Tonight I watched the ASMCUE 2022 recorded session entitled “Using an At-Home Food Fermentation Project to Reinforce Microbiology Laboratory Skills and Concepts.” Todd Funke, the Laboratory Program Director of the Microbiology Program at the University of Kansas. Students learn the skills and knowledge to perform a food fermentation at home. This includes planning and documentation of procedures and results.They have done this lab series with first year to senior students from a variety of majors. Funke also mentioned that they have delivered these activities in-person, hybrid, and online for audiences of 10-300 students per semester. Students learn about plate pouring too! Funke emphasized: simple, cheap, and quick. They provide instructions and recommended topics as well as laboratory guidelines and expectations. Funke explained that they provide guidelines but not answers. Importantly: everything that comes to lab may not go home. The supplies provided include Gram-staining and microscopy supplies, pH paper test strips, YPD and MRS plate media. Funke mentioned that students can do this with supplies often less than $6 and then document and share results. For safety, they want to reduce cross contamination. Students only bring in small amounts of each sample to lab in Ziploc bags, for example. Experimental design is the emphasis of these at-home fermentation activities. Controls and documentation are at the center of this activity. Funke spoke about how it “bridges the gap” between the classroom and home. I had not think about this connection! While the logistics to ensure safety seem stressful, I do appreciate the flexibility of this assignment!
