Alternative Forms of Laboratory Teaching during the Lockdown Period Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article deals with problematics of laboratory learning in the state of total lockdown of educational institutions which was caused by COVID-19 pandemic. Schools in the Czech Republic have been operating in a special regime for more than a year, when most students and pupils cannot directly participate in school teaching, which results in significant changes in the way teaching is organized. There is a significant application of various forms of e-learning and schools use the concept of blended learning, however, practical teaching in laboratories and workshops was particularly hard hit. When replacing student experimental work in laboratories, teaching with the help of virtual laboratories is the strongest. Due to the general irreplaceability of real physical experience of pupils, various combined forms of teaching are used, where only a part of pupils work in the school, so as to minimize the risk of spreading the infection, but these pupils take turns in laboratories. Furthermore, some teachers try to design students' home experiments, in the implementation of which the principles of design-based learning and project-based learning are strongly applied. In this article, substitute teaching of laboratories in subjects such as physics, chemistry or electrical engineering in schools is mapped and evaluated, special emphasis is placed on high schools with curriculum focused towards technics and engineering. It is in these schools that the approach to teaching known as design-based learning is very well applied and the students of some selected schools were able to work on home experiments. It was this form of substitute teaching that proved to be the most effective.

Kebutuhan Terhadap Laboratorium Virtual Berbasis Masalah pada Materi Sistem Peredaran Darah

“…Karena siswa merasa lebih percaya diri setelah menggunakan laboratorium virtual dalam menggunakan peralatan laboratorium yang sebenarnya. Sejalan dengan penelitian yang menyatakan bahwa lab virtual merupakan kandidat terkuat untuk menggantikan eksperimen di laboratorium, ternyata laboratorium virtual dapat dijadikan sarana melatih keterampilan berpikir kritis serta meningkatkan hasil belajar siswa (Asrizal Asrizal et al, 2019;Major et al, 2022;Reny et al, 2018;Sari* et al, 2022). Walaupun penggunaan laboratorium virtual belum bisa menggantikan secara keseluruhan praktikum di laboratorium sebenarnya tetapi siswa menyukai fleksibiltas dan kenyamanannya.…”

“…Guru dituntut untuk menguasai teknologi agar dapat dengan mudah membuat sendiri media, materi, dan alat pembelajaran dengan teknologi terkini. Kemajuan teknologi informasi saat ini dapat digunakan oleh guru untuk memberikan solusi terhadap permasalahan pada praktikum Biologi seperti keterbatasan saran dan prasarana, kesulitan akses saat pandemi, ketidakamanan alat dan bahan, dan permasalahan biaya pada praktikum riil di laboratorium dengan memberikan solusi alternatif menggunakan laboratorium virtual (Ferreira, 2010;Major et al, 2022;Rahim et al, 2019;Wang, 2018).…”

Virtual Laboratories in the Teaching of Mechanical Technology

“…Considering the importance of practical experience in professional training, it is generally not desirable to give up teaching in laboratories. People working in education therefore had to look for suitable ways of organising laboratory teaching [1,3,9].…”

“…The proportion of workshop or laboratory work varies depending on the type of technical education the student attends. In the Czech Republic, two types of secondary vocational schools can be distinguished in principle: secondary vocational schools whose graduates can work as technicians, and schools that prepare pupils primarily for the performance in blue-collar professions [8,9]. The content of education at secondary schools with a matriculation exam provides the student with all the knowledge necessary for further study of the field at a technical college.…”

A Comparison of Students' Mean Achievements before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study

“…Not only has the outbreak of the pandemic caused havoc in the society, it affected education so adversely that many countries suspended face-to-face teaching and examination Gonzalez et al [2]. Others made use of virtual laboratories Major and Hubá lovská et al [3]. Educational Institutions in the United Arab Emirates, for instance, were forced to adopt online platforms for the safety of their students and teachers Ali [4].…”