Evaluating the implementation of remote emergency teaching during the COVID-19 context: a case study in chemistry laboratory subjects in a higher education institution

Abstract

Emergency Remote Teaching (ERE) is an educational procedure that involves the use of distance learning solutions in scenarios in which the teaching process would otherwise be face-to-face or guided by hybrid resources; these techniques are meant to be an alternative during a crisis and are to be ceased once the emergency subsides. In this research paper, an Emergency Remote Teaching Strategy in Laboratories (EREL) was developed under the Extended Laboratory Model (LE), to be applied and evaluated in academical subjects that involve chemical experimentation laboratories at the Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica (UNED-CR). The project assesses the effectiveness of the EREL from the perspective of the students, the teachers, and the development process of face-to-face experiments. According to the perception of the students, home experiments contributed to a greater extent (most effectively) in the understanding of the chemical concepts related to each subject. However, according to the perception of the teachers, the students must improve in aspects such as the safe handling of chemical substances and the correct usage of laboratory instruments, as well as the development of laboratory skills. EREL in the COVID-19 context is valued positively by the teaching staff and the students; nevertheless, it was also clear that a single face-to-face session is not enough for students to acquire the basic technical skills of laboratory subjects, which makes returning to traditional learning a priority, keeping the use of resources such as Remote Experimentation Manuals (MPR) as a complement in laboratory subjects.