Learning by productive failure

This session will demonstrate how to effectively deliver practical contents of wetlab through different methods; focusing on Virtual Lab benches that are being developed to enhance practical teaching at UQ. These virtual experimental setups can be deployed in many ways including recreating an actual wetlab experiment; adding additional variables that cannot be looked at in the time available for the wetlab practical; and teaching workplace-relevant skills such as experimental design and implementation. 

Wetlab practicals are an essential part of science education, but are costly to run because of the requirement for dedicated teaching spaces, technical support staff and high consumable costs. As a result, actual wetlab practicals are confined to limited timeslots of 3 hours, and students are only able to carry out a procedure once during a given course. 

The use of Virtual Lab Benches for a blended delivery of practicals resolves several of these challenges by allowing students to use the virtual space to prepare for a wetlab practical; repeat the experiment after the practical in case of issues encountered; and to learn techniques that cannot be taught in a wetlab practical due to time requirements and the need for expensive equipment or consumables. The virtual lab spaces allows students to learn from mistakes (i.e. productive failures) made in previous iterations. This fosters critical analysis and troubleshooting skills that are essential in many workplaces.  

The Virtual Lab Benches can also be used to set assessment tasks, as each student receives an individual session with unique sample properties. This enables experimental and data analysis skills to be assessed in an exam-like format. 

Session participants will: 

• become acquainted with new ways of delivering and enhancing wetlab practical education 
• create new types of assessment items that test theoretical as well as practical skills. 

Presenters:

• Gareth Denyer  
• Jack Wang  
• Ulrike Kappler.