Uncovering the Importance of Peer-to-Peer Communication during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Rotating Chromatography Experiments to Overcome Limited Student Capacity

Even though scientific communication and collaboration play critical roles in academic success, they often come in second to teaching laboratory fundamentals. COVID-19 associated capacity constraints forced our program to reexamine the traditional laboratory instruction paradigm by limiting physical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 2023-03, Vol.100 (3), p.1277-1282
Main Authors: Richardson, Kelly A., Harris, Rachel A., Anderson, Kimberly L., Robinson, Renã A. S., McLean, John A., Verberne-Sutton, Susan Denise
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic discourse
Chromatography
Collaboration
COVID-19
Experimentation
Gas chromatography
Group communication
High performance liquid chromatography
Laboratories
Liquid chromatography
Modules
Pandemics
Peer Groups
Science education
Student Interests
Student Surveys
Students
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Even though scientific communication and collaboration play critical roles in academic success, they often come in second to teaching laboratory fundamentals. COVID-19 associated capacity constraints forced our program to reexamine the traditional laboratory instruction paradigm by limiting physical attendance, as well as laboratory duration. Instead, we opted to turn these restrictions into opportunities to study peer-to-peer communication as a means to enhance in-person experimentation. Here, a two-week high performance liquid and gas chromatography (HPLC and GC) module uses centralized student communication between peer groups to not only maintain but increase quality laboratory experiences. Students rotate between two chromatography experiments to ensure each person gains exposure to foundational separations techniques. The module’s first week focuses on method development, while the second week highlights method validation. Since HPLC and GC can accommodate similar experimental objectives, students receive comparable method development and validation experiences no matter which specific instrument they are assigned to that week. By integrating communication into the experimental process and adding peer accountability to the laboratory’s design, the authors observed an increase in laboratory report words and figures when compared to the prior years’ reports. Student questionnaires also indicated structured rotation and group communication increased student interest and investment in obtaining and reporting quality data.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00870