Browsing by Author "Londino-Smolar, Gina"

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    7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Labs
    (2020-08-14) Badillo, Joseph; Londino-Smolar, Gina; Savvides, Philippos; Chemistry and Chemical Biology, School of Science
    Virtual labs are interactive, digital simulations of activities that typically take place in physical laboratory settings.
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    Let’s Solve It: Designing an Interactive Online Forensic Science Lab
    (North American Business Press, 2021) Londino-Smolar, Gina; Hansel, Carrie; Chemistry and Chemical Biology, School of Science
    Online STEM laboratories are possible for every learner. The design of an online forensic science laboratory course can be as effective as traditional and other online courses. The theory behind teaching tools developed should be considered throughout the design process. Using the learning management system to engage students with the course material, each other, and the instructor is also key in online courses. Difficult tasks were conquered by using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to identify barriers and create solutions. Creation of hands-on and virtual labs along with accessibility concerns of web-based content is possible in the online environment.
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    Promoting Academic Integrity through a Stand-alone Course in the Learning Management System
    (2018) Lowe, M. Sara; Londino-Smolar, Gina; Wendeln, Kenneth E. A.; Sturek, Diane L.
    Introduction: This case study describes the process faculty at a large research university undertook to build a stand-alone online academic integrity course for first-year and transfer students. Because academic integrity is decentralized at the institution, building a more systematic program had to come from the bottom-up (faculty developed) rather than from the top down (institutionally mandated). Case Description: Using the learning management system, faculty and e-learning designers collaborated to build the course. Incorporating nuanced scenarios for six different types of misconduct (consistent with the University’s Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities & Conduct), a pre- and post-test, and assessments for each scenario, the course provides experience in recognizing and avoiding academic misconduct. Discussion and Evaluation: As a stand-alone course, the faculty who created it maintain control over content and are able to analyze student performance across the institution. In the ten months since its launch, the course has been eagerly adopted by faculty (n=1853 students have completed the course) and post-test scores indicate students are learning from the course. Conclusions: After the successful launch of the student course, the next step, already underway, is the launch of learning modules for faculty and teaching-assistants.
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    Remotely teaching a large enrollment introduction to forensic science course
    (2020-12-04) Londino-Smolar, Gina; Chemistry and Chemical Biology, School of Science
    During the fall semester, an introductory course in forensic science is typically taught face to face with a maximum enrollment of 300 students. This is done in a large lecture hall with stadium seating. Due to social distancing restrictions according to the CDC, the lecture hall which typically holds roughly 420 students could only allow 73 students at one time. Therefore, teaching online at a distance was the only option available to teach the course. Many decisions needed to be made on the teaching model of the course and how students would be engaged in the course content. There were a wide variety of options for distance learning and teaching mode. It was decided the hybrid distance model would best benefit the students and instructor for the large lecture course. Distance hybrid includes up to 75% asynchronous instruction with at least 25% of synchronous live teaching done completely remotely. Determining the best tools and technology to use as well as what material to cover during both types of teaching was a challenge. Online video conferencing tools were not typically used in large live lectures and needed to be adapted to engage students with the course materials. The learning management system (LMS), typically used to record grades and collect assignments, now needed to house all the learning materials and assessments as well as be organized in a way that students could easily find the correct resources. This will address the challenges and resolutions for teaching large lectures remotely.