by Rachael Switalski, October 5, 2020

As part of her work as a CASTLE Faculty Fellow, Dr. Meshagae Hunte-Brown, Teaching Professor, Department of Biology, worked on a project that studied the implementation of remote labs here on Drexel’s campus. Dr. Hunte-Brown saw virtual labs as a tool that could be a key to success for laboratory classes in the current virtual environment, worked to identify and define how best to overcome common challenges faculty faced using these tools, and provided a guideline for faculty to use to determine what types of virtual labs would be the best fit for their courses.

One tool available for virtual labs is Labster. Labster is a virtual laboratory simulation tool that simulates an authentic laboratory experience. Drexel has an institutional license for Labster, making it available for all Drexel faculty to use. As part of her work as a CASTLE Faculty Fellow, Dr. Hunte-Brown put together guidance that outlines the advantages that virtual labs can provide and how best to take advantage of the resources Labster offers.

Dr. Hunte-Brown is enthusiastic about the ability of virtual labs to motivate students and level the playing field for students of all backgrounds while we continue forward with remote learning, saying “If we focus on our learning objectives and use them as our guide, we will find that there is much we can accomplish in the remote space and further that there are exciting and unique opportunities available to us”.

As part of this project, Dr. Hunte-Brown worked closely with Labster and was invited to speak at the inaugural Labster virtual conference, Science Online (SO): Inspired, to share her expertise on how to prepare students for their new learning environment. This conference will include 1000+ science educators, administrators, and thought leaders from institutions around the world. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Hunte-Brown on her success!