Implementing a novel approach to the delivery of Chemistry labs in response to the COVID pandemic

With Dr Cristina Navarro Reguero

Newcastle University School of Natural and Earth Sciences

Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering


Dr Cristina Navarro Reguero

What did you do?

We adapted our practical courses to all the unexpected Covid restrictions and tried to maximise students’ experience by using a great variety of learning tools.


Who is involved?

Dr Cristina Navarro Reguero (Lecturer in Chemistry, SNES) as one of the chemistry practical course organisers, heavily supported by other members from the Chemistry teaching group.


How and why did you do it?

The following video was taken from our Art of the Possible week in July 2021. Cristina took the group through her work in detail, explained how she did it and the reasons why.


Does it work and student voice

Students would much rather have preferred to do their own experiments in the lab. However the alternatives were generally well received by students.

Feedback from students:

“The practical element has been missed during this current year, to be expected, but well compensated with online alternatives.”
“Personally I think the videos that have been posted that go through examples of the experiments are very informative and give a good insight as to how the experiments work and are carried out, which is need due to us as students losing out on the chance to do the experiments ourselves due to restrictions.
The zoom sessions were/are also very useful in providing an extra information on the weeks topics and to answer any further questions that may have come about during the learning process.”
“The use of the virtual labs and live practical’s was a very reasonable substitute for practical experience in light of all the restrictions that had to be maintained throughout the year.”
“Content was well presented and easy to understand, drop-in sessions were easy to navigate to and very useful. The delivery of content was very good and I understood what was required of me throughout the semester.”


Graduate Framework

    • Engaged
    • Resilient
    • Creative, innovative, and enterprising
    • Future focused
    • Confident

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