IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL SIMULATION PLATFORMS IN COVID TIMES: PERCEPTION QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
Universidad Europea de Madrid (SPAIN)
About this paper:
Conference name: 13th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies
Dates: 5-6 July, 2021
Location: Online Conference
Abstract:
The technological revolution and the globalized world in which we live nowadays allows us to have high technology and large simulators at any time we want. The pandemic that took place in 2020 forced us to use different simulators in such a way that our students could know first- hand and where ever they were the most sophisticated techniques that are carried out in a laboratory. The use of virtual platforms as Learning Science and Labster helped us to recreate a large number of controlled scenarios, optimizing the resources of time and space. The use of both resources was outlined as a great alternative so that students could carry out hands-on laboratory sessions acquiring practical skills. Learning Science and Labster was implemented in Degrees of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical-Biotechnology in different courses as are Organic Chemistry II, Pharmaceutical Chemistry II, Immunology and Virology. Some of the used resources were related to reflux, vacuum filtering, recrystallization, TLC, extraction in a separating funnel, Western Blot and gene therapy. The students as well as the teachers answer a satisfaction questionnaire, and results showed a great satisfaction in the whole academic community both at faculty and student level. It is worth noting that in the times of COVID-19, in which we have found ourselves in unprecedented situations, these platforms have allowed students to achieve a large part of the learning outcomes established in the specifications of the degree.Keywords:
Virtual laboratories, virtual simulation platforms, Learning Science, Labster, perception.