{"title":"最后一年生物科学专业学生的非实验室项目学习:来自COVID-19的教训。","authors":"Declan J McKenna","doi":"10.3389/bjbs.2023.11561","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> Provision of \"dry-lab\" final year honours projects, based outside the laboratory, have been proposed as a viable alternative to traditional \"wet-lab\" projects in bioscience subjects, but their value has not been widely evaluated to date. In 2020-21, the COVID-19 pandemic meant all students in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University (UU) undertook dry-lab projects, due to campus lockdown. Therefore, this provided an ideal opportunity to evaluate the provision of dry-lab projects in a large student cohort. <b>Methods:</b> A pilot group of final year students (<i>n</i> = 4) studying Biomedical Science at UU were interviewed to evaluate their experience of conducting a dry-lab project. This evaluation and the themes that emerged were subsequently used to inform the co-creation of a survey to appraise student experience of dry-lab research project learning across the final year student cohort in School of Biomedical Sciences (<i>n</i> = 140). Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analysed for trends and themes. <b>Results:</b> The results of this project identified four main themes related to dry-lab projects; expectations, skills & employability, quality of experience and choice. Student expectations about dry-lab projects were not dramatically changed, although initial negative opinions of some individuals were over-turned. Most students recognised that they had developed many useful employability skills through dry-lab projects, although lack of practical laboratory experience was still perceived as a drawback. Student experience was influenced by personal circumstances but students reporting poor project experience had significantly lower levels of communication with supervisor (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Most students agreed that choice of dry- and wet-lab projects would be valuable for future cohorts. <b>Conclusion:</b> This report concludes that dry-lab project provision can be a suitable and equitable alternative for wet-lab projects. Dry-lab projects can be valuable for learning new skills and may be an attractive option for some students and supervisors who prefer to work outside the laboratory setting. A choice of both dry-lab and wet-lab projects is highly recommended as it provides more choice for students to tailor their final year experience to their individual circumstances, strengths and future career aspirations.</p>","PeriodicalId":9236,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Biomedical Science","volume":"80 ","pages":"11561"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10476339/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Non-Laboratory Project-Based Learning for Final Year Bioscience Students: Lessons From COVID-19.\",\"authors\":\"Declan J McKenna\",\"doi\":\"10.3389/bjbs.2023.11561\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p><b>Background:</b> Provision of \\\"dry-lab\\\" final year honours projects, based outside the laboratory, have been proposed as a viable alternative to traditional \\\"wet-lab\\\" projects in bioscience subjects, but their value has not been widely evaluated to date. In 2020-21, the COVID-19 pandemic meant all students in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University (UU) undertook dry-lab projects, due to campus lockdown. Therefore, this provided an ideal opportunity to evaluate the provision of dry-lab projects in a large student cohort. <b>Methods:</b> A pilot group of final year students (<i>n</i> = 4) studying Biomedical Science at UU were interviewed to evaluate their experience of conducting a dry-lab project. This evaluation and the themes that emerged were subsequently used to inform the co-creation of a survey to appraise student experience of dry-lab research project learning across the final year student cohort in School of Biomedical Sciences (<i>n</i> = 140). Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analysed for trends and themes. <b>Results:</b> The results of this project identified four main themes related to dry-lab projects; expectations, skills & employability, quality of experience and choice. Student expectations about dry-lab projects were not dramatically changed, although initial negative opinions of some individuals were over-turned. Most students recognised that they had developed many useful employability skills through dry-lab projects, although lack of practical laboratory experience was still perceived as a drawback. Student experience was influenced by personal circumstances but students reporting poor project experience had significantly lower levels of communication with supervisor (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Most students agreed that choice of dry- and wet-lab projects would be valuable for future cohorts. <b>Conclusion:</b> This report concludes that dry-lab project provision can be a suitable and equitable alternative for wet-lab projects. Dry-lab projects can be valuable for learning new skills and may be an attractive option for some students and supervisors who prefer to work outside the laboratory setting. A choice of both dry-lab and wet-lab projects is highly recommended as it provides more choice for students to tailor their final year experience to their individual circumstances, strengths and future career aspirations.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":9236,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"British Journal of Biomedical Science\",\"volume\":\"80 \",\"pages\":\"11561\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.7000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-01-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10476339/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"British Journal of Biomedical Science\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3389/bjbs.2023.11561\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"British Journal of Biomedical Science","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/bjbs.2023.11561","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Non-Laboratory Project-Based Learning for Final Year Bioscience Students: Lessons From COVID-19.
Background: Provision of "dry-lab" final year honours projects, based outside the laboratory, have been proposed as a viable alternative to traditional "wet-lab" projects in bioscience subjects, but their value has not been widely evaluated to date. In 2020-21, the COVID-19 pandemic meant all students in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University (UU) undertook dry-lab projects, due to campus lockdown. Therefore, this provided an ideal opportunity to evaluate the provision of dry-lab projects in a large student cohort. Methods: A pilot group of final year students (n = 4) studying Biomedical Science at UU were interviewed to evaluate their experience of conducting a dry-lab project. This evaluation and the themes that emerged were subsequently used to inform the co-creation of a survey to appraise student experience of dry-lab research project learning across the final year student cohort in School of Biomedical Sciences (n = 140). Quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analysed for trends and themes. Results: The results of this project identified four main themes related to dry-lab projects; expectations, skills & employability, quality of experience and choice. Student expectations about dry-lab projects were not dramatically changed, although initial negative opinions of some individuals were over-turned. Most students recognised that they had developed many useful employability skills through dry-lab projects, although lack of practical laboratory experience was still perceived as a drawback. Student experience was influenced by personal circumstances but students reporting poor project experience had significantly lower levels of communication with supervisor (p < 0.05). Most students agreed that choice of dry- and wet-lab projects would be valuable for future cohorts. Conclusion: This report concludes that dry-lab project provision can be a suitable and equitable alternative for wet-lab projects. Dry-lab projects can be valuable for learning new skills and may be an attractive option for some students and supervisors who prefer to work outside the laboratory setting. A choice of both dry-lab and wet-lab projects is highly recommended as it provides more choice for students to tailor their final year experience to their individual circumstances, strengths and future career aspirations.
期刊介绍:
The British Journal of Biomedical Science is committed to publishing high quality original research that represents a clear advance in the practice of biomedical science, and reviews that summarise recent advances in the field of biomedical science. The overall aim of the Journal is to provide a platform for the dissemination of new and innovative information on the diagnosis and management of disease that is valuable to the practicing laboratory scientist.