Episode 16 Summary:
How to Be a Faculty Mentor

Having a faculty mentor can make a world of difference to a student looking for guidance on how to pursue a career in STEM. In this episode, we’ll get to speak with Professor Lucia Santacruz of Bowie State University who combines her love of teaching with her passion for mentoring her students. Lucia shares her thoughts about how faculty mentors can help their students find the right path to a rewarding STEM career. This is especially important guidance if a well-meaning parent is pressuring their STEM student to become a doctor without exploring other options! SJ and Lucia close the session with a reflection on how mentoring can help close the diversity gap in STEM.

Episode 5: Summary
Multistream Science Education for Nontraditional Students

With undergraduate science degrees now requiring up to 5-6 years of on-campus time to complete, how can a nontraditional student with a job and family ever achieve a bachelor’s degree and get ahead at work? Professor Jennifer C. Bobenko suggests it’s time for a paradigm shift she’s calls Multistream Education. Jennifer, a professor of biochemistry and chair of IRB at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, thinks nontraditional students should be able to graduate in just a few years, and she knows how to get it done. In this thought provoking episode, she shares her vision for Multistream Education as a partnership between traditional degree-granting universities, MOOCs, industry, and virtual lab providers like Labster.

Episode 15: Summary
股本和代表性STEM教育(部分2)

The importance of providing guidance, mentoring, and opportunities to network drive the conversation in this second part of our special two-part episode with chemistry professor Cord Carter and his former student and research assistant, Brianna Brown. Brianna explains how her alma mater, Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, has successfully helped her to stay motivated to reach her bold goals. Cord tells a personal story about how important it was that one of his own professors expressed a personal interest in him, and how he now works to help his students to take inspiration from a diverse group of STEM professionals he invites into his classroom.

Episode 14: Summary
股本和代表性STEM教育(部分1)

在这个特殊的第一部分集中,SJ chats with chemistry professor Cord Carter and his former student and research assistant, Brianna Brown. Cord and Brianna share their experiences teaching and learning at Fisk University, a well-known HBCU in Nashville, TN. They discuss their passion for STEM education, the importance of Fisk’s history, and how much representation matters.

Episode 13: Summary
The Tool is Not Your Course

If you’re here to ask Dr. Karen Vignare to recommend “the right learning tool”, take a number. In this episode, she highlights the findings of her research into using adaptive courseware as part of a student-first approach to instruction. So what can educators do to support more students to succeed in gateway courses? Spoiler alert: it takes more than just buying the right tool.

Episode 12: Summary
Research on Labster in the Classroom

并不是每一个化学教育家开始大学的做法g they'll have a career in STEM - some stumble upon their calling. That was the case for Dr. Melody Esfandiari, who shares her story and her personal commitment to supporting other women in science at the beginning of this episode. Always curious, Melody wanted to find out whether her Introductory Chemistry students felt prepared to conduct experiments in a real wet lab after learning with Labster virtual labs. So, she conducted her own research, comparing grades as well as students' self-reported data about their learning experience. You'll hear Melody's findings and find out what surprised her most.

Episode 11: Summary
Academic Technologists: the unsung heroes of pandemic teaching

Who did faculty members turn to for support when Zoom suddenly became the de facto medium for teaching? At the 23 universities within the Cal State system, it was the members of the Academic Technology Services department. They worked overtime to train faculty members in how to bring their labs, lectures, and assessments online. So how did these academic technologists do it? And what will happen to their digital learning initiatives when in-person classes safely resume? In this episode, you’ll hear from two guests who have the answers: Dr. Leslie Kennedy, senior director of Academic Technology Services at The California State University in the Office of the Chancellor, and Shaidy Ruiz, Communications Analyst in the Department of Academic Technology Services.

Episode 10: Summary
Reflection is the Key

How do students learn from a simulation? Is it when they are engaged in the experience? When they prepare for it? The answer is neither, according to Dr. Amber Kool. Her dissertation research revealed that students learn most when they debrief and reflect on their simulation learning experience. In this episode, Kool shares her thoughts on best practices for teaching virtual lab simulations. Kool is Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Arizona College of Nursing, where her students will use Labster as part of their post-Covid return to face-to-face and hybrid learning.

Episode 8: Summary
STEM for All (Part 2)

How can a university fulfill its commitment to make STEM for All a reality? In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Sophia Rahming, she describes an innovative strategy used by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Florida State University to empower undergraduate Learning Assistants to partner with graduate Teaching Assistants and course faculty so that first and second year students have what they need to succeed in gateway STEM courses.

Episode 7: Summary
STEM for All (Part 1)

Does geography determine who gets to learn science? Who does science belong to? In this episode, we discuss Dr. Sophia Rahming’s provocative research around the structural biases and barriers to studying science and the need for culturally responsive science education. Dr. Rahming is an Associate Director in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Florida State University and is researching the experiences of Afro-Caribbean women in STEM in the United States.

Episode 6: Summary
Diversity in the Online Classroom

With classes still remote due to COVID, Biology professors Selinda Martinez and Julie Kelley have an honest discussion about the experience of teaching diverse students in asynchronous online courses. We’ll explore their ideas for creating a shared sense of community among their online students at Laredo College in Texas.

Episode 4: Summary
Ideas for Teaching with Labster (Part 2)

"Are you struggling with the fear of trying something new in your classroom? In Part Two of our conversation, Professors Felicia Vulcu and Cailtin Mullarkey talk about their belief that creating a safe and nurturing culture within a classroom community permits both students and teachers to take risks and innovate. We also discuss their favorite edtech tools for biochemistry courses, valuable takeaways from pandemic teaching, and their ideas to quickly train students with hands-on, tactile lab skills when in-person learning resumes at McMaster University."

Episode 3: Summary
Ideas for Teaching with Labster (Part 1)

“Are you teaching both online and in-person these days? Biochemistry professors Felicia Vulcu and Caitlin Mullarkey of McMaster University explain how they teach with Labster using any course delivery format. When Felicia has a face-to-face course, she plays Labster simulations right along with her 160 students as a pre-lab exercise. When Caitlin teaches a 600-student online course, her students use Labster at the end of a module as a way of applying concepts they’ve been learning. Felicia and Caitlin both encourage their students to play Labster as many times as they want in order to master the simulations, and they count their students’ highest Labster quiz scores for grading purposes.”

Episode 2: Summary
Gamified Learning and Engagement

“Are you a science teacher who wants to motivate and engage students with gamified learning while still maintaining academic rigor? We’ll dive into Labster’s learning objectives, use of embedded quizzes, and story-driven missions. SJ tackles techniques for learning with virtual labs and answers the question 'is Labster a game or is Labster a serious learning tool?'”

Episode 1: Summary
Inclusion in the Virtual Lab

“If you’re curious about what a virtual lab simulation is and how to make it accessible to all students, start with this episode. SJ breaks down Labster’s journey toward inclusive design and shares what you can expect from Labster’s accessibility features and diverse character catalog. Need ideas for how to embed virtual labs within your curriculum? SJ offers some best practices starting with checking for access needs and surrounding the lab with supportive activities.”

Episode 0: Summary
Trailer: The Labster Podcast

The Labster Podcast gives science educators like you a chance to hear from peers who teach with Labster’s virtual labs and other educational technologies. We’ll reflect on learning and curriculum design, and leave you feeling inspired and energized about reaching and teaching your students.

Episode 9: Summary
Answering Your FAQs: Labster for High School

Wondering how virtual labs can help your students (and you!) make the most of your time in the real lab? Curious about whether virtual labs can help your students visualize abstract concepts and have their own lightbulb moments? Labster’s own Carlin Robinson addresses lots of your FAQs about teaching high school science with virtual labs.