Gaining experience in lab work through Labster

At the Faculty of Medicine, Robin Bos gives a U-Talent masterclass to 30 students. During this master class, Robin uses the Labster tool to give students experience in lab work, protocols and doing research.

Goals

As a Biomedical Sciences student themself, Robin went through several Labster simulations. Now as a teacher, they have come into contact with Labster again, as their predecessor also used this simulation for U-Talent's master class during the pandemic. An important goal of using the tool was to give students experience with lab work, protocols and doing research. Robin says: "I used the tool to introduce students to working in the lab and thinking about what steps are needed to investigate certain cellular processes. At three points during the running of the simulation, I interrupted the simulation to discuss with the students what they did and what they learnt."

Results

The goal Robin had in mind was achieved. They explain: "During the simulation, the students thought about what steps they needed to take to carry out the research and were introduced to lab-specific processes and techniques such as using a pipette, incubation, immunofluorescence, and CRISPR/Cas9. The participating students really enjoyed using Labster, especially since working in a real lab was logistically impossible. The simulation could still show what it's like in a lab."