I have been doing a lot of thinking, reading, and talking with folks about the feasibility of using virtual labs in a high-end course such as Advanced Placement Biology. As documented before, the College Board had ruled that AP students must have guided hands-on (not virtual) laboratory experiences. This ruling has since been rescinded, as new developments in online learning may merit AP endorsements.
What do educational professionals think? I had the chance yesterday to talk with two such people: A current AP Biology private school teacher, and the science curriculum coordinator for the virtual school I am studying. These conversations have given me a pretty clear view of the issue. The AP Biology teacher is a 16-year veteran of the course, who runs her course in a traditional AP fashion. Her students conduct all 12 required AP Bio labs, in additional to other added labs. She reports that one of the four essays on the AP exam is usually about one of the 12 labs, and that most of the other labs are directly referred to in the exam (therefore the labs are IMPORTANT). When I asked her if she felt there was a place for virtual labs or simulations in an AP course, her answer surprised me. She said that she would use virtual labs for special circumstances (such as a student being absent on lab days). She also stated that if a lab was particularly difficult and if she had time, she would like to have students run through the virtual experience prior to doing the real thing; it could also be used as a lab practical. She did say that she feels strongly that students learn more and better by running the actual lab rather than a simulation.
How about the virtual school? My conversation with the school’s science curriculum coordinator was eye-opening. First, he told me that the College Board will NOT approve a 100% virtual lab for AP Bio. His school DOES have College Board approval, and to the best of his knowledge, always has. The way they received this approval was by forming a HYBRID of sorts between virtual labs and actual labs. As the curriculum for the school was created, the designers looked the AP Bio manual from the College Board. They decided that the safer labs could be done in the student’s home with school-supplied materials and parent-supplied supervision. For labs with dangerous or hazardous materials, the students are provided with virtual simulations. The school provides each student with a textbook (they currently use Campbell Biology text, ? edition) which comes with a CD of all of the simulations. This is a first-year college biology text that most high school AP Bio courses use. The school also uses subscription sites that show the simulations (the school does not use the SmartScience subscription I described in an earlier blog).
Right now, the school only offers AP Biology; they do not offer AP Chemistry, Environmental Science, or Physics. The school has one AP Biology teacher, who services close to 200 students each year. The curriculum coordinator reports that the students are expected to take the AP Biology exam in May; most of the students do take the exam. The student signs up for the exam through College Board and takes the exam at their neighborhood high school. The coordinator happily reported that their student’s scores are above the state average.
So, my final answer is this: If the AP Biology course is taught in a traditional school, do all of the labs physically, and supplement them with simulations and virtual labs. If a high school does not offer AP Biology for whatever reason, then they should be able to and allowed to take it through a virtual school. The virtual school should make every attempt to allow students to do as much of the lab work physically at home with school-supplied lab materials; the rest should be done online. The students should take the AP exam at the end of the year. This HYBRID model is working with the virtual school I am studying.
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3 comments:
So AP has to have real labs, but not necessarily performed under direct supervision of the teacher? Have you had a chance to read any of the lab reports students turn in? Can you tell from the reports if the experiment was done and how well they completed the lab?
Does the traditional AP Bio teacher have experience with virtual labs? I do like her idea of having the students run through a lab virtually before doing it hands-on. I wonder though if her lack of experience with virtual labs makes her a little more bias against it.
Unfortunately, I do not have access to any of the lab reports; perhaps I can get some in the future. In regards to the traditional AP Bio teacher, she has reviewed some of the virtual labs I sent her. She said she liked them, and would consider using them for a preview of an actual lab, if time permits. She did seem a little biased against the labs, but was more open-minded than I expected.
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