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Labs & Studios

One of the biggest challenges of teaching during a building or campus closure is sustaining lab/studio/performance classes or parts-of-classes. Since many such activities require specific equipment or facilities, they are hard to reproduce outside of their usual physical space on campus. Considerations as you plan to address lab/studio/performance activities:

  • Take part of the lab online: Many lab activities require students to become familiar with certain procedures and only physical practice of those processes will do. In such cases, consider if there are other parts of the lab experience you could take online (for example, video demonstrations of techniques, online simulations, analysis of data, other pre- or post-lab work), and save the physical practice parts of the labs until access is restored. The semester might get disjointed by splitting up lab experiences, but it might get you through a short campus closure.
  • Investigate virtual labs: Online resources and virtual tools might help replicate the experience of some labs (for example, virtual dissection, night sky apps, video demonstrations of labs, simulations). Those vary widely by discipline, but check with your textbook publisher, or sites such as Merlot for materials that might help replace parts of your lab when teaching remotely.
  • Provide raw data for analysis: In cases where a lab experiment includes both collection of data and its analysis, consider showing how the data can be collected and then provide some raw sets of data for students to analyze. This approach is not as comprehensive as having students collect and analyze their own data, but it might keep them engaged with parts of the lab experience during the closure.
  • Explore alternate software access: Some labs or studios require access to specialized software that students cannot install on their own computers. Depending on the nature of the closure (for example, a building versus the entire campus), the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, ZSR Course Delivery, or IS might be able to help set up alternate computer labs or creative studios that have the software your students need.
  • Utilize video and audio recordings: Consider if some studio or performance-based technique instruction can be replaced with demos on video followed by student reflection. Perhaps students could be asked to view and respond to a filmed performance or audio recording rather than attending live performances? Could students record audio/video files of their own performance activities, to be shared on a course site for classmates to critique?
  • Experiment with alternative creative media: If the visual art supplies or resources typically employed in your studio class are not available to students away from campus, consider redesigning creative projects to allow for experimentation with more readily available media.
  • Increase interaction in other ways: Sometimes labs are more about having time for direct student interaction, so consider other ways to replicate that level of contact if it is only your lab or studio or performance hall that is out of commission.