We all know the challenge of distance learning microbiology: ensuring students don’t just "check the boxes" on their Carolina Biological kits, but actually synthesize what they’ve learned. To wrap up each semester in my online microbiology course, I’ve moved away from a standard final and toward a "Virtual Microbiology Conference".

The goal is to take those at-home results and treat them with the same gravity as a professional research project. Here is how it works:

The Activity: The Virtual Microbiology Conference

Instead of a final report, students select their most successful (or most interesting) lab investigation from the semester to present to their peers on a discussion board.

The Professional Requirements:

• Conference-Style Slides: Students build a deck covering the full scientific arc: Introduction/Background, Hypotheses, Methods, Results, and Discussion.

• The "So What?" Factor: I require a section on Broader Application, specifically asking how the findings relate to their future career fields (nursing, public health, etc.).

• Audio Voiceover: To mimic a live talk, students must embed an audio narration, practicing the "soft skills" of scientific communication.

• The Peer Review: Using the discussion board, students act as conference attendees by asking questions, providing feedback, and discussing data discrepancies.

Why It Works

It shifts the mindset from student to researcher. By the time they finish, they aren't just saying "bacteria grew on my agar on my agar plate"; they are presenting data in a format they will actually encounter at professional conferences or in their careers. It’s also a great way for them to see the variety of results their classmates got from the same Carolina kits!

You can take this idea further (depending on the experiment) with "class challenges".  Let's say it is a titration using phenolphthalein; you can challenge students to submit their best titrated solution (fainest pink) and see who had the best endpoint.  Make it fun!  Make it a friendly contest.

Brendan