Case Study: Corning Community College enhances online chemistry courses with Labster virtual labs

Enhancing online chemistry courses with virtual labs

Corning Community College, specifically Associate Professor Dr. Kamesh Narasimhan, faced the challenge of providing essential chemistry lab experiences for students in a fully online course format. The goal was to equalize access for remote and non-traditional students, maintain engagement for non-majors, and reduce costs, all while ensuring the academic rigor of the experimental labs. To address this, the college turned to the vendor Labster and its virtual lab simulations.

Labster provided a suite of virtual lab simulations that were integrated into the college's Blackboard LMS. The solution significantly increased student accessibility, engagement, and retention by offering an immersive, gamified learning experience that students could complete from anywhere. Dr. Narasimhan reported that Labster's cost was five times lower than other online lab alternatives and half the cost of traditional on-campus labs. While specific quantitative data was not yet collected, the professor noted a qualitative significant increase in the number of students who took and completed the course on time, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from the students.

Corning Community College

Kamesh Narasimhan

Associate Professor of Chemistry