Culturally and Socially Relevant Virtual Labs

Kimberly Jackson, a professor of biochemistry, has developed culturally and socially relevant labs that create opportunities for students to share and draw from their cultural identities. She sets the cultural context for their organic chemistry lab, for example by having students read Audrey Lorde’s book Journey, about her struggle as a queer black woman dealing with breast cancer, then applies that cultural context to hands-on learning as they try to treat breast cancer cells in the lab. In other examples, labs have centered on on whiskey or black women’s hair. These labs can be made more accessible to students through virtual tools such as Labster, a tool Professor Jackson explored during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital Resources

Labster Virtual Labs

https://www.labster.com

Labster’s virtual lab simulations allow students to work through real-life case stories, interact with lab equipment, perform experiments and learn with theory and quiz questions. A Labster virtual lab simulation is an immersive 3D interactive learning environment.

A screenshot of Labster's Virtual Reality chemistry lab.

Digital Enablement

Virtual labs are a way to broaden the opportunities for students to engage with relevant subject matter. Labs can be a significant site for fostering a sense of belonging and can enable strength-based pedagogies by connecting potential research projects to challenges within students’ communities, making topics like chemistry more relevant to students’ lives.

Fostering a Sense of Belonging

Implementation Effort:

Moderate

Subject:

Chemistry

Use Case:

Instructional Activity Equitable Implementation