet by multiusers.

Cyber-Physical Systems Security Education Through Hands-on Lab Exercises

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs), due to interacting directly with the physical environment, must be dependable, and in particular must be secure. This article shows how to integrate systems security topics into the educational program for future CPS engineers.

Exploring the Learning Efficacy of Digital Forensics Concepts and Bagging & Tagging of Digital Devices in Immersive Virtual Reality

This work presents the first account of evaluating learning inside a VR experience created to teach Digital Forensics (DF) concepts, and a hands-on laboratory exercise in Bagging & Tagging a crime scene with digital devices. First, we designed and developed an immersive VR experience which included a lecture and a lab. Next, we tested it with (n = 57) participants in a controlled experiment where they were randomly assigned to a VR group or a physical group. Both groups were subjected to the same lecture and lab, but one was in VR and the other was in the real world. We collected pre- and post-test results to assess the participants’ knowledge in DF concepts learned. Our experimental results indicated no significant differences in scores between the immersive VR group and the physical group. However, our results showed faster completion times in VR by the participants, which hints at VR being more time efficient, as virtual environments can be spun programmatically with little downtime.

Cadaveric Laboratory Simulation Training of Male Stress Urinary Incontinence Treatment Improves Trainee Knowledge and Confidence

OBJECTIVETo assess whether a focused, simulation training course can improve trainee surgical knowledge and confidence in the treatment of male stress urinary incontinence. MATERIALS AND METHODSUrology residents participated in a prosthetic education course as part of the 2018 SUPS and SMSNA annual meeting. The course included didactic lectures and a hands-on cadaveric laboratory. Participants completed questionnaires before and after the lab (2 weeks and 6 months) to assess procedural knowledge and confidence. Analysis of lab responses was performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test for matched pairs. RESULTSThirty-two residents (median age 29, range 27-34) participated in the course. The majority were postgraduate year 4 (63%) or postgraduate year 5 (20%). Most participants reported minimal AUS or sling experience with 50% and 94% reporting less than 5 cases, respectively. Overall score from the knowledge assessment improved significantly between the pre-lab versus 2-week post-lab (P = .02) and pre-lab versus 6-month post-lab (P = .01). Similarly, procedural confidence improved between pre-lab vs 2-week post-lab (P < .001) and pre-lab versus 6-month post-lab (P < .001). Knowledge and confidence assessments were not different between year of residency training or pre-lab experience. CONCLUSIONSSimulation training improves knowledge and confidence in prosthetic surgery for male stress incontinence. In the current climate of reduced exposure and limited availability of prosthetic educators, simulation courses can provide much needed educational value.

Adapting guided inquiry learning worksheets for emergency remote learning

PurposeProcess-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) is a series of learning activities building on student prior knowledge guiding them to construct their own understanding of new concepts in collaborative roles. This paper aims to illustrate how POGIL worksheets can be adapted for low bandwidth and low-computing environments to accommodate the largest swathe of learners in higher education, as was the case during the switch to emergency remote learning in 2020.Design/methodology/approachThe POGIL worksheets in this paper scaffold the discovery of new concepts while providing sample computer program output, guiding students to make predictions about the connection between program input and program output. Answers are provided to these questions after completion so that students may check their understanding or look to the answers as worked examples. These POGIL worksheets were used for the past two years in an in-person classroom situation with minimal computing resources, replacing 4/5 of a classroom lecture doing POGILs collaboratively. In the midst of emergency remote learning, these worksheets were adapted to complement asynchronous lecture videos, and also serve as lecture replacement as needed.FindingsThis paper discusses an approach to adapting POGIL worksheets for introduction to computer science for students who may not have the necessary digital tools (programing software, bandwidth for streaming video, etc.). While the context for this paper is computer science, POGIL has a deep history in chemistry education and other natural sciences, suggesting an approach that may be adapted for situations where hands-on laboratory experiments may not be possible.Originality/valueCS-POGIL has many materials available for computer science, but this paper discusses 23 new worksheets and how to adapt them to the novel situation of emergency remote teaching.

Methods in Teaching Computer Networks

This article provides a survey of methods and paradigms for teaching Computer Networks (CN). Since the theoretical concepts are rather abstract in this subject, and students often find them too technical and difficult to understand, many authors attempt to answer the question on how to improve students’ motivation and interest for the complex teaching material of CN. In this work, we follow a rigorous paper collection methodology and extract a large number of previous studies that relate to the stated research questions. Also, we find that there is no review article in the current literature that would provide a clear systematization or a guided study on this topic. Hence, this work provides a literature overview by binding all the previously used methods for teaching CN in one place, and brings contribution by classifying the existing approaches into four basic classes: methods based on using visualization objects such as network simulators, multimedia applications, packet-tracing tools or visual analogies; methods based on using the virtualization techniques; methods precipitating active learning paradigm and methods based on the practical hands-on laboratory exercises. Moreover, the research in this article goes beyond the proposed classification. The classes of methods and tools are compared and contrasted based on the findings from the literature. Methods are evaluated by a detailed cross-comparison based on their advantages, disadvantages and challenges in the perspective of both teachers and students. The review is additionally strengthened by comparing the educational effectiveness of the classified methods. We examine, classify, and contrast the usual approaches used in teaching CN, provide useful insights on how appropriate they are in achieving specific educational goals and determine the future research directions.

Virtual Reality to Improve Nanotechnology Education: Development Methods and Example Applications

Nanotechnology has had a tremendous effect on industries, from material designs to manufacturing processes, and in various applications, from drug delivery for medicines to reducing airplane noise through the use of nanofibers. This impact has been described as the next industrial revolution, and there is a large investment from countries all across the world to improve teaching and training in nanotechnologies [1]. The biggest challenge in nanotechnology education is providing hands-on laboratory instruction, which requires expensive tools, a cleanroom environment, and safe interaction with hazardous chemicals. In this article, a successful new method for teaching nanotechnology using virtual reality (VR) is presented. VR training is a promising method that has the benefit of personalized instruction and an engaging media format [2].

Tu1046 EFFECT OF AN EDUCATIONAL POLYPECTOMY WORKSHOP ON CHOICE OF TOOL UTILIZED BY GENERAL ENDOSCOPIST DURING COLONOSCOPY

Optimal removal of diminutive (<5mm) polyps (DP) has been evaluated in multiple studies. Studies have compared and shown that polyp removal via cold snare polypectomy (CSP) is superior to removal via jumbo biopsy forceps (JBF), especially for DP measuring 4-5mm. Despite this, many general endoscopists still utilize JBF as the standard approach for DP removal. Our study sought to determine if a polypectomy educational session would increase the rate of CSP among general endoscopists. General endoscopists at a tertiary care center underwent an educational session discussing the optimal methods of polyp removal, followed by a hands-on laboratory session. Participants underwent surveys analyzing comfort regarding removal of polyps before and immediately after the session. Changes in polypectomy practice was analyzed by looking at random 2 week intervals of all colonoscopies performed by general endoscopists prior to, immediately after, and 6 months after the educational session was completed. Endoscopy notes were retroactively analyzed to gather data on number of polyps removed, polyp size, method of removal, and patient characteristics. Chi Square analysis was utilized to compare the change in polypectomy method across the three time points. 17 general endoscopists underwent the education session. Surveyed participants experienced a small subjective improvement in comfort using CS for removal of polyps and with removal of flat polyps less than 10mm. 218 colonoscopy patients (54.9% female) were evaluated before (n=97), immediately after (n=83), and 6 months after (n=88) the polypectomy seminar. There was no significant difference between age, BMI, prep quality, and polyp size amongst groups. There was a significant increase in CS compared to JBF use for the removal of ≥ 4mm polyps immediately after the session (p=0.0008 using Bonferroni-adjusted p-value). There was an insignificant decline in the proportion of CS use at 6 months post intervention compared to immediately-after the workshop (p=0.108). When broken down further, the proportion of 4mm polyps removed with a CS rather than JBF significantly increased immediately after the educational session and was sustained at 6 months post intervention (p=0.0004). There was no significant change in rates of CS use for 5mm polyps, although data showed it was used >90% of the time prior to the educational intervention (p=0.1420). An educational session with didactic and hands-on components appears to be an effective way to increase proportion of CS use for DP removal at a tertiary care center, thereby likely improving resection margins. Further studies will evaluate if these results remain sustained and if this session would be of benefit to endoscopists in a community setting.Proportion of cold snare compared to jumbo biopsy forceps utilization in polypectomy for polyps 4-5mm in size.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)

Using the force: STEM knowledge and experience construct shared neural representations of engineering concepts

How does STEM knowledge learned in school change students’ brains? Using fMRI, we presented photographs of real-world structures to engineering students with classroom-based knowledge and hands-on lab experience, examining how their brain activity differentiated them from their “novice” peers not pursuing engineering degrees. A data-driven MVPA and machine-learning approach revealed that neural response patterns of engineering students were convergent with each other and distinct from novices’ when considering physical forces acting on the structures. Furthermore, informational network analysis demonstrated that the distinct neural response patterns of engineering students reflected relevant concept knowledge: learned categories of mechanical structures. Information about mechanical categories was predominantly represented in bilateral anterior ventral occipitotemporal regions. Importantly, mechanical categories were not explicitly referenced in the experiment, nor does visual similarity between stimuli account for mechanical category distinctions. The results demonstrate how learning abstract STEM concepts in the classroom influences neural representations of objects in the world.