Page 10 - Science@UM365Dec2020

TEACHING & LEARNING

VIRTUAL PRACTICAL CLASS

IS NO LONGER A TABOO

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY SECTION

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Student Feedbacks

“I thought doing lab
session virtually would be
lame and boring as if it
was a session where I
could just keep the laptop
on and continue slacking
off. Well, it was totally the
other way around where
the class was always
interactive. The lecturer
Background assigned us some tasks
Most of us were caught by surprise to go 100% online for teaching and and we must come up with
learning in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All courses, a short presentation. A lot
including practical classes, were switched to online platforms.
Although we used to have one E-Learning Week per semester for a of new knowledge was
few years already, going fully online has never been the norm for most gained and I believe it will
of us and completely excluded practical classes. We struggled learning keep on coming. Overall,
on the job, but completed the remaining eight weeks in that semester. the lab session was very
Unexpectedly, the challenge turned into a blessing in disguise! A fun.”
strong message was sent to all of us in the Department: Be prepared
for the paradigm shift to virtual learning – change your mindset! “To be honest this class
has been the most
Special Project: Mindset, Planning and Implementation interesting class yet. I can
The Department of Chemistry wasted no time in getting ready for sit and listen and
virtual laboratory classes. The Head of Department, Professor Dr.
Zanariah Abdullah, launched a special project in July 2020, that concentrate in class for
included all academics and laboratory staff. Our task was to prepare hours. It passed my
for virtual practical classes in response to potential face-to-face expectation.”
constraints in the future. Hands-on laboratory sessions are, no doubt,
best for learning of practical skills. For effective virtual sessions, the “E-learning can sometimes
content and delivery must be tweaked and adjusted. Moreover, it be more informative than
must be agreed by everyone. With that in mind, we went ahead with actual lectures as it has to
the preparation for virtual practical classes to address the challenge of include all the practical lab
exclusively learning online in the future. Although nobody really liked
the idea, we had to be prepared to make the best out of the situation. work and theory.”

Science@UM365 8