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The Microbiology and Cell Science program at the University of Florida compressed two standard 16-week lab courses into five-day versions of the course, which are referred to as bootcamp labs. The bootcamp labs have the same objectives, activities, and assessments as their traditional counterparts. Development of the bootcamp labs was part of a larger effort to increase access to the major, and more broadly STEM, by offering a 2+2 hybrid online transfer program. The results of this mixed-methods study include a direct comparison between bootcamp and traditional lab format as an approach for delivery of a face-to-face lab course. The bootcamp lab cohort has a greater diversity of students, with more women and underrepresented minorities in STEM than the traditional semester-long cohorts. Students in the bootcamp labs have comparable grade outcomes and learning gains to students in traditional lab format. Regression analysis identified GPA, but not lab format, as the most significant predictor of success for students enrolled in lab courses. Qualitative results suggest that the bootcamp format may be a better way than traditional formats to teach microbiology lab. In summary, the results demonstrate that a bootcamp version of a face-to-face microbiology course is just as effective as the traditional semester-long version. This work has broader implications as it supports the bootcamp lab approach as a model in STEM education for increasing access and for overcoming a major barrier to online STEM programs: face-to-face delivery of key lab courses.
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Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Educative Making Experiences Redux
In this descriptive brief paper three science education university faculty and a postdoctoral researcher share the difference between the delivery, execution, and assessment of the same educative making learning opportunities assigned to science education preservice teachers first in face-to-face undergraduate courses taught before the COVID-19 pandemic, and then in an online version of the same courses. This presentation may inform the work of constituents of science and teacher education and maker learning communities who want to employ best practices as they modify curriculum for virtual delivery. (Funding-NSF Grant 1842342.)
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- Award ID(s):
- 1842343
- PAR ID:
- 10203908
- Editor(s):
- Langran, E.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- SITE Interactive Online
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 632-638
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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