Lab-at-Home Kits: Chemistry during the pandemic and onwards

Delivering laboratory courses posed a significant challenge at the onset of the pandemic. Hands-on lab experience is crucial to Ateneo’s chemistry courses, and so the added challenge of how to deliver laboratory classes arose. For Dr. Erwin Enriquez (Doc Epe),the solution couldn’t rely on virtual simulations alone. Their department recognized early on that while those could clarify theoretical concepts, they lack in explaining the practical side of chemistry. The initial response was to look for ways to adapt the laboratory experiments into ones that can be done at home. However, students noted that it was often time-consuming to source the materials on their own, even with the help of online shops. “The one feedback we got was that it’s doable, it’s just time consuming…it was hard for students to procure the materials for themselves,” Dr. Enriquez added.

Developing the Kits

As the pandemic extended beyond what was initially thought of, Doc Epe and the department anticipated that it could last long and so, they began working on Lab-at-Home kits. They took existing laboratory experiments and translated them into safer, more accessible versions that could be performed at home. The revised lab manuals were then completed in early 2021, just in time for the second semester.

Certain subjects however, such as organic chemistry, posed additional difficulties because of the nature of the materials to be used. The department had to adapt by delaying more complex experiments until students could return to the lab. Unlike some universities that relied heavily on virtual labs, the department remained committed to providing hands-on learning, albeit remotely. “One of the comments I got from students in purely virtual labs was that they weren’t really doing anything—they were just watching,” Dr. Enriquez noted, reinforcing the department’s decision to offer a more practical alternative. Thus after development, the Lab-at-Home kits were assembled and delivered to students of the university, allowing them to participate in hands-on learning wherever they were. This ensured that chemistry education is well-supplemented by practical education despite the limitations of remote learning.

Expanding the Kits to High Schools

While the Lab-at-Home kits were initially for university, students the project soon expanded to cater to the high school level. With the introduction of the K to 12 program, Senior High School chemistry now covers some courses that used to be taught in college, which led to the removal of General Chemistry in some curricula. This meant many college-level students would not have hands-on lab experience since most high schools do not incorporate lab classes.

Thus, the kits seek to address this gap, ensuring that high school students are able to experience the laboratory in a safer, more accessible set-up. “We [rewrote] the lab experiments to put it into a high school setting,” Dr. Enriquez explained. These kits were particularly valuable for schools that lacked full laboratory facilities, enabling students to perform basic experiments in the classrooms, or even at home.

Dr. Enriquez describes this approach as ‘experiential learning’ where students do the activities before learning the concepts. “Instead of just discussing it by lecture, you let the students do an activity first. Then they learn some concepts and techniques, and then you can discuss it,” Doc Epe commented. “If you don't experience it, the definition is just an abstract,” the Professor added.

Looking Ahead

Through collaboration with the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO),Doc Epe and the Department of Chemistry are now sharing the now called Lab-in-a-Box kits with other schools, particularly high schools and local government units (LGUs) that may lack laboratory resources. In fact, the Department of Physics, with Mr. Ivan Culaba, has also started on a similar project for physics laboratory simulations.

The Lab-at-Home kits have proven to be an effective alternative which delivered science education in a time of crisis–ensuring that students continue to gain practical skills, even outside of the traditional laboratory.

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Text: Nathaniel CapistranoPhotos: Ateneo Intellectual Property Office, Printed Electronics and Nanotechnology Laboratory