Zoology Virtual Laboratory experiments in the biological sciences

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Zoology Virtual Laboratory
experiments in the biological sciences

• Phil Marston, Learning Technology Unit,
  University of Aberdeen

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Problems to be addressed
Zoology Virtual Laboratory experiments in
the biological sciences

• Increasing numbers of students
• Time
• Constraints of available equipment
• Data sets
• Limited
• Poor
• Shared/duplicated

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Mitigation
Zoology Virtual Laboratory experiments in
the biological sciences

• Self managed 24/7 access to campus network
• Time-warping
• Virtual equipment
• Data sets
• Extended
• Representative
• Unique

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How? - The experiments
Zoology Virtual Laboratory experiments in
the biological sciences

• Sub-lethal copper toxicity in Gammarus duebeni
• 5 experiments
• Measuring respiration using an oxygen electrode
• Pleopod beat rates
• Swimming endurance
• Pre-copula pairing
• Sample from contaminated stream
• Lab book, assessed lab report including a variety
  of statistical analysis.

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How? - The delivery
Zoology Virtual Laboratory experiments in
the biological sciences

• Network delivery using internet technologies
• Generic laboratory environment shell
• Experiment modules
• Macromedia Flash
• PHP

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Evaluation Results
Zoology Virtual Laboratory experiments in
the biological sciences

• Less time
• More experiments
• Quality of submitted work increased
• Grades comparable to wet labs previous years
• Students found engaging and .