posted on 2021-09-08, 17:06authored byIvan Mosiagin, Katharina Pallitsch, Immo Klose, Alexander Preinfalk, Nuno Maulide
Most of the available information
on studying under the challenging
conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes a variety
of aspects on how to digitalize the whole teaching process. Thus,
several useful and potentially game-changing strategies have been
reported recently. In contrast to the digitalization of teaching,
in this article, we focus on the reverse process: transitioning back
to offline teaching, which is unavoidable especially for the acquisition
of practical skills during chemistry studies. In this work, we describe
our own experience acquired during the Organic Chemistry practical
course at the University of Vienna, which was held in June 2020 and
onwards. The article contains descriptions of precautions and measures
that were taken, additional materials, and necessary changes made
in order to safely continue on-site course teaching. We anticipate
that this set of precautions can be used in an adapted fashion for
any type of laboratory course. Further, we offer a critical analysis
of students’ and instructors’ opinions concerning the
changes and well-being during the course. Those opinions were collected
via a detailed survey. From our experience, with careful planning
and responsible behavior, a return to on-site education is possible
and warmly welcomed by all involved participants. The detailed description
of our course may also be useful for those who need to start a new
organic laboratory course or want to improve an existing one.