Teaching Labs Online

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The last time I posted over here (almost a year ago!) I wrote about teaching GEO 121 (Intro Physical Geography) online that summer. I think it went pretty well, but the labs were the most challenging aspect of that class. I write my labs with fairly detailed instructions and encouraged students to email with questions, but I think some students still struggled. It was hard to tell how many of the problems they had resulted from frustration and just giving up, or thinking that they were on the right track, but being wrong about that.

Another issue with the online labs is providing feedback to students on their work.  I used Google Forms for student lab submissions- which was great. I split each lab into multiple parts instead of having one really long form.  When students submit their answers, I get everything in a spreadsheet.  I do the lab first to submit my answers for the key (first row in the spreadsheet) and it makes grading really easy.  For my summer class last year, I wrote up summaries explaining parts of the labs that seemed to be consistent trouble spots for most students, but there was no easy way for them to see which questions they missed.

Sample form from one of the labs. Student names are automatically recorded by the form.
This semester, I'm teaching GEO 121 as a hybrid course.  We meet twice a week for lecture and in-class activities, then the students do the labs online at home.  I set up a couple lab hours each week that students can come for help from my teaching assistant and also encouraged them to come to my office hours or email with lab questions. So far I've gotten a few questions, but I'm a little concerned that everyone is waiting until the last minute to do the first set of labs. They're due next Friday, so we'll see if I get bombarded with questions next week. Anyone else teaching a hybrid course or online course that has labs? I'd be interested to hear how you handle these issued. I'll keep you posted with my class!


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