Infrastructure for laboratory distribution

Abstract

Though laboratories are an important element in student education, the development of effective labs is impeded by several factors: (i) the present academic reward system does not encourage or promote laboratory development time; (ii) there is no mechanism in place to distribute labs; and (iii) there is no mechanism in place to review or recognize appropriate lab assignments. We propose a laboratory distribution system that allows labs to be developed by faculty members at different universities, reviewed by an external review board, and then cataloged and stored for use by faculty at other universities. This system benefits the author of the labs (recognition, feedback), the other faculty that use the lab assignments (decreased preparation time), and the review body (fosters cooperative environment among universities, ensures laboratory "quality control").