Opening Learning Opportunities with Open Educational Resources and Practices: A Taste of MERLOT and Virtual Labs | DivCHED CCCE: Committee on Computers in Chemical Education
flavoursofopenscience's bookmarks 2021-01-10
Summary:
Abstract: As the COVID-19 pandemic and safer-at-home mandates continue, educational systems around the world strategize on-going student engagement via virtual instruction. Faculty navigate the virtual learning space with a range of experiences, from having taught informal, conversational lectures for decades to being able to flip the classroom. The conversion to an online learning environment over the last several months presents a wide array of challenges, including teaching laboratory courses, academic integrity issues such as cheating on examinations and plagiarism, equitable computing and Wi-Fi access, affordability of course materials, and housing with a quiet place to work and study. Moving the teaching and learning of chemistry online is a complex process and success in this endeavor will take more than what we at MERLOT can review in this article, though we believe we can provide significant support for faculty and institutions. The goal of this article is to provide the chemistry education community free, online, and easy-to-use resources and services that can help individuals, departments, and institutions move to blended and online modes of instruction successfully. We will also provide a case study of teaching with virtual labs with evidence of its positive impact on students’ learning.