Auto-graded Lab Reports With Rapid, Effective Feedback in Organic Chemistry

No abstract available

Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Interactive Online Lab Environment to Support Undergraduate Chemistry Labs

The School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, in collaboration with Learning Science Ltd., have initiated a project to design and develop a blended learning experience. This virtual learning environment allows students to explore interactive technical simulations online, before in-lab practical work begins. It also introduces post-lab auto-graded reports using students’ own lab data. These dynamic virtual lab resources promote learning through practice, and provide instant and personalised feedback for each student. One project aim is to encourage students to engage in deeper learning with respect to each experiment, and to promote student confidence and participation in hands-on learning. Hence, these resources are designed to provide a highly interactive and accessible virtual learning experience. The second aim addresses student feedback regarding traditional word-processed lab reports and marking. Assessment was considered by students to be inconsistent, lacking detail, and was too slow. Through our dynamic online reports we aim to improve the consistency and timeliness of feedback delivered to students, and hence improve the learning experience. The online reports provide rapid and effective feedback without the possibility of inconsistency, and can incorporate targeted, valuable feedback for specific and common errors. Finally, we aim to make more efficient use of staff and student lab time, by removing repetitive marking, and allowing staff to focus on teaching techniques, which develop essential work-related skills for students. We have noted that the introduction of these new resources has led to a dramatic increase in student confidence and proficiency within the lab, and crucially student satisfaction, attainment, and engagement with practical work have also improved. Our post-lab online reports developed with Learning Science Ltd., are novel within a Scottish University setting. Therefore, the presentation will give an overview of the process involved, from acquiring funding through design and implementation stages, to results and student evaluations so far

Online Support Films and Moodle Quizzes to Facilitate Transition into Year 1 Chemistry

No abstract available

Student-led Development of Online Support Material (Pre-lab Technical Films and Moodle Quizzes) to Facilitate Transition into Year 1 Chemistry

My perceptions, as a student transitioning from school to undergraduate Chemistry, were that there was an increase in: expected background knowledge, complexity of lab environment, and extent of required independent thought. This cognitive overload was particularly stark during practical sessions. Feedback from my peers confirmed that I was not alone in feeling underprepared, and overwhelmed, by the amount of learning[i]. Evidence shows that many students encounter cognitive overload when beginning a degree course at university, irrespective of the subject area [ii]. Pre-lab resources (in the form of online simulations) have been available to Year 1 students for some time, and results show that this approach improves student confidence and proficiency[iii]. However, simulations do not demonstrate the specific equipment that our students will encounter. Therefore, in an attempt to complement existing resources, we began a project to co-create tailored online support material. This involved designing and producing short pre-lab films, demonstrating key techniques encountered in our Year 1 labs. Videos have been made accessible using subtitling and text pop-ups [iv]. These attempt to highlight safety information and practical advice, as well as assist students to familiarise themselves with the labs that they will actually use in Year 1. In order to further build on the visual learning associated with videos, accompanying Moodle quizzes were also developed, to promote deeper learning[v]. We will measure the impact of the resources on student perceptions of their ability and preparedness. This project demonstrates innovative use of technology to build inclusivity, and co-creation of curriculum by students. [i] S De Meo, J. Chem. Educ. 2001, 78, 3, 373. [ii] B Eddaif, IOSR-JRME 2017, 7, 2, 33-37. [iii] RAR Blackburn, J. Chem. Educ. 2018, 96, 1, 153. [iv] A Ardisara, J. Chem. Educ. 2018, 95, 10, 1881. [v] DF Jolley, J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93, 1855-1862

Online Support Films and Moodle Quizzes to Facilitate Transition into Year 1 Chemistry

No abstract available

Development of Online Support Material (Pre-lab Technical Films and Moodle Quizzes) to Facilitate Transition into Year 1 Chemistry

Students transitioning from school to Year 1 undergraduate Chemistry face multiple challenges, including complexity of the new lab environment. Feedback from Glasgow students shows that they felt overwhelmed by the amount of learning involved in Year 1 Chemistry. Pre-lab resources (online simulations) have been available to Year 1 students for some time in Glasgow and results show that this active learning approach improves student confidence and proficiency. While effective, simulations do not demonstrate the specific equipment that our students encounter. Therefore, we began a project to create tailored online support material. This involved producing short pre-lab films, demonstrating key techniques encountered in our Year 1 labs. The films were made accessible using subtitling and text pop-ups. They highlight safety information and practical advice, as well as assist students to familiarise themselves with the kit and labs that they will use in Year 1. In order to build on the visual learning associated with videos, accompanying Moodle quizzes were also developed. We have shown that this combination of pre-lab resources improves the learning experience of Year 1 students, by supporting varied learning styles. We will also measure impact of these resources on the transition from school to university, focussing on student perceptions of ability and preparedness

Barriers to infection of human cells by feline leukemia virus: insights into resistance to zoonosis

The human genome displays a rich fossil record of past gamma-retrovirus infections, yet no current epidemic is evident, despite environmental exposure to viruses that infect human cells in vitro. Feline leukemia viruses (FeLVs) rank high on this list, but domestic or workplace exposure has not been associated with detectable serological responses. Non-specific inactivation of gamma-retroviruses by serum factors appears insufficient to explain these observations. To investigate further we explored the susceptibility of primary and established human cell lines to FeLV-B, the most likely zoonotic variant. Fully permissive infection was common in cancer-derived cell lines, but was also a feature of non-transformed keratinocytes and lung fibroblasts. Cells of haematopoietic origin were less generally permissive and formed discrete groups on the basis of high or low intracellular protein expression and virion release. Potent repression was observed in primary human blood mononuclear cells and a subset of leukemia cell lines. However, the early steps of reverse transcription and integration appear to be unimpaired in non-permissive cells. FeLV-B was subject to G->A hypermutation with a predominant APOBEC3G signature in partially permissive cells but was not mutated in permissive cells or in non-permissive cells that block secondary viral spread. Distinct cellular barriers that protect primary human blood cells are likely to be important in protection against zoonotic infection with FeLV

Could e-learning Change How we Think About Scholarship and Teaching?

We are three Final Year Chemistry students investigating the impact of new Virtual Learning Environments on the Student Learning Experience. Together with the School of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, and Learning Science Ltd, Pre- lab online interactive simulations and post-lab auto-grading environments were developed. We are currently leading evaluations of the impact these online resources have on the student learning experience. We have carefully developed a consistent methodology for data collection and for analysis. We have focussed on gathering feedback from students who have been supported with these online resources, and those who have not (for comparison). To present our findings we would use video demonstrations and graphical results from the investigation. We hope that our final report can be used as a case study, to help demystify design and implementation of effective e-resources, to highlight considerations and challenges in the process, and ultimately to encourage uptake across disciplines

Could e-learning Change How we Think About Scholarship and Teaching?

We are three Final Year Chemistry students investigating the impact of new Virtual Learning Environments on the Student Learning Experience. Together with the School of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, and Learning Science Ltd, Pre- lab online interactive simulations and post-lab auto-grading environments were developed. We are currently leading evaluations of the impact these online resources have on the student learning experience. We have carefully developed a consistent methodology for data collection and for analysis. We have focussed on gathering feedback from students who have been supported with these online resources, and those who have not (for comparison). To present our findings we would use video demonstrations and graphical results from the investigation. We hope that our final report can be used as a case study, to help demystify design and implementation of effective e-resources, to highlight considerations and challenges in the process, and ultimately to encourage uptake across disciplines

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of an allosteric inhibitor of HSET that targets cancer cells with supernumerary centrosomes

Centrosomes associate with spindle poles; thus, the presence of two centrosomes promotes bipolar spindle assembly in normal cells. Cancer cells often contain supernumerary centrosomes, and to avoid multipolar mitosis and cell death, these are clustered into two poles by the microtubule motor protein HSET. We report the discovery of an allosteric inhibitor of HSET, CW069, which we designed using a methodology on an interface of chemistry and biology. Using this approach, we explored millions of compounds in silico and utilized convergent syntheses. Only compound CW069 showed marked activity against HSET in vitro. The inhibitor induced multipolar mitoses only in cells containing supernumerary centrosomes. CW069 therefore constitutes a valuable tool for probing HSET function and, by reducing the growth of cells containing supernumerary centrosomes, paves the way for new cancer therapeutics