Lab courses are an integral part of the learning experience for science majors, but the chemicals, cadavers and rocks used in them aren’t necessarily available at home or via Zoom. The natural sciences division of the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences is transitioning labs to remote learning in creative ways, while canceling just one lab course in human physiology.
“It feels like a big experiment that we didn’t particularly choose, but as scientists, we like experiments because we’re going to learn new things from them and try to use them moving forward,” Hal Sadofsky, the head of the natural sciences division said.
According to Sadofsky, a lab wherein human physiology students learn using a human cadaver was canceled this term. In that lab, students use the cadaver to study human body parts and label them to learn vocabulary. Sadofsky said this lab would have been possible to keep for the term while maintaining social distancing practices because students are already required to wear personal protection equipment, but it would require students to be back on campus to take shifts coming into the lab on their own.
“It’s a big deal and it’s something that a lot of students who are thinking about medical school, for example, are looking forward to doing so I was very sad about having to cancel that but there was just not a suitable way to do that remotely,” Sadofsky said.
The cadaver lab is not a required lab and can be substituted for something else to meet major requirements. According to Sadofsky, if students can’t find a substitute that fits into their schedules then the department will waive the requirement.
For some chemistry labs, Sadofsky said, professors and graduate students are performing experiments in the lab and recording them for remote learning. They combine the video with data from previous classes so students can analyze it at home as they would have in the labs.
“I don’t think this is the same experience as actually being in the lab, but I think it provides a lot of the same educational elements,” Sadofsky said.
Some professors are trying to make the best of the situation at hand, he said. Professor Andrew Kern’s computational biology class will be looking at the spread of COVID-19, according to a trailer Kern posted for the class on Twitter. The trailer tracks the spread of the virus across the country as horror music plays in the background.
“One class will take a journey,” horror-themed typeface says across the screen, “and learn how to do computational biology… in sweatpants.”
Sadofsky said that because they had to cancel one lab and change others, the natural sciences department is considering adding more classes over the summer than usual. However, he added that he was surprised to see that spring term enrollment is at near-normal levels.
