A laboratory competency examination in microbiology

Impact of COVID-19 Curricular Shifts on Learning Gains on the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory

As a validated assessment, the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory (MHSCI) is a valuable tool to evaluate student progress in health sciences microbiology courses. In this brief analysis, we survey MHSCI faculty users and report student MHSCI scores to determine the impact on student learning gains of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine in spring 2020. Although a majority of students reported moving to a fully online lecture and lab microbiology course in the spring 2020 semester, there was no statistically significant impact on student outcomes reported by the MHSCI, and by some measures, student learning gains increased in the semester students moved to online learning. Further research is necessary to determine the continuing impact of online lecture/lab courses on student outcomes on the MHSCI. Our analysis of data from spring 2020 shows that the MHSCI is still a statistically reliable measure of student misconceptions and overall difficulty scores for each item on the MHSCI was unchanged due to the pandemic.

Be prepared - Learning for the future

Forward-looking papers from around the globe, addressing themes of current educational practice, were published in the FEMS Microbiology Letters virtual Thematic Issue 'Learning for the future' in October 2019. Its dynamic content is reviewed here to facilitate discussions within the professional community. The focus is on preparing generations of 21st century professionals as lifelong learners for yet unknown working environments and demands. Active and authentic learning is covered in various contexts from interactive lectures, via innovative tasks exploring the scientific method to conducting research over a distance. Naturally, authentic assessment features. Moreover, authentic learning is taken out of the classroom into the community as service learning for students to develop skills and see unexpected Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths career opportunities. Approaches to public engagement with science are presented including through art. Art is also brought into the classroom, as well as educational games, to foster creativity. Additionally, sharing science with large audiences on social media is discussed. Future-proofing education requires being innovative and imaginative. This comes with challenges and risks, but being prepared is worth it.