Teaching lab practicals

This three day course is intended for people who want to improve the design, assessment, and teaching of their lab parcticals and elements of their practical class. The focus is not only on teaching, but on the different elements that make a lab practical more engaging, aligned, and successful. 
All people who teach lab practicals (technicians, PhDs, post-docs and other staff) are welcome. Please read the course description below for the content of the course and for whom the course is most applicable.

Content

The three day course consists of three themes. 

Day 1 and 2 will be from 9.30-16.30h. Day 3 will be from 9.30-14h.

There are preparation activities that will take around 3,5 hours (1,5 hour before day 1 and 2 hours before day 3).

Theme 1: Design & Assessment

• What do you want your students to achieve during the practical (the learning outcomes)?
• Designing elements of the practical using the research cycle
• Choosing effective assessment methods
• Developing an assessment form (e.g. rubric) for practical reports and/or for practical skills

Theme 2: Supervising students and giving feedback

• Supervision
  • Balance between guidance and own responsibility of the student
  • Dealing with difficult situations/students.
  • Motivating students
• Giving feedback to students
• Teaching methods for plenary feedback (wrap up at the end of practical class)

Theme 3: Giving an introduction/demonstration 

• Theory and exercise about giving an introduction with a focus on motivation and interaction.
• Demonstrating an experiment or technique 

Learning outcomes

The participant:

• Analyses the practical using the research cycle and redesigns elements of the practical
• Draws up an assessment form to assess students’  lab performance
• Describes factors that influence students’ motivation and uses this when supervising students
• Adjusts their supervision depending on the type of practical and the students’ learning process and needs
• Gives feedback to individual students 
• Gives a clear and motivating introduction to/demonstration during a practical class

Method

During the course you are expected to play an active role yourself. You will be provided with information and exchange tips and tricks, which you will then process and apply through discussions, assignments and exercises.

In theme 3 you will practice giving a motivating and clear introduction at the start of a practical or you practice demonstrating a technique.

Target group and Prerequisites

The course content should tie in with your teaching duties at Wageningen University:

• You should have (some) experience in teaching lab practicals. While you can join as a teacher who is new to practicals, some parts will be less applicable for you as we ask you to draw on your experiences for learning. 
• You will be working on your own laboratory practical, so you need to bring a course guide and know your own role and responsibilities within the course. If you do not have a current active role in a laboratory practical, this might pose a challenge for you and might require a bit of extra work to get the information you need or to execute some of the activities in the course. 

Certificate

You will be awarded a certificate of attendance.  

Costs

Participation is free for Wageningen University & Research staff involved in teaching WU courses.

Cancellation

We consider registration as final. When cancelled within three weeks before the activity starts, your chair group will be charged all costs of your subscription (€350,-).

If there are less than 6 participants in the course, Teaching & Learning Centre may cancel the course and notify you at the latest 2 weeks before the start of the course.