Cambrian College
Project Description
This proposal involves incorporating six Labster simulation labs into two courses of the pre-health sciences program as a means of evaluating the impact on student success and the potential for implementation into future course deliveries. Pre-health students are those completing prerequisite courses to meet admission requirements for any of Cambrian’s Health Science advanced diploma or degree programs. The two courses selected to incorporate Labster simulations are BIO1003–Biology I and BIO1010–Biology II. In the pre-health science program, there are currently no physical biology labs that are conducted. Students consume course content only and demonstrate their grasp of procedure and knowledge through written assignments or tests. The integration of the simulation labs into coursework as formative or summative assessments would address the gap of students participating in experiential learning. Below is a list of the proposed labs that would be evaluated along with the learning competencies required of the course.
BIO1003–Biology I
Lab: Cellular Respiration
Competency: Identify cellular molecules, discuss cell transport processes, and describe cellular metabolism
Lab: CSI
Competency: Describe the structure and replication process of DNA
Lab: Introduction to Food Macro-molecule Competency: Identify biological molecules and describe their properties
Lab: Protein Synthesis
Competency: Define protein synthesis and the roles of mRNA, rRNA and tRNA in protein synthesis
BIO1010–Biology II
Lab: Antibodies
Competency: Describe how the body defends itself from pathogens (immune system/body defences)
Lab: Carbohydrates
Competency: Identify the location of the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and some other substances
This project would focus on using these labs to supplement the learning competencies in BIO1010 and BIO1003 face-to-face and blended courses. This would provide students with an opportunity to succeed in real-world situations by acclimatizing them to procedures and protocols through simulation-based learning.
Changes to the Project
There was a major delay in implementation as the work stoppage in fall 2017 prevented faculty from contributing to the project. After the stoppage, it was a challenge to find interested faculty to integrate the Labster modules into their learning activities.
In April 2018, two faculty members were identified and the entire implementation of the project was changed from its original scope, with only a meiosis lab being used for the BIO1010 course offering.
Team Description
The project team comprised the following:
- Chair of Academic Upgrading: This role was influential as this individual assigned the task of integrating Labster into the course material to part-time staff when no full-time staff had the capacity to do so.
- Pre-Health Sciences faculty: Two part-time faculty were exceptional in the process of re-evaluating the labs that were available and integrating