Project Goals and Deliverables

BACKGROUND

The North American Network of Science Labs Online (NANSLO) team is made up of representatives from each of the eight partner institutions involved in the project. An Advisory Board, three faculty Discipline Panels, representing the fields of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and staff have collaborated since July of 2011 to meet project goals.

PROJECT GOALS

• Development of openly available curriculum and laboratory experiments.

  Through NANSLO team collaboration, three first semester NANSLO open core courses and laboratory experiments for Biology, Physics, and Chemistry are now available for broad use.  http://nanslo.pbworks.com is a wiki where many NANSLO documents can be found.
   

• Replication and expansion of Remote Web-based Science Laboratory infrastructure

  NANSLO staff in British Columbia collaborated with Colorado Community College System (CCCS) staff to replicate and expand Remote Web-based Science Lab (RWSL) technology originally developed at North Island College (NIC) for use throughout the 13 CCCS campuses. RWSL allows students to access high quality lab equipment remotely using a combination of software and robotically-controlled equipment.

  View a few short videos intended for students as they become familiar with RWSL technology. Watch to see what the RWSL experience is like three courses: Physics, Biology, and Chemistry.
   

• Instructing faculty on use of RWSL

  Introducing faculty at partner institutions and beyond to the use of RWSL technology is an important outcome of this project. NANSLO's train-the-trainer program provides a wealth of documentation including an "Instructor's guide to Teaching with the Remote Web-based Science Laboratory," and a collection of How-to guides for use of equipment such as air tracks, microscopes, and spectrometers.
   

• NANSLO Network & Expansion Resources

  Expansion resources include an environmental scan of remote science education labs in the US and Canada; a how-to adoption manual of case studies, policies and procedures that others can use to guide their own adoption of RWSL; and a scale network template that provides guidance on scaling use of remote labs across all institutions collaborating in NANSLO as well as a sustainability model.

STUDENT LAB REPORT REVIEW PROCESS

Panel members are going above and beyond the already ambitious project by diving into a review of lab reports produced by students who are completing RWSL lab assignments. You can see their work in Physics, Biology, and Chemistry.

CCCOnline Customized Experiments for Biology, Chemistry and Physics Courses

CCCOline leveraged the work that evolved out of that effort to customize two remote web-based lab experiments for each course. These experiments were made available through the NANSLO lab in Denver, CO to CCCOnline students taking these courses. The following experiments were developed:

BIOLOGY

1. Introduction to Microscopy: Introduces students to the importance of determining such things as field of view and magnification power of a microscope. Students complete common characterization activities and compare/contrast the results between the digital microscope and the basic optical microscope used in the at-home kits.
2. Mitosis and Meiosis: Students examine plant and animal cells in various stages of development and identify cells in various stages. The ability for students to download high resolution images from the digital microscope to their computers and include them in their reports is highly valuable.

1. Emission Spectroscopy: Students examine the light emitted by four different gases (atomic and molecular) and draw conclusions about electron states and energy levels. One of the gases is carbon dioxide, so students are able to investigate the link between the emission spectrum of carbon dioxide and its functionality as a "greenhouse gas".
2. Beer-Lambert Law: The absorption of visible light by a series of pre-made solutions of nickel sulfate is quantified. This information is used to create a standard curve of absorption vs. concentration. The absorbance of a nickel sulfate solution of unknown (to the student) concentration is then measured and the concentration determined by the student.

1. Uniform Motion: Study of constant velocity motion to establish the validity of Newton's first law of motion.
   NOTE: Only the Accelerated Motion activity for Physics is currently being used, as the Uniform Motion activity was deemed too simple. We will probably combine them into one activity in the future (this is how they are usually done at most schools).
2. Accelerated Motion: Study of motion under the influence of gravity. Allows students to reach an excellent approximation of the gravitational constant "g."

See the NANSLO wiki to access these lab documents.