ANOTHER NIGHTMARE semester is set to begin for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. The 2021-2 semester at Yonsei University will be conducted completely online per government guidelines. Online labs have a myriad of problems, including a lack of proper information, hands-on experience, and communication with lab professors. As STEM classes have made little to no improvement since the start of online classes, the university should ensure that these classes take student feedback into consideration.

Why are online lab classes a problem?

   To begin with, the academic materials used in many STEM classes often lack coherence. For online lab classes, most professors provide pre-recorded videos and a PowerPoint presentation or an instruction manual. Park Joo-youn (Soph., UIC, Life Science & Biotech.) recounted past instances when the content of the pre-recorded videos and the lab PowerPoint presentation was contradictory. She also said that the study material for her biology lab course “had some grammatical errors, which make understanding the lab material difficult.” Sometimes, the information given to students was not sufficient enough to complete the assignments. In offline classes, confusion could be dealt with immediately, but online classes require students to constantly email their professors for further clarification.

   In addition to disorganization, online labs do not offer students any practical help for their future classes and careers. Choi Dong-ha (Soph., UIC, Life Science & Biotech.) said that even after finishing his “inadequate” biology lab courses, he had never “held basic lab instruments such as a pipette, microscope, or centrifuge.” He worries that his lack of practical experience will put him at a disadvantage when he applies for internships or graduate schools. Part of the reason that most STEM students feel anxious about their future is the lack of interaction with their lab professors. While Park understands that lab work requires “independent research and initiative,” some lab experiments and reports are too advanced to be researched and answered without guidance from professors. When students have questions about their lab reports, they find it somewhat intimidating to continuously email their lab instructors questions. Park feels “that [students] are trying to teach themselves the material rather than reach out and be taught and led by the instructors.” This naturally leads to limitations in understanding complex scientific concepts and feeling like “incompetent and unprepared students.”

Where do we go from here?

   Science majors are not making unreasonable demands such as conducting offline labs; they are merely asking their school for simple changes to ensure that their lab classes are substantive. To begin with, professors should upload the lab material days before class and switch to real-time lectures over Zoom. This would allow students to review the material beforehand and ask professors their pressing questions. If Yonsei mandates that all online lab classes have to hold real-time classes during the scheduled times, students will be able to “interact with the instructors and have meaningful, deep discussions [about the lab content],” said Park. Some students also suggest a rotational system for lab classes, which would allow a given number of students to perform experiments in person. Under such a system, students can alternately use the laboratory and perform an experiment with the instructor. This process would continue until all students have performed at least one experiment. While students will not be able to conduct all experiments, they will acquire some hands-on knowledge. Choi and Park believe that Yonsei “should consider adopting this system because having some practical experience is better than no experience.”

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   Given that the end of the COVID-19 crisis is nowhere in sight, it is imperative that online STEM lab classes improve. Lackluster STEM classes lead to students to perform poorly, which will harm their future school and career prospects. Science majors are merely requesting that their institute make changes that are justifiable and within COVID guidelines. Considering that there has been little improvement in their classes for the last three semesters, students can only hope that this will be the semester that Yonsei University implements real, desirable change in their online lab classes.