McGraw Hill Education was one of the exhibitors at ASMCUE 2022. I watched the recording of their live twenty-minute session tonight. Tammy Lorince was the presenter and is an instructor and lab coordinator at the University of Arkansas. They were developing an online microbiology course with lecture and lab with the University of Arkansas Global Campus. Lorince wanted to use a lab kit to have hands-on experience. They also needed a way to manage the virtual labs. Lorince explained that with the help of an instructional designer, they developed a course and created reading assignments, quizzes, and exams. They also included auto-graded quizzes. Lorince started using McGraw-Hill Connect. Lorince used twenty of the online lab sessions. Lorince explained that having prior familiarity with McGraw-Hill Connect helped them develop this course. They explained several of their reasons to consider and keep online components. With the system, the instructor can set attempts, overrides, establish policies, and gather data from Connect. Davida Smyth was the moderator and helped facilitate the question and answer session. Lorince explained that students have to click on objects and perform tasks and this makes cheating very difficult! They also used Hands On Labs kits because this allowed growth of microorganisms. Lorince also talked about an environmental swabbing lab session. Interestingly, they noted that students have to do a lot of lab safety training and the company takes on the liability. The McGraw-Hill Connect software also identifies at-risk participants with a color-code system. Tami Hodge from McGraw Hill shared that they do have assessment content for each lab and adaptive content. The integration with Blackboard is very useful, Lorince explained. Their teaching assistants thought students were prepared for in-person lab sessions after experiencing the virtual labs through Connect. The adaptive system and large question bank are nice features of this resource that allow students to practice until they get it “right.” The cost to subscribe may be an issue. Overall, I learned a little more about McGraw-Hill resources available.
