Book and Media Review pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Review of LabPaq Science Lab Kits for Chemistry Kathleen Carrigan* Portland Community College−Cascade Campus, Portland, Oregon 97280, United States chemistry for allied health majors; both these courses require students to purchase lab kits from LabPaq. We worked with LabPaq to customize four kits with 10 labs each for a total of 40 lab experiments. The labs include materials and laboratory instruction for labs such as: basic measurement and density studies; observations of physical and chemical changes, and chemical reactions using the small-scale chemistry technique; titrations; gas law studies; modeling chirality; synthesis of esters; extraction of DNA, and many more. The kits come equipped with lab goggles and gloves, an electronic scale, useful molecular models, glass test tubes and beakers, and plastic graduated cylinders. Chemistry faculty at PCC reviewed the experiments and the lab kits and decided to accept this modality for our DL courses. When students open the lab kits, the first things they encounter are the goggles and the safety checklist. Upon purchase, students are required to sign an agreement with LabPaq to use the material in the described manner. LabPaq provides a $3 million liability policy for the purchaser. The chemicals are carefully chosen and are in very small amounts, using the green chemistry pedagogy. A CD is provided for students to access the lab manual. The materials allow students to perform separations of mixtures, determine caloric content, or study the action of enzymes, among other experiments. Students have commented that once they open the kit and see the quality of the materials provided they feel that the value is worth the cost. The quality of the materials in the lab kit also encourages students to invest the time in performing the lab carefully. This is not a toy chemistry kit. Other options for offering laboratory science experiences as distance learning options are the instructor supplying lab materials, weekend lab “camps”, and virtual labs. Some distance learning instructors send students to the hardware store or grocery store to purchase materials for home labs, others mail materials to students personally. These both require a great deal of instructor work before the course even begins. Using lab kits from LabPaq allows PCC to offer more sections of classes. Instructors are able to spend more time engaging with students. Requiring students come to campus for weekend “lab camps” a few times per term could prevent many students from taking the course because of the distance and the cost of travel and hotel. The least desirable option is the virtual lab experience, which I have found to be incomplete with respect to achieving predetermined outcomes. LabPaq lab kits serve to support course outcomes and allow more instructional time to be spent on answering concept questions. Students buy into the fact that they are doing a real experiment and not a school project. In fact, we have seen many excellent lab reports with detailed observations, data, and even digital photos.
LabPaq Science Lab Kits for Chemistry. http://www.labpaq. com/ (accessed Jan 2012). Hands-On Labs, Inc.: Englewood, Colorado. Kits for PCC include: pcc-ck-100, cost $169; pcc-ck104, cost $159; pcc-ck105, cost $185; pcc-ck-106c (for continuing online students) cost $140; and the pcc-ck-106 (for students new to online) cost $199.
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t doesn’t seem so long ago that teaching chemistry involved using overhead acetates and the chalkboard. Labs included traditional experiences using hazardous chemicals and considerable waste generation. Today, many institutions, including Portland Community College, offer entirely distance learning chemistry courses, including an at-home wet lab experience equivalent to the on-campus lab experience. To accomplish this, my institution has used LabPaq, also known as Hands-On Labs, Inc., as the vendor to distribute lab kits to students. LabPaq has developed a series of lab kits for students to purchase for use at home. These kits provide high-quality materials, chemicals, and equipment designed to provide students with many of the same skills and concepts as in the on-campus labs. At first glance, the cost may cause some concern; however, after using these kits for four years, we have found that our students place a high value on the ability to complete their chemistry course without needing to come to campus and in many cases students actually save money on commuting costs and childcare.
Image provided by LabPaq Science Lab Kits and reproduced with permission. The LabPaq contents shown in this picture are examples only; they do not represent any specific LabPaq kit. This review assesses the quality of the materials in the lab kits along the type of labs available. In addition, the kit cost will be addressed from the point of view of a faculty member, an administrator, and, more importantly, the student. At Portland Community College, we offer a one-quarter introductory chemistry for both chemistry majors and nonmajors courses, and three-quarters of a general organic biological (GOB) © 2012 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Published: January 18, 2012 314
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed200870x | J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 314−315
Journal of Chemical Education
Book and Media Review
Administrators are pleased to have this web based option for chemistry courses so that students from rural areas can complete the chemistry requirement primarily for the Medical Laboratory Tech Program. Courses can be offered every quarter without requiring a classroom or a lab room on campus in already overcrowded buildings. Being able to offer DL science labs also increases FTE without using campus resources. Management supports instructors with funding for training and technology support. Faculty who choose to teach using the distance modality are requested to perform the labs before instruction to experience what students experience at home. Faculty are asked to be interactive, although not necessarily in real time, several times per week in order to address student lab questions by using the discussion postings, email, or through live online office hours. Faculty appreciate using the LabPaq kits because they know that grading is more consistent as all students have a level playing field, and they can use lab reports as another way to ensure that students are achieving the course outcomes. For example, if a student has excellent lab reports, one can expect similar quiz grades and vice versa. Most importantly, students take ownership of their learning if they have invested in the lab kit. We provide some flexibility in the first two weeks for financial aid disbursement. Students save money up front on gas, or hotel rooms if they need to drive to campus from a long distance. Parking costs are also eliminated. Students can choose to perform the lab after their children have gone to bed and can save money on childcare. We do strongly suggest students with young children only do the labs if they have childcare. We have heard that when older children observe their parents performing the labs the children consider this to be very cool, which has had the added effect of increasing children’s excitement about science. In summary, the lab kits from LabPaq provide students with high-quality lab materials and an equivalent wet lab experience in a cost-effective way.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed200870x | J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 314−315
